The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #107808 Message #2240502
Posted By: The Fooles Troupe
20-Jan-08 - 07:53 AM
Thread Name: Tin Whistles
Subject: RE: Tin Whistles
"(in)famous as instruments of torture in the hands/mouths of offenders under the age of criminal responsibility..."
There's a very good simple technical reason for this... :-)
With a Recorder - funnily enough, less so for a whistle, probably because a recorder is a more "intensely designed" instrument than the more "natural built" whistle - the fipple is far more sensitive to "overblowing". Beginners, especially youngsters, often tend to blow far too hard, which results in that awful tone. It's a bit akin to a novice violinist pressing too hard on the bow, and getting that horrible scratchy sound. Both cases involve the fact that the more advanced the player, the more they 'relax' and can 'touch the instrument lightly'.
A very good advanced player can often get an acceptable sound out of a "$2 cheapie", and that is much the same for whistles. The reason for THIS is that the more advanced the player, the better their ability to "listen and blow in the notes", as well as that 'touch the instrument lightly' ability. Practice, Practice, Practice!
What did I mean by that "intensely designed" / "natural built" stuff?
Well the whistle is a diatonic instrument, (normally) only producing notes within the (originally just tempered, but nowadays well tempered) 8 note scale. A recorder is designed, like most 'modern' wind instruments to be fully chromatic, producing all 12 pitches in a 'standard tempered' octave.