The Whistling Podcast

We're almost at the end of the series on whistling in China. Just one more and then we'll discuss Transcendental whistling. This is a poem by Qu Yuan, c. 300 B.C. He asks a lot of good questions. This is a good preamble to the next podcast on the history of China.

We return to our second discussion about the I Ching with an added special guest, Nate. Joining us once again is Malsacrus Decisor. Both are I Ching experts. Nate's Youtube page: https://youtu.be/llnJ49yXRnQ?si=Fjk_z8TDu98aJOBz Malsacrus Decisor can be contacted at: linktr.ee/malsacrus_decisor for I Ching readings and consultation. Or https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568740740756 I Ching Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ichingonline/ Silver coin flip sound: Thank you to L-Ayex at Freesound.org. https://freesound.org/people/deephazed/sounds/554346/ Used with Creative Commons license 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

More delving into Chinese philosophy as we approach the final episode on whistling in China--the phenomenon of transcendental whistling. In this episode, I speak with the I Ching expert Malsacrus Decisor (AKA "The Vile Sage"). To get an I Ching reading, contact Malsacrus at: linktr.ee/malsacrus_decisor https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568740740756 Malsacrus is now also the moderator of the Facebook I Ching Discussion Group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ichingonline

I'm back after a long hiatus. This was an article I found recently covering whistling in China. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b4dd/285195b4f1ad2160a02ef52bd84e876a4597.pdf

Let's keep it going. More of Laoze's Dao de JIng.

Let's avoid actual whistling for just a little while longer. This guy is all hat and not cattle (when it comes to whistling, that is. Not actual ranching). We are near the conclusion of a look into whistling in China, the place where I have lived for the last ten years. I am going to read the Dao De Jing for your listening pleasure. Is it profound. Can it guide you towards enlightenment? Can it at least help you lead a good life? Or is it just a bunch of gibberish? Well, you have to answer those questions for yourself. We will need it as background for the final grand finale on the subject of Transcendental Whistling. There is a method to my madness.

Following up on The Art of War by Sun Tzu, we look at a particular application where whistling is involved. It is the story of Jin Dynasty general and poet Liu Kun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Kun_(Jin_dynasty)

Hello Whistlers or Aspirants. We're gonna need some background for an upcoming episode on war and whistling, so I made my own mashup of some Librivox.org readings of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Maybe you've already read it, maybe not. If you want to hear it in its entirety, here it is. It seems to be common reading amongst businessmen and popular in general. We'll be talking about a military general and poet from the Jin Dynasty in an upcoming episode and we'll need a bit of background on military strategy. This may or may not help you out in your personal life as well. Probably not as much as learning how to whistle, but we'll see. Sun Tzu said what? https://suntzusaid.com/ https://librivox.org/search/?q=the%20art%20of%20war&search_form=advanced

More on whistling in China. The 啸旨 Xiao zhi, Principles of Whistling, is a method book for Daoist transcendental whistling. It's a rare how-to for summoning spirits and controlling nature. Or maybe it's just a book of tunes. I'm not quite sure. Please use it with caution; there's dragons and phoenixes and demons involved. It was translated and commented on by a woman named Evangeline Dora Edwards (1888-1957). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline_Edwards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_whistling In the podcast I forgot to tell you what a li (里). A li was a measure of distance in China. It's about a third of a mile.

We continue with our study of whistling in China. The "Rhapsody on Whistling" (Xiaofu 嘯賦）was written by Chenggong Sui (231-273 CE). https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400864430.315/pdf If you'd like to read along and not give an arm and a leg to buy the article, here is an online version: https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/rhapsody-whistling More about Chenggong Sui and the Xiaofu on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_whistling

This is a short story written by avant-garde Chinese author Ge Fei, which appeared in China's Avant-Garde Literature published by Duke University Press (March 1998). https://www.dukeupress.edu/chinas-avant-garde-fiction. It is the retelling of an ancient story of the meeting between transcendental whistlers Ruan Ji and Sun Deng on Sugate Mountain. Thank you to special guest voice actors 人欢喜， Frank Feng， and Crystal. Enjoy.

Here's what's planned for the beginning of 2023.

Phlarpty phloop! I'm very excited to release my first full-length interview. I talk to the band Visit about their new album, "Exitential Hymns," released today. The discussion includes the meaning of Existentialism, the tracks on their album, the mixing and artwork. A fun time was had by all. Please listen and enjoy. And then pass it on.

In my estimation, Ron McCroby was the greatest of jazz whistlers. I try to pay my tribute to his inspiration in this episode. https://youtu.be/0jBwPBRvaoM https://youtu.be/1Kg2_-DcYWU https://youtu.be/WU10Pu57EhM http://www.whistlingrecords.net/

This article explores the role of performance whistling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before birdsongs could be recorded in the field, performance whistlers played the role of bringing birdsong to the public. Please read the full article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314442243_A_Birdlike_Act_Sound_Recording_Nature_Imitation_and_Performance_Whistling Warning: This episode contains language and issues that may be sensitive to some listeners.

As a bridge to my next series of podcasts, I have re-released a new and improved edition of Noel Coppage's May 1970 Stereo Review article on the history of whistling as an art. Stay tuned for new podcasts in the upcoming weeks. https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1970-05.pdf pages 68-72 http://www.monadnockfolk.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/jan_1983.pdf page 8

Hillel Schwartz is an American scholar and poet. His researches are broad and here he takes on the subject of whistling. If you want to read along, here is the link to the full lecture. https://www.academia.edu/50076365/Whistling_for_the_Hell_of_It

"Cher Amour, I beg of you please endure my taking a brief detour with somebody new. It's just that when in Rome I do as the Romans do." "When In Rome" Bill Evans/Tony Bennett (my favorite song) https://youtu.be/fj2S-Fr7P6Y This is another article from our old friend and hero Noel Coppage in the same year (1970) that he wrote "The Vanishing Art of Whistling." It's not directly about whistling, but it's an interesting tangent. I hope you don't mind. The Article: https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1970-02.pdf pages 78-80 Here's some other links of interest: Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling https://youtu.be/PgZY5iDQxKY Oscar George Theodore Sonneck's Book: "The Star Spangled Banner." https://archive.org/details/thestarspangledb00sonn Colin Kaepernick https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2016/08/colin_kaepernicks_stand_shows.html Aretha Franklin https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/16/aretha-franklin-controversial-national-anthem-219364/ Jose' Feliciano https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2019/04/12/jose-feliciano-susan-tigers-world-series Racism https://theintercept.com/2016/09/13/more-proof-the-u-s-national-anthem-has-always-been-tainted-with-racism/

An article written for Charles Dickens' magazine All The Year Round from 1873. The author (unknown--authors did not sign their articles) talks about all things whistling: etymology, legends, physiology, mentions in literature, superstitions, stories, etc. Links: article: https://archive.org/details/sim_all-the-year-round_1873-01-04_9_214/page/182/mode/2up Victor Borge's phonetic punctuation: https://youtu.be/TIf3IfHCoiE Mills Brothers "Nobody's Sweetheart", 1931 https://youtu.be/czwUPP8JEJY Mound City Blue Blowers "Darktown Strutters Ball", 1931 https://youtu.be/zDFR-ZlDwpk Joe St. Clair "Jawharp Boogie" https://youtu.be/Ctk6rysZKxI Article about Herr Von Joel https://london-overlooked.com/joel/ History of the Jaw Harp http://www.jewsharpguild.org/history.html Articles about talking machines: https://gizmodo.com/the-slightly-creepy-19th-century-machine-that-spoke-wit-768557068 https://www2.ling.su.se/staff/hartmut/kemplne.htm Peter Bastian is playing a straw like a double reed instrument https://youtu.be/0_UEPpsCMCA

What is the origin of the notorious wolf whistle? BBC's Alex Marshall takes us through its history. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180322-the-surprising-history-of-the-wolf-whistle#:~:text=The%20shepherd%20explained%20that%20in,mouths%2C%20then%20blow%20those%20notes.

If you haven't got it yet, I am pro-whistling. Robert Schauffler gives a more elegant and scholarly defense than I could ever give, and I am happy to read it for you. https://archive.org/details/sim_atlantic_1910-09_106_3/page/414/mode/2up

This is an editorial from The Independent weekly magazine, published on August 15th, 1912. I don't know the author; the editorial is not signed, but my guess is that it is Hamilton Holt. Here is a link to the article, the photos for the contest, and some other information, if you are so inclined. https://archive.org/details/sim_independent_1912-08-15_73_3324/page/396/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/sim_independent_1912-06-06_72_3314/page/n15/mode/2up

This is an article from 1982, written by Daniel H. Resneck for American Heritage. It focuses on Alice J. Shaw, one of the earlies recorded whistlers and an inspiration for whistling women, breaking the taboo that "Whistling women and crowing hens, never come to good ends." Here is a link to the article: https://www.americanheritage.com/whistling-women Here is an excellent article on Alice J. Shaw that seems to fill in many of the biographical gaps in her life: https://mediatedsignals.com/2019/02/17/mrs-shaw-conquers-the-world-or-adventures-in-19th-century-discography/

Charles Dudley Warner dismantles a common adage and concomitant superstition. Women are liberated to whistle. Here is a link to the article in the Internet Archives: https://archive.org/details/sim_harpers-magazine_1892-01_84_500/page/322/mode/2up

So far, this is my favorite article written about whistling. It was written by Noel Coppage for the May, 1970 issue of Stereo Review. It covers a lot of the great whistlers from the advent of recorded music through the early 20th Century. Has whistling vanished? Is there less whistling now than there was 50 years ago? https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1970-05.pdf Pages 68-72.

This was a great find on the many facets of whistling. T.F. Thiselton-Dyer was a folklorist and in this paper, he talks about many things related to whistling: mythology, superstition, folklore, drinking cups, whistling competitions, drinking contests, whistling oysters and much more. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_23/June_1883/Whistling

The previous episode on Peter F. Ostwald's paper was just a little taste. Now we get into his real specialty: psychology. Ostwald explores the methods of whistling, what the whistler experiences, what the listener experiences, some forms of abnormal psychology and much more. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002383095900200303

We continue our exploration of whistling in history, specifically in Greek and Roman literature. https://akroterion.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/164

This is THE source for answering the question, "Did Greeks and Romans whistle tunes?" A.V. van Stekelenburg takes us through different kinds of whistling and presents evidence for the existence or non-existence of musical whistling, catcalls, the wolf-whistle, semaphoric or signal whistling, etc. https://akroterion.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/164

Let's start with a simple history of whistling and of related topics in the study of the art of whistling. This is a paper written by the psychiatrist Peter F. Ostwald. There are few writers who tackle the subject of whistling and this paper is one of the few. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002383095900200303

I want to share with you my interest in whistling as an art and as an avocation through history. I am learning as I go along and I want to share that journey with you as I learn about whistling in literature, in recorded music and in many other areas. It doesn't matter if you can whistle or not. Maybe it's time to learn.