What do you play on your tin whistle?

[KiltShot]

A simple question really, but with a lot of possibilities: What do you play on your tin whistle?
The question assumes that you will exclude warm-up and practice tunes and tunes intended for teaching purposes.

So, what do you play for enjoyment?

[Burly Brute]

Right now the only thing I can play...almost...is dirty old town...which I think is awesome on the whistle. However, I also have almost got the Braveheart theme down, or so I think.

[Hothir Ethelnor]

Being a determined play by ear personality I have developed the bad habit of learning a tune without knowing it's name. I could name a large number of tunes I do know, but my favorite hornpipe is alas without a name at present.

I enjoy Boolavogue, Road to Killavil and Tripping up the Stairs.

[Pyper]

I just got a "low" G whistle. It's got a really cool sound. I think I'll be working out some airs for it. It's cool, because I can play highland pipe tunes on it in the proper key, with the low-g (albeit with different fingering.)

Here's a really cool slow tune that I play. It's called Eily Gheal Chiun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVVDUj6B8pg

My friend, who plays harp, taught it to me. He takes lessons from the two in the video. We play it in F (I use a Generation Bb), and I suppose that's what's in the video.

[KiltShot]

We must have more players than this!?

I suspect that there are many that secretly violate the rule that only celtic music be played on the tin whistle. Play anything else and the fipple will immediately clog.

They might fear being picked up and questioned by the tin whistle police for playing a Led Zeppelin piece or driven out of town for playing ZZ Top tunes.

Is this on pitch or am I off key?

[Failed God]

i have a tin whistle but never gotten around to learning to play it.

[OC Richard]

What do I play on my whistles?

It depends on the situation.

Often it's a gig situation where I play whatever music they put in front of me. For example here's a Battlestar Galactica concert in Los Angeles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KolccUy3fQw

I play in a Celtic trio and in that group it's traditional Irish stuff, jigs, reels, hornpipes, songs.

I always have a "car whistle" and I noodle on various Irish songs and jigs and reels on and off during the day. Nowadays my car whistle is my MK Low D, my favourite whistle to play on.

Here's my "gig bag"

[OC Richard]

I just got a "low" G whistle. It's got a really cool sound. I think I'll be working out some airs for it. It's cool, because I can play highland pipe tunes on it in the proper key, with the low-g (albeit with different fingering.)

This is an unusual approach. Ordinarily Highland pipe tunes are played on a D whistle, in the key of A, where the Highland pipe scale comes out perfectly:

xxx ooo Low G
xxo ooo Low A
xoo ooo B
ooo ooo C#
oxx xxx D
xxx xxo E
xxx xoo F#
xxx ooo High G
xxo ooo High A

For the tunes to come out in Bb/Eb, as they do on the Highland pipes, you use an Eb whistle. For the tunes to come out in A/D, as they do on Scottish fiddle etc, you use a D whistle.

If you play in the key of A on a Low G whistle, it comes out in A minor with a C natural, not A Mixolydian with C sharp as is does on the Highland pipes.

[KiltShot]

O C Richard: I read in the "Finger Chart for tin whistle" thread that you have both Burkes and Susatos. In your opinion, how do they compare and do you have any tunable whistles of any kind?

[OC Richard]

All my whistles are tunable, except a Bernard Overton Low Eb which I picked up used.

About Susatos, in my opinion they get better as they get bigger. I don't care for high Susatos and I much prefer good tweaked Generations for high keys. I have Generations in Eb, D, C#, C, B, Bb, and A.

The mid Susatos such as A, G, and F are OK but I much prefer Burkes for those keys.

In my opinion the best Susatos are Low E, Low Eb, Low D, and the best of them all Low C. My old-model keyless Low C Susato is very expressive. I like the way low Susatos play, but there's something about their tone that I don't like, and I'll stick with Burkes for low keys except for Low D for which I use an MK. (MKs are only made in Low D and F.)

Here's a video where you can hear various Low Ds compared

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkL06uOtZQc

Burkes are great for a gigging musician because they're in tune and have a very even voicing across the range.

I have Low Eb's by both Burke and Overton and it's interesting to compare the two. The Overton has a more complex tone, is a bit more air-efficient, and can be blown with a wider range of pressures. Burkes are a bit more "go/ no-go" as to blowing.

Hey I just realised that I have a Low Eb by Susato too... I feel another comparison YouTube video coming on...