Okay, you all can just shoot me if this sounds too stupid. On second thought, just ridicule me…'cause I’m pretty sure that this IS gonna sound too stupid…
Anyway, why hasn’t anybody made a whistle with a fipple that is MEANT to be adjusted? A while back, I made a copper D. While I was messing with getting the fipple adjusted (moving the block back and forth, changing where the blade hit the windstream, etc, etc) I came across several nice sounds, but alas, in the end, I had to choose one to the exclusion of the others.
It’d be cool to have a rack & pinion fipple block with power assist blade adjustment!
Alrighty, maybe this has been the mere ramblings of a fool…bet then again, that’s what they said about Leonardo DaVinci (or is it DeCaprio?)
To all you whistle makers out there…if you build it, I’m sure SOMEBODY would buy it!
If you do a search for John McHaffie, you’ll find that this type of fipple has already been in use. Unfortunately, you’ll also find that the chap disappeared from this community leaving many waiting for whistles, which they had paid for in advance, to arrive. The whistles themselves received mixed reviews.
It is amazing how rarely such questionable behaviour has surfaced in this community. I’ve actually bought a whistle from someone who offered to send it to me first and asked that I try it out to decide whether to send him back the whistle or the cash! I guess this episode with JM proves that there is indeed a bit of reality here. Thankfully, it’s rare!
If I may be forgiven for mentioning the Forbidden Instrument…
There are high-end recorders which offer a moveable block…in essense, the adjustable fipple you are asking about.
I see no reason why a whistle couldn’t be made the same way. Basically the block would have an adjustment screw or screws that could change the taper and height of the windway. Close it up for more resistance and more volume and a more penetrating sound. Open it up for a softer, more traditional sound that takes more air.
It would be interesting to see somebody take this idea and run with it.
John McHaffie made something like that at one point. One of the most attractive whistles I’ve seen at a distance when polished. I played one once. The problem with adjustable things like that is that they slide around when you are playing them. This was the case for John’s and I think he had a good design for it. You can certainly get different sounds out of a whistle by moving the fipple around, but you alter the tuning (absolute and maybe internal tuning to some point), bell tone volume, total volume, volume difference between octaves.
Most accomplished whistle players want their whistle to respond the same way every time. They can get different sounds by the use of fingers and breath pressure. I think making a whistle adjustable in any way, other than making it tunable, really ruins it’s value as a musical instrument. While it may be desireable, I think the overwhelming majority of whistlers would not be interested in such a thing.
(I’m already being outnumbered in that sentiment in the time it took to write this)
[ This Message was edited by: Mark_J on 2002-04-08 17:21 ]
So I’m not crazy after all…good news I guess. Now if we could just find a responsible whistle maker…
I doubt that I will ever play along with another instrument or singer, so tuning is of little importance. WhOA is, however, a powerful force that drives many of us to want what we cannot have.
[ This Message was edited by: vaporlock on 2002-04-08 17:34 ]
I think a lot of makers would steer clear of this concept because of potential voicing problems and damage that would inevitably occur through incorrect adjustment.Moving an injection moulded fipple is one thing,messing around with the block is another.There would be little point in a maker fine tuning his or her instrument knowing that the whole picture could change as soon as it leaves the workshop. Peace, Mike
What if - I’m starting to make whistles/flutes - some of my fipple designs come apart for a thorough cleaning - what if a maker supplied several blocks in different lengths to provide the adjustment? this would provide different sounds without the problems of something sliding while playing - Just a thought.
[ This Message was edited by: D Brooker on 2002-04-09 07:24 ]
McHaffie whistles didn’t have a sliding block. The windway was formed with a larger piece of half-round copper tubing over the aluminun body (similar to Silkstones) It was this outside copper piece that moved, making the fipple window longer or shorter depending on if it was moved toward the labium or away from it.
The problem of unintentional movement has already been noted. Also, I found that once I located the optimal position for me I didn’t want to adjust any more.
The adjustable fipple is a unique idea, but I don’t see a lot of demand for it. That would not sell me on a whistle.
Just my take.
Vinny
PS There are easy ways to mute a good playing whistle to make it quieter if you so desire.
I have a Hoover Low E (which is a wonderful whistle) which has an adjustable block which covers the windway. If you want to experiment with the change in tone you can get this is a nice place to start.
I’ll try and put a couple of MP3’s on my site tonite of the two extremes of position - one gives a very clear bright sound, the other is very woody.
One of my early whistle-making attempts involved a wood fipple/mouthpiece over a copper pipe. Unfortunately, I carved too great a distance between the windway opening and the blade.
As it was already a “fipple failure” and having nothing to loose, I sawed it in half, seperating the windway half from the blade half. This allowed me to move the windway up and down relative to the blade, and by shimming the thing, vary the distance between windway and blade.
What I found was that the best sound was obtained with the blade intersecting the windway air stream about half way, NOT with the blade aligned with the winday floor, and the best distance was a function of the notes that you wanted to get out of the whistle. The distance that gave the best fundamental tone did not give the best notes higher up (it was sort of a compromise).
There are some VERY good technical documents on the web about organ pipe voicing (search on “Wade Blocker”)that apply to fipples. The theory is the same.
You really don’t need to reset the block on a whistle if it is set right in the first place.
However, if someone replaces the body of whistle with a different size body it can be necessary to adjust the block because it wasn’t set well for the lower key. (lower keys are pickier then higher keys).
There are Recorders with adjustable fipples that cost thousands of dollars. Even these instruments require a screwdriver adjustment and it only adjusts the thickness of the windway. No rack and pinion stuff.
You have all given me a bunch to think about and many of you have made very good points…but I still want one…I need one…I got the whistle jones…
Richard, I’d love to hear your adjustable Hoover. Let me know when you get those sounds clips up on the web.
To recap, so far we have:
Blocks moving back and forth
Thickness of the windway adjustments
Window size adjustments
The first two I am able to do on my Clarke and have come up with and incredible range of pleasant sounds with varying degrees of playability…the only problem is that if I keep doing these adjustments its going to brake the whistle and also I can never reproduce a previous nice sound.
I guess, this is going to have to be my new project (normaly I build boats…but I’ve run out of space for them).
DK, thanks for the info on Wade Blocker…hopefully I’ll be able to put it to good use.
I think you all have overlooked a “cheepie whistle” that has an adjustable fipple plug…
The Susato has a removable fipple plug.
Just gently push a stick on the inside and it slides out. A dedicated “Tweaker” can add layers of adhesive-backed foil or tape to the inner plug face or the windway floor face to extend the fipple or reduce the windway(respectively)or both.
As for reducing the size of the “window”,the only way I know that is foolproof is to build up layers of thinned PVC cement at the sides of the window and labium ramp. Test after each dry coat to gauge results. This will lower the fundamental frequency,but increased breath pressure will correct for this.
Good point about the Susato and its removable block.
The Susato whistles I’ve played already have a very tight voicing and really good resistance for a whistle, though.
I’ll grant you it doesn’t have the resistance or the voicing of my Adege recorders, but neither does it have an octave vent to assist on the high register, so I don’t know how much further you could take it as far as reducing the windway while keeping it playable.
I think this is the very thing that so many people don’t like about the Susato and its tone: resistance and a tight voicing lead to an edgy, focused tone with substantial volume.
I agree with you on all points but two…(1)The “octave vent” is the C# (top)tonehole,just pinch it open and see for yourself.(2)The Susato fipple plug can also be filed/sanded to enlarge the windway. I suggest care and small stages for this though.
If you were to make a mouthpiece with a screw which acts as a securing agent for the plug, you could have a whistle which could be very, very adjustable. I could probably do it with my “quiet” model since there’s so much available metal in the mouthpiece. Another possibility is simply to make the plug snug enough so that when you slide another piece over it and the tube, it locks the whole mess down (can you see I’ve played with this before?).
Peace, Mike