You just put your lips together and blow.

December 3, 2005 3:42 AM

Whistling: a lost art? Once upon a time, siffleurs like Brother Bones, Fred Lowery and Marcel ‘Muzzy’ Marcellino warbled from the stage, and trilled across the airwaves. While our generation almost certainly whistles less than our grandparents’, and while we may never again see a whistler attain the modest fame of Ronnie Ronalde, let alone the celebrity of la belle siffleuse Alice Shaw, nor witness any meaningful revival of the kunstpfeifen tradition, there are yet several contemporary whistlers who would revive the art: ‘Whistlin’ Tom,’ Sean Lomax, Robert Stemmons (‘the whistler of Coeur d’Alene’), Hylton ‘The Whistler’ Brown, Chris Ullman (‘the symphonic whistler’) and Milt Briggs (‘a maverick among whistlers’), etc., or any number of the other enthusiasts who attend the International Whistlers Convention held every year at Loiusburg, North Carolina, ‘the world’s whistling capital.’
posted by misteraitch (26 comments total)

Don't forget DJ Riko's Whistler's Delight mashup.
posted by fixedgear at 3:57 AM on December 3, 2005

Awesome!

I work with a guy who is a virtuosic whistler. He is somewhere between 40 and 50, so the skill can at least be found in that generation, but when I first heard him I confess I thought "Wow, you don't often hear people that young who can whistle like that."
posted by Miko at 6:33 AM on December 3, 2005

I whistle quite a bit, and I'm in my 30's. Mostly old tunes from the '30s, really.

Maybe I need to start studying technique though...
posted by insomnia_lj at 6:54 AM on December 3, 2005

My whistling keeps me company when I'm alone, challenges and entertaines me as I travel great distances of time and space with nobody near. I can't sing, but I can play when I'm the instrument.

To keep myself limber I try to match the whistled high notes of Miles Davis' Little Church on his Live Evil album. I've got them down pat on the inhale, but can't match them on the exhale.
posted by furtive at 7:37 AM on December 3, 2005

Ian Fleming was of the opinion that if you are homosexual, you can't whistle.
posted by Tarn at 7:51 AM on December 3, 2005

fixedgear: - thank you for linking that - I'd never heard of this DJRiko, but we have very, very similar tastes in music. It's weird to hear much of my personal playlist mashed up.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:01 AM on December 3, 2005

andrew bird can whistle.
this is cool, thanks!
posted by carsonb at 8:24 AM on December 3, 2005

Sean Lomax is an amazing whistler. Before he began touring with Cirque Du Soleil, he actually worked as an IT guy in Southern Cal (such is/was the state of whistling). I met him in this capacity about five years ago. He's an exceedingly warm and friendly fellow. Back to the whistling.

I've always liked to whistle and thought myself pretty darn good at it, until Sean gave me a preview of some of the stuff he can do. It literally was jaw dropping, in that his whistling was the same as if anyone else were skillfully playing a violin or flute. It must be heard to be believed.
posted by Atreides at 8:29 AM on December 3, 2005

I whistle constantly (at least, when I'm alone and not in a public space). I was whistling Bob Wills' and the Texas Playboys' "Roly Poly," for some reason, as I was reading this post. I really belted out a good whistlin' version of ELO's "It's a Living Thing" in the locker-room shower the other day, including the violin breaks. (Nice acoustics.)

I love a good whistle, and love this post. Muchas gracias.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:37 AM on December 3, 2005

As a classical musician who whistles incessantly, I find this post most awesome.

I'd say whistling is, in fact, probably less common that it once was. On a campus of over twenty thousand students, I'm one of only a few who regularly whistle.

I should find my way down to Louisburg one of these years; that's less than two hours from home. It's a shame the whistlers' convention is held during classes.
posted by musicinmybrain at 8:38 AM on December 3, 2005

I try to get in a good whistle each morning as I walk up a stairway early in the morning at my work that is often empty around the time I get in. If you face the corner of the stairwell each ear gets treated to it's own unique reverb effect that makes it really mysterious sounding. Radiohead melodies become even more epic sounding!
posted by parallax7d at 9:01 AM on December 3, 2005

carsonb is correct, Andrew Bird regularly whistles in his song, and not in a cheesy John Denver way either.
posted by furtive at 9:11 AM on December 3, 2005

The convention in North Carolina is spectacular. Highly recommended if you're in the Raleigh/Durham area.
posted by Vidiot at 12:07 PM on December 3, 2005

I whistle! But, looking at these links, I have discovered that I really suck at it. My range, she is not so good; my technique, she is stale and wooden. Part of me died today.

Thanks, Metafilter!
posted by jenovus at 12:41 PM on December 3, 2005

How about Geert Chatrou, 2004 and 2005 Whistling World Champion ?
posted by Pendragon at 12:52 PM on December 3, 2005

I can't whistle. Am I....am I going to hell?
posted by es_de_bah at 1:54 PM on December 3, 2005

A couple tricks every avid whistler should know:
1) Touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth while whistling. This produces a lower tone. Done several times in rapid succession, it makes a nice warble or trill, and if you can learn to control the pitch of the lower tone, you can use it in a melody to produce two or three rapid, cleanly articulated notes in quick succession.
2) Make a humming sound while whistling. This produces a sort of buzzy tone which, sparingly used, can be a nice effect in some contexts.
posted by uosuaq at 1:55 PM on December 3, 2005

Wittgenstein was a whistler.
posted by chymes at 3:14 PM on December 3, 2005

I am a good whistler. I tend to whistle jazz, and it tends to be contemporary jazz. Whistling is good for arranging some song that is cooking in your head, too, as I can whistle things I can't sing. I used to be able to impress friends by whistling 'In the mood' pretty close to a tempo. Which I can't do anymore. Oh, and I sing and whistle better when drunk.
posted by By The Grace of God at 3:27 PM on December 3, 2005

Andrew Bird is amazing, and his whistling is virtuosic. Listen to his records, but more importantly, see him live. His was one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen.
posted by ludwig_van at 4:34 PM on December 3, 2005

Wittgenstein was an uptight, intelligent, overrated jerk who probably whistled because he knew he couldn't compete with the musical talent of his brothers. That shouldn't put anyone off the practice.
posted by uosuaq at 5:21 PM on December 3, 2005

Kinda related: The whistling language of La gomera in the Canary Islands.
posted by dhruva at 5:39 PM on December 3, 2005

I work with a guy who is a virtuosic whistler. He is somewhere between 40 and 50, so the skill can at least be found in that generation, but when I first heard him I confess I thought "Wow, you don't often hear people that young who can whistle like that."

I still think of people 40 to 50 as "older".

I'm 42.

Anyway, I only learned to whistle haltingly around age 20, and my whistling does occasionally work as a hail that reaches the kids in the TV den, but has nothing in resemblance with the New Yorker's whistle for a cab. Or anything that coudl charitably be called musical.
posted by dhartung at 1:26 AM on December 4, 2005

I still think of people 40 to 50 as "older".

Me too, but I'm getting uncomfortably close to the 40, so I'm trying to use, you know, inclusive language.

Ages aren't what they used to be.
posted by Miko at 8:25 AM on December 4, 2005

A couple tricks every avid whistler should know:
1) Touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth while whistling.

i'm confused... that just blocks the airflow.
posted by poweredbybeard at 6:50 PM on December 4, 2005

I'm teaching myself to whistle right now -- the past few weeks (two hours in the car every day - gotta do SOMETHING with it) have taken me from a almost audible flow of air to, at times, a quite tuneful note.
posted by devbrain at 6:49 AM on December 5, 2005