History
The singing airstream: whistling between biology and art
Whistling occupies a singular position in the landscape of human sound-making, poised delicately between the biological necessity of breath and the...
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History
History
The whistle as a primitive signal: before music, before language
Before music became an art form, before language acquired syntax, and long before humans externalized sound into instruments, the body itself...
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History
Iconic whistled hooks in pop culture history
While whistling albums are rare, whistled hooks have been responsible for some of the biggest earworms in music history. A single whistled refrain...
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History
Modern virtuosos: Andrew Bird and the Indie Revival
In the 21st century, the mantle of "premiere musical whistler" is held largely by Andrew Bird. An indie-rock violinist and singer-songwriter, Bird...
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History
The Maestro of the Spaghetti Western: Alessandro Alessandroni
If there is one sound that defines the American West in the global cultural imagination, it is not the banjo or the guitar, but the lonesome,...
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History
The competitive circuit
While the Vaudeville stage may have dimmed, the competitive spirit of whistling burns brightly in a niche but passionate international circuit....
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History
The Golden Age of Vaudeville
Today, whistling is often viewed as a casual habit or a novelty act, but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a celebrated discipline of...
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