I’ve read your article on it in the Journal, and I’m curious if there would be any chances/risks that I could ruin my C. It’s the only one I have, and I love it and it’s tone, but it just takes too much air.
Any advice??
fipple adjusting behavior always has its risks. I have a few dead whistles from tampering around too much.
Ah. I’ll keep that in mind.
You can buy a Clark whistle, fipple tweeked and nicely shaped from The Whistle Shop. I have one. I like it . . . it’s definatly not breathy and has a nice lower octave.
At least you won’t accedentally ruin the one you own.
Buy another Clarke Original and tweak that one. I think the clarkes are the easiest of all whistles to tweak. The metal is very soft and bends well. You can always bend it back. I just use thumb pressure and crimp the fipple down untill I’m happy with it. Usually the wood plug pops loose so you can move it around as well. Drive a nail through the side to stop it from moving and fill in the gaps with bees wax. It’s hard to mess these whistles up to bad.
I’ve heard of people crushing down the windway by biting on it, and being perfectly satisfied with the result. I tapped mine very gently with a rubber mallet over and over, and tested it after every tap, until I had it sounding right to me. Just be careful if you decide to adjust the blade. In my experience, that’s a much more sensitive area. I ruined a Shaw beyond repair by messing with the blade.
Jim McCabe, PhD (phypillus doctorus)