Klarinet Archive - Posting 000074.txt from 2003/04

From: b1rite@-----. Rite)
Subj: Re: [kl] Help in finding good Celtic music for Katie
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 01:34:38 -0500

<><> Christy=A0Erickson wrote:
I need some of those. I've never been able to whistle - it's a
disadvantage in band music that requires whistling.

What you'll discover is that whistles are about breath control. You
overblow the octave simply by breathing a bit harder, but even when
overblowing, you still need to restrain your breath.

I first tried a whistle when I was discouraged by how easily my
embouchure pooped out. Although shape of the throat and oral cavity
make a difference, you don't need to strain your chops with a tin
whistle.

In order to appreciate what can be done with such a simple instrument,
you do need to hear a truly expert player (either in person or on CD)
play a $1.50 whistle. It will blow your mind. Honestly it will.

The first time I heard a Professor of Tin Whistle in Ireland (I'm not
joking or being satirical), I could not believe that she was playing one
of those $2.50 toys that you see next to the cash register in most every
Irish store, even in markets. So I went up to her and asked what the
gimmick was. She was courteous because she probably gets asked this
after every concert, but she could not restrain herself from laughing
and telling me, "Actually, I don't pay $2.50. I buy them for $2.00
apiece at Muldoon's down the street (Irish dollars, I think that's about
$1.50 US). Sometimes I find a bad one that I throw away."

This was just after she had received multiple standing ovations and had
played three encores in front of 200-300 people who were serious
students on $1000 flutes and accordions and fiddles and so forth.

Cheers,
Bill

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