Steve Herbst C’67 can whistle in and whistle out. He can whistle while he smiles. And he can whistle in three octaves, simulating an oboe or a piccolo. He has whistled for royalty, cruise-ship passengers, and conventions of his puckering peers.
But don’t ask this champion whistler exactly how he combines tongue and palate to perform such sophisticated music. “I don’t know how to teach somebody to whistle,” Herbst says. “You have to have a basic innate talent. You have to try to produce a sound without knowing how it happens.”
Herbst, who won first-place classical and second-place overall at this year’s International Whistler’s Convention and Competition in Louisburg, North Carolina, says he’s aware that “at first, the notion of whistling strikes many people as odd and something to be compared to hog calling. One woman asked me to sound the ‘winning whistle’ for her, as though it was one piercing blast. [But] competitive concert whistling is an art form.” Herbst says he takes “a great deal of pride, pleasure, and satisfaction watching people’s faces transform from bemusement to disbelief to awe during my performances.”
Taking after his musically inclined father, Herbst practiced whistling everywhere he went as a child: “walking to school, walking home from school. My friends would have to go inside and practice piano. I could stay outside and play”—and practice whistling at the same time.
Herbst’s public concert performances began with the Penn Glee Club. Former director Bruce Montgomery used to whistle to the accompaniment of two of the group’s pieces. One night Montgomery came down with “dry mouth” and Herbst volunteered to take over the whistling. The highpoint of those years was an invitation to perform a haiku piece at the Paley House in honor of the Japanese Prince Mikassa and his bride when they once visited the United States. “I had to simulate a Japanese reed flute hitting high E-flat with a grace note and no vibrato.”
Though his career is in advertising and employee communications, Herbst whistles professionally and competitively, having performed in Avery Fisher and Carnegie halls as well as on the Live with Regis television show. A CD is in the works (Steve “The Whistler” Herbst Does Broadway & Beyond), and Herbst was preparing for another convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in October—Puckerama 2001.
Intensive practice usually begins a couple of weeks before competitions. “I’m walking down the street with a Discman with headphones on and whistling to the piece to make sure I’m right on the money with it,” Herbst says. “I’m driving my wife crazy in the car and driving people in my office crazy. They have to be acknowledged for their tolerance and forbearance.”
For a sample of Herbst’s whistling, listen to an mp3 file (700k) of the Star Spangled Banner. Herbst’s website is (www.SteveTheWhistler.com). He can be e-mailed at <[email protected]>.
