New Pennywhistle
Aug. 30th, 2003 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tmcgMy Abell whistle has arrived. African blackwood with sterling silver that glows like mithril. A thing of beauty.
I've played other people's Abells, but it was still lighter in weight than I expected, and it's much fatter than the brass Sindt whistle I play as a main instrument. Correspondingly, it takes more wind and produces more sound. This is good, on both counts. I can let go and fill it, which I can't do with the Sindt without overwhelming it into a squeak, and I've been wishing for a whistle that I could push and have it respond for me instead of fighting me. It is also, as one guy I know calls it, an accordion killer. That wasn't strictly something I needed, since I don't play often with musicians who should be drowned, and I prefer to blend in a session, not grandstand; I like an instrument that supports the sound rather than cutting through. But there are times, particularly when there are less considerate box players or pipers in the mix than I'm used to, when I would like to have a little more oomph at my disposal. My nickle Copeland whistle, which has the requisite oomph and a gorgeous tone up through high G, is shrieky and not always in tune in the uppermost register, and it can't handle as much wind as you'd expect. The Abell is a treat.
It's also the first whistle I've owned that's made of wood. Like the original Clarke tin whistles, it has a charming huff to it, like the voice of a slightly hoarse, breathless contralto. Like my wooden flute, it has a mellow resonance. But because of the larger bore, it lacks bite, and there's a pure sweetness to the Sindt that I can't seem to produce on the Abell. (Yet. I'm warming to it. It's only the first day.)
All in all, a delicious addition to the arsenal, but still not the dream whistle. Something with a Generation's bite, a Clarke's huskiness, the Copeland's round full midtones, the Sindt's reliable clean warmth, and the volume of one of those obnoxious plastic whistles that knock a session on its rear end...that's the whistle I want.
Cathal McConnell can play any whistle and make it sound good. Aside from the fact that he's just brilliant, there's an argument there for the musician being the key, not the instrument. On the other hand, I've heard it said that an Olwell flute makes anyone playing it sound good. You can capitalize on and rise above an instrument's foibles, and it's possible that what makes a musician's playing uniquely beautiful is not perfection but the human imperfections. Still, I won't stop aspiring to be Cathal McConnell playing the whistle equivalent of an Olwell flute.
I've played other people's Abells, but it was still lighter in weight than I expected, and it's much fatter than the brass Sindt whistle I play as a main instrument. Correspondingly, it takes more wind and produces more sound. This is good, on both counts. I can let go and fill it, which I can't do with the Sindt without overwhelming it into a squeak, and I've been wishing for a whistle that I could push and have it respond for me instead of fighting me. It is also, as one guy I know calls it, an accordion killer. That wasn't strictly something I needed, since I don't play often with musicians who should be drowned, and I prefer to blend in a session, not grandstand; I like an instrument that supports the sound rather than cutting through. But there are times, particularly when there are less considerate box players or pipers in the mix than I'm used to, when I would like to have a little more oomph at my disposal. My nickle Copeland whistle, which has the requisite oomph and a gorgeous tone up through high G, is shrieky and not always in tune in the uppermost register, and it can't handle as much wind as you'd expect. The Abell is a treat.
It's also the first whistle I've owned that's made of wood. Like the original Clarke tin whistles, it has a charming huff to it, like the voice of a slightly hoarse, breathless contralto. Like my wooden flute, it has a mellow resonance. But because of the larger bore, it lacks bite, and there's a pure sweetness to the Sindt that I can't seem to produce on the Abell. (Yet. I'm warming to it. It's only the first day.)
All in all, a delicious addition to the arsenal, but still not the dream whistle. Something with a Generation's bite, a Clarke's huskiness, the Copeland's round full midtones, the Sindt's reliable clean warmth, and the volume of one of those obnoxious plastic whistles that knock a session on its rear end...that's the whistle I want.
Cathal McConnell can play any whistle and make it sound good. Aside from the fact that he's just brilliant, there's an argument there for the musician being the key, not the instrument. On the other hand, I've heard it said that an Olwell flute makes anyone playing it sound good. You can capitalize on and rise above an instrument's foibles, and it's possible that what makes a musician's playing uniquely beautiful is not perfection but the human imperfections. Still, I won't stop aspiring to be Cathal McConnell playing the whistle equivalent of an Olwell flute.
