Jason Silver

Web Development by CrookedBush.com Inc.

My Journal and Diary

2006

February

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

Low Whistle Lament

low_whistle_lament
As I've mentioned before on this blog, I've been making my own penny whistles lately. I guess I've made about five so far, and they're starting to sound pretty good.

A penny whistle is a pretty simple little instrument. I've made them out of broom handles, tent poles, and now my favourite material: PVC pipe. I use some drills, a sharp knife, and a couple of different kinds of files to shape the actual whistle part-- called a fipple. Then I use a cool JavaScript formula I found on the Internet for placing the holes in the correct spot.

I made this Low E whistle to use in our upcoming "Hamilton's Best Valentine's Party" event this weekend-- we're doing "Favourite Canadian Love Songs," and the Titanic Theme has a haunting whistle part at the beginning.

I thought it sounded good enough to record, so I plugged my mic into the laptop, rested it on the arm of my chair, and started whistling. Then I ran for the guitar and added a bit of chord structure. I'm making this up as I'm going, so it's a little random, but nonetheless pretty good-- do you think?

Enjoy!


Click to Listen


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