On 7/23/2015 10:44 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/23/2015 10:17 AM, Muggles wrote:
I also played piano and the short fingers made it a bit difficult to
stretch to the full octave when playing, but I did have stacked
keyboards for about 10 yrs. and they were much easier to play because
the keys were smaller.

I never did anything with keyboards. The city has a thing where pianos
are placed at random locations so I should try (when nobody is around).

finger, too. OH well ... LOL It's fun to at least try. These days
I've resorted to playing my harmonicas.

I've got a few Marine Bands laying around. It's handy since tin whistles
are diatonic too and most tunes work on both.

I had a great-uncle who played banjo and when I was a teen he loaned it
to me for about a week, so I've played a banjo for a short few days.
They aren't so hard to play with the smaller neck and closer strings.

I bought one about 30 years ago. It was a resonator since that was all I
could find. I never thought it sounded right and eventually gave it to a
woman who wanted to learn banjo. I've thought about trying again sometime.

I had to look up 'tin whistle'. It looks similar to a recorder. I've
got one of those that I play occasionally. Are they anything alike in
sound?

They are both fipple flutes but the recorder is chromatic and has a more
complex fingering arrangement. I've got an alto but I haven't done
anything with it lately. Going back and forth is a little more than I
can handle.

http://www.thewhistleshop.com/misc/fingering.htm

That's about as simple as it gets with only C natural being odd. Even
where that shows an open hole for the 2nd octave D, you really can play
it closed and there are other alternative fingerings. Usually there is a
lot of ornamentation. The fingering is completely different from a
bagpipe but a lot of the technique is borrowed from bagpipes. You can
tongue a tin whistle but pipers don't have a way to break a two notes of
the same pitch up so they'll quickly tap a lower note or do a cut, which
is sounding a higher notes. A roll is a combination of the two. It's
really fast and hardly is even a grace note.

The most common key is D because they're often used with fiddles and
fiddlers love D but like harmonics you collect various keys. I've got a
B flat Susato that's plastic and is the closest in sound to a recorder.
The Clarke's are real tin and sound quite different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzh5uq8rkN0

That's got some strings but it's a slow air and there are some closeups
where you can see him doing cuts and taps. He's doing quite a bit of
ornamentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdskdLV4MWY

There's a little less ornamentation there in the intro but when Caitlín
Maude starts to sing you can see where the whistle sort of follows the
vocal style.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oUN3OUFW2U

There are a lot of jigs and reels you can play on the whistle and any
good Irish bar band needs one.


wow ... those are beautiful. I especially like the first link you
posted. Thanks!

--
Maggie

On 07/23/2015 10:19 PM, Muggles wrote:
wow ... those are beautiful. I especially like the first link you
posted. Thanks!

No whistle in this version but the tune works really well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p2g2WuGXwE

There's a reel also called 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' that's a
whole other thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGlk1FTUN_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORifieiZiP4

Those are very typical of a lot of Irish music. The whistle is there if
you listen for it. They're like harmonicas; you can spend money on some
of the fancier type but a lot of music has been made with a $10 Clarke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ5FJl_mH8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmGsrlZJoQw

Like recorders there are also low whistles and the Irish flute both of
which use the same fingering and technique so you can get some variety.
I don't have a low whistle but some people have trouble with the
spacings. I did make a flute to hack around with and am still working on
my embouchure. I played a regular flute when I was in 7th grade but I
haven't improved with age.

On 7/24/2015 1:06 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/23/2015 10:19 PM, Muggles wrote:
wow ... those are beautiful. I especially like the first link you
posted. Thanks!

No whistle in this version but the tune works really well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p2g2WuGXwE

There's a reel also called 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' that's a
whole other thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGlk1FTUN_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORifieiZiP4

Those are very typical of a lot of Irish music. The whistle is there if
you listen for it. They're like harmonicas; you can spend money on some
of the fancier type but a lot of music has been made with a $10 Clarke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ5FJl_mH8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmGsrlZJoQw

Like recorders there are also low whistles and the Irish flute both of
which use the same fingering and technique so you can get some variety.
I don't have a low whistle but some people have trouble with the
spacings. I did make a flute to hack around with and am still working on
my embouchure. I played a regular flute when I was in 7th grade but I
haven't improved with age.




I really enjoy listening to Irish music, but the minor key I have to be
in the mood to listen to for very long. They all seem to have a haunting
sound to the slower tunes, but I do love the sound.

--
Maggie

On 07/24/2015 07:09 AM, Muggles wrote:
I really enjoy listening to Irish music, but the minor key I have to be
in the mood to listen to for very long. They all seem to have a haunting
sound to the slower tunes, but I do love the sound.

Well, the sound track for Irish history can be a little somber. I'll
leave you with an upbeat one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqEtpOdhTE

The whistle player lurks in the background but comes out for a verse.

On 7/24/2015 8:54 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/24/2015 07:09 AM, Muggles wrote:
I really enjoy listening to Irish music, but the minor key I have to be
in the mood to listen to for very long. They all seem to have a haunting
sound to the slower tunes, but I do love the sound.

Well, the sound track for Irish history can be a little somber. I'll
leave you with an upbeat one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqEtpOdhTE

The whistle player lurks in the background but comes out for a verse.

Nice! The whistle sounds a bit like a piccolo, and I also love the
sound of that instrument, too.

--
Maggie