Wishing everyone all the best for 2022

Just wanted to wish folks everywhere a merry Christmas happy Hanukkuh happy holidays and festive Festivus! May your week be cozy, safe, and lovely. 🎄

We've had our 2 doses, & just coming up for a booster jab, so we have been able to get about a bit, but still need to wear them in confined spaces, like shops, ideally, but not everyone does, unfortunately.

On a brighter note, I am beginning to get out on my adult kick scooters, just that the legs need strengthening up more, before I can do any real distances, so won't really be doing much now until the Spring, it's cold & it's been wet too.

Guess I'll just have to get back to the whistles, flutes, & harmonicas.....

I find I've gotten more used to wearing masks. Of course I think though it must be hard to wear one for many hours. A well fitting one does make a difference in comfort. I bet as more and more folks get vaccinated and protected, the risk and numbers of sick will continue to drop until we can all be relatively safe again. Here's hoping!

I'm required to wear a mask eight miserable hours a day at my fantastic job.  It is becoming near unendurable.

Hope everyone has made it through Covid OK - I know that I was in the doldrums for months, (being in lock down), but I seem to be getting back to doing things again now, so looking forwards to better times.

I'd suggest a one piece ABS Tony Dixon to start with, not too expensive, & plays quite well.

(You can often find them pre used cheaper, & they're easy to sanitize.)

Keyless flutes are easier, I find, almost as easy as whistle.

TD Trad brass high D piccolo arrived this morning, it plays well, & isn't at all shrill sounding, in fact, it has quite a nice tone.

Playing simple system flutes, whistles, & piccolos isn't that hard to do actually, that's probably the reason I get on with them so well.

I'm impressed by folks who can play whistles, flutes, piccolos, and recorders!   They are similar enough so as to make it confusing to switch around, I imagine.  I find it's easier to play multiple instruments IF they are substantially different from each other so it doesn't trip me up.

I still like to try new things out - if at the right price.

An opportunity to buy/try a Susato Eb at a reasonable price (£19) has come up , it has been lying around the dealers for a couple of years, evidently, so I ordered it, this will be my first Susato.

I also came across a brand new Tony Dixon TRAD brass high D piccolo, going fairly cheaply too, (including postage £18.19).

I do like to play & switch between them often, as it keeps my interest up - also my harmonicas, between chromatics & tremolos.

I do like this music hobby.

Yes, & I have that now - after a bit of 'collecting'.

The other day, I just opened the drawer where I keep them, took one out, & just played it.......

....then another.....& another...... but stopped after the low D, low F, & A....

If you have a goodly set of nice whistles that you like and play well, I see no reason to keep buying more indefinitely anyway. 

I seem to have stopped buying them!

Just need to play them more now.

Had a nice afternoon of playing my Howard low D, Shearwater low F, my Thunderbird A, my TD Trad A, & a quick burst on my TD Duo C whistle - then just for kicks, put the flute head back onto my TD ally A, & had a quick burst on that too.

Really enjoying my low keyed whistles, (& my flutes, when I get the embouchure right ;) ).

Becoming a little more fluent, I think - but still the memory for a tune eludes me, I still have to use the notes.

Well, so far this year, I have been playing my instruments more than last year, & also enjoying the practicing more too - perhaps because I'm getting better at playing them, (at least my tunes are more recognizable by others now ).

I wonder how long it will take me to learn another tune to be able to play it from memory........

With practice - I'm sure you'll work out the best way to play it, Larry, I couldn't even reach the bottom hole of my low D flute when I got it.

(You can always try playing it using your pinky.)

Keith that's great!  It all starts with just one tune.  

Played a tune from memory today......

(on all my new whistles, tremolo harmonica, & my keyless flute)

.......& it's only taken me 3 years to learn it. 

My sister recognised my playing of Edelweiss, (on my new low D whistle)...........I must be getting better!

Hole spacing on both my TD 'A' whistles exactly the same, length differs just slightly shorter at the fipple end by about a quarter of an inch, owing to the wider bore of the aluminium tubing used.

(Must be nice to have someone to share & play along with at home.)

My positive- last night I played a little bit of medieval simple tunes in F minor/dorian mode, on my Eb Freeman Blackbird whistle, with my husband playing fiddle in F modal. We made lots of mistakes but had fun!

Keith, are the holes spacings exactly the same on your two differnt Dixon A whistles, or does one have holes closer together/easier reach?

My new whistle arrived this morning.

It's quite a bit heavier & bulkier than my Trad A, with a slightly different tone - but I like it.

(Tony Dixon DX107 aluminium in 'A'.)

We just got back after a four hour drive to attend Cherish the Ladies' Christmas concert in Tulsa.

Joanne Madden's whistle playing was beyond beautiful. It was amazing how a lowly whistle voice could soar above a full orchestral accompaniment. I was completely captivated and thrilled by the whole evening.

Todays 'positive' - was me getting through about 8 tunes without too many mistakes - must do it more often.

Cheating????? No just using the advantages built into the instruments tuning

........& there was me thinking I might be 'cheating'........

(Because I have most of my other instruments in the key of C, & most of my collection of music also.)

Yes I do like Norman as well.  I treat the bell note (lowest note on the whistle) as a D despite what key the whistle actually is.  That way, when I read a tune in standard notation, if the notation is in key of G (which has one sharp, an F#) I know I need to locate the tonic note with 3 fingers down and play a 'Cnatural' fingering in the tune.  And when the standard notation is in D (which has an F# and C#), I know the tonic note is with 6 fingers down and that I'll need to play the C# fingering instead of the C natural.
I agree we're all doing the same. 

Hi Keith. I think most of us do the same thing, but because D is the whistle most people start with, we treat D as the bell note of our whistle regardless of the actual key of the whistle. I transpose most tunes to D or G.

After all I came to the whistle from the mountain dulcimer and I have tons of stuff tabbed out in D.

I can see I'm confusing you all........

What I mean is that I will be playing in the key of C, mentally, but the tune will be played in the key of the whistle.

If I use a key of A whistle, where the notation shows a C note, I will finger it as a C note on a key of C whistle, but it will actually be played as an A note, key of A.

Likewise, if I use a key of D whistle, & I play a C note, mentally, but the whistle actually plays a D note - transposing from C to D, etc.

If I try to play in the key of the whistles, I would have to transpose for each different key, therefore I intend to play them as if they were all C instruments.

(Kind of like playing whistle tab on a different keyed whistle.)

I'm a bit confused by that as well.

So you're referring to when reading standard notation, then?  Keith does that mean you never use for example the C# note on a D whistle when playing?... because the key of C has no sharps, thus if you played 'as if it were in C" you'd only be playing the C natural on a d whistle.

Hi, Chris, by that, I just mean playing each & everyone of my whistles as if it were in the key of C - obviously they will actually play the tune in the key of the whistle - but my brain won't have to translate the written C notation to the key of the whistle.

Hi Keith

Could you expand on what you mean by "C fingering style"? I'm a bit confused.

Thanks

I have a number of Fake Books whose tunes are generally in the key of C.

So I have decided to play all my whistles in the C fingering style, (should only take a little bit of time to retrain my brain), but by doing so it will make things easier swapping between my various instruments.

I have no intention to play along with sessions, or anything of that nature, just play for my own enjoyment - & that's probably a good thing, because I don't suppose anyone else likes my playing anyway.

I don't get the brass smell on my fingers either.Doesn't matter how long I play for.

I've got a Jerry Freeman tweaked Generation in D and a Killarney whistle in D, both brass.

The Jerry Freeman is tarnished and I think it looks great,the Killarney is only a few days old and is starting to show some tarnish already which is fine by me.

I don't have a problem with that, in fact my TD in A has it slightly already, & so far, I don't get an overly strong smell on my fingers, maybe I'm just not playing them for long enough.

You'll have to accept the brass whistles' tarnish wear spots around the fingerholes, that comes with playing over time,like here:

rogue-whistles

I kinda like that 'look'.  There's also the smell of brass on your fingertips after playing- it's a subtle thing, but some people dislike it a lot.  I don't mind it myself, smells a little 'elemental'/metallic.

No, not much if any, they're both brass, just with an electro plated coating.

But, I think I prefer the brass look more now, having got my Tony Dixon Trads.

Can you hear any consistent difference between the brass and the nickel?  Or is it hard to tell?

...added to my 'collection'.....

Brass Generations in Eb, F, & G - to keep my nickel ones company.

Where?  ;)

.........Oh, look........another 3 whistles.......

Norman, thanks for telling us this- it does warm the heart.  So wonderful that you played for everyone to honor our country's veterans.

Sunday I was able to do a tribute to my fellow veterans in church.  I played Amazing Grace followed by Taps. It thrilled my heart when a former student of mine, who had served, stood with the rest of the veterans.

Ah, yes......modern technology has its uses - can't be that many recorder forums about.

Deutsch sint gut, aber es lang seit war.

Or something like that.....from about 50 years ago!

Todays positive is that I recorded & posted a tune for my uke forum.

I'm somewhat out of practice, but it went as well it could.

Created a Gallery with a few photos for your enjoyment.

Ha, ha, work, I vaguely remember that word - retirement is so nice, all your time becomes your own.

Hope the kitties enjoy their new toys.

@keith , that's sweet of you!  

My positive thing today was getting some new cat toys in the mail to introduce to our kitties, and also just now heading out the door to have a nice coffee in town before I return home to start work. 

My positive for today, has been to introduce myself to you lot. :)

My positive thing today. I fixed the flute that I was given. Yes!