How To Whistle With An Orchestra

Hello there, I'm David Morris. In 2003, I went to America and I won the title World Champion Whistler, and I'm here today to hopefully help you improve your whistling. How to whistle with an orchestra.

I think it's very very important that the whistling soloist chooses the right repertoire to perform with an orchestra. Certain pieces from the orchestral repertoire transpose beautifully for the human whistler, I think. There's lots of very very fitting pieces, for example, pieces which are normally associated with the trumpet, for example, the famous Haydn Trumpet Concerto.

Other pieces for example are the famous violin solo, Monti Czardas. So you've chosen the right repertoire to suit us, now we're at the rehearsal stage and prior to the performance itself, this is a really crucial time. First of all, the sound system has got to be absolutely spot on because, don't forget to get the tiny human whistle sounds projected way above a large orchestra.

It needs a lot of amplification and so that need to be absolutely perfect, so the sound engineer really earns his money as far as a whistling soloist is concerned. After that, I think it's really important where we stand on the stage. You don't want to be too near the orchestra.

I always like to stand as far away really from them because you must hear yourself whistle. If you don't hear yourself whistle, you will struggle. So, stand as far away as possible from the orchestra.

I think it helps as well to have a set of earplugs on hand because it can really help your performance. You can still hear the orchestra but it's not so loud as that you can't hear yourself whistle, so you get the best of both worlds really. So sometimes, earplugs can be really helpful.

And that's how to whistle with an orchestra.