Making a Loud Whistle: Universal Across Cultures?

[Stephen Tashi]

As portrayed in USA movies, I've often seen an actor hold his fingers to the edge of his mouth and make a loud whistle. I've only seen one or two people who could do this in person. (A sound effects technician could supply the whistle for a film.) I don't think of this as common scene in foreign films. Is this type of whistling (or it's portrayal in films) universal across cultures?

 

[Borek]

I can whistle on two fingers so loud my ears start to ring, so at least in Poland it is a known art

 

[fresh_42]

Some are better
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silbo_Gomero
and some are worse.

 

[fresh_42]

I can whistle on two fingers so loud my ears start to ring, so at least in Poland it is a known art

In Germany as well, although I never learned it properly.

 

[DrClaude]

I had a couple of friends in Canada who could do it, one too well (my ears might still be ringing to this day...). I have also seen two ways of doing it. The first involved using the index and middle fingers of both hands, forming a V coming out of the mouth, the other using the index and thumb of a single hand to form a C.

In Germany as well, although I never learned it properly.

Me too, unfortunately

Edit: Obviously, nowadays everything is on YouTube

 

[hutchphd]

I have a vivid memory from childhood (60 years ago in the Midwest USA) assiduously learning to do the whistle. Seems I thought it would be good to make that much noise in an emergency...it is occasionally very useful, especially on the water. I am an ambi- and bi- dextrous whistler. There... I just scared the cat...

 

[DrClaude]

it is occasionally very useful, especially on the water. I am an ambi- and bi- dextrous whistler.

So you are an amphibidextrous whistler?

 

[hutchphd]

Actually the the two handed version is louder so that is exactly so.

 

[PeroK]

As portrayed in USA movies, I've often seen an actor hold his fingers to the edge of his mouth and make a loud whistle. I've only seen one or two people who could do this in person. (A sound effects technician could supply the whistle for a film.) I don't think of this as common scene in foreign films. Is this type of whistling (or it's portrayal in films) universal across cultures?

Well, "Steve", you need a lesson from Lauren Bacall:

 

[hutchphd]

Its even better when you help...best line in any movie ever.

 

[OCR]

Lol. . . I can still do this one. .



In fact, when I was a kid, I practiced this technique so much. . . I had this same

issue. .

I feel dizzy

.

 

[OCR]

Edit: Obviously, nowadays everything is on YouTube

Interesting. . . I've never seen that before ? .

.

 

[symbolipoint]

I eventually learned to use the two-fingers in the mouth method and became good at it, but I seem to have lost the ability. I have been able to use something like the method shown in post #11 from much sooner and still can do it well today. I would not doubt that both kinds of methods have crossed cultures.

 

[DaveC426913]

My wife can do it.
She has been known to stun me and drop me in my tracks.

I'd say she can hit at least 110db.

 

[nuuskur]

Yes, we used to catch each other's attention like that playing some sports as kids: soccer/basketball.I can still do it, if need be. When I was teaching in high school, I used to whistle like that to kill the chatter. I whistle more with my lips, though, when I'm whistling along a tune I'm listening to or some such.

I use the thumb + index variation.

 

[Borek]

I have also seen two ways of doing it. The first involved using the index and middle fingers of both hands, forming a V coming out of the mouth, the other using the index and thumb of a single hand to form a C.

Add a third one that involves just a pinky.

There is also a fourth method (although I am not sure if it counts as the same whistle) that uses just a tongue. Matter of forming it in a correct V shape, tried to learned it as a teenager, but miserable failed. For some reason it is connected here with pigeonkeepers - in older Polish books when you see a passage "he whistled like a pigeonkeeper" it would mean just that.

What the guy on the OCR's video does is a different sound and technique (we called it "making an owl").

 

[DrClaude]

Interesting. . . I've never seen that before ? .

View attachment 268113
.

It's not the first time I have seen that. I don't know the reason why some youtubers disallow embedding.

 

[symbolipoint]

OCR, about post #12
Could you post the address of the video you try to "show" in post #12? Channel name and video title?

 

[Borek]

OCR, about post #12
Could you post the address of the video you try to "show" in post #12? Channel name and video title?

t3ttreU6ugk (youtube id, put it after ?v=)

 

[DrClaude]

OCR, about post #12
Could you post the address of the video you try to "show" in post #12? Channel name and video title?

It's not a video, it is a picture of what @OCR saw after clicking the video in post #5.

 

[DennisN]

I can do it too. I just tried to see how loud it got. It made my cat jump up quickly from her resting position.

There's another fun thing you can do out in nature:

You can take a thin long leaf, like a wide grass leaf, and put it between/along your thumbs and stretch it to keep it as rigid as possible. If you then blow between the thumbs, it can make a very loud, screechy and annoying sound, which likely confuses nearby wildlife.

 

[Mark44]

There's another fun thing you can do out in nature:

The two-finger whistle is something I do out in the wilderness to let bears know that I'm around or to stay in touch with a fellow hiker who's out of sight.

I've been on hikes in areas where there are multiple elk paths, some of which are often blocked by fallen trees that are too large in diameter to climb over. In broad river bottoms like this with several trails, a buddy and I will fan out, so we can keep from getting too far separated by loud whistling.

 

[symbolipoint]

OCR, about post #12
Could you post the address of the video you try to "show" in post #12? Channel name and video title?

t3ttreU6ugk (youtube id, put it after ?v=)

Thanks Borek. I figured out what to do BASED ON what you explained.

The misicgeniuses channel on YouTube. Something he did not describe is that you can unfold the outer-wrapped fingers to change the pitch.

 

[symbolipoint]

I am not sure of the "embed" choice in the share feature, but what happens if someone clicks "share" and tries to copy the link address?

pasting that here:
which is the address aech tee tee pee es, colon double slash youtu [dot] be slash t3ttreU6ugk, all without spaces.

 

[Borek]

I could post the link, but wasn't sure it won't get modified/analyzed by forum software, these "smart" solutions can be PITA.