Hi all,
For the past few weeks whenever I play my whistle I have noticed a buzzing sound in it. I have washed it out with water a few times to clean out any dust that might be in it and it hasn’t helped. I have had this whistle for about 4 months and play it regularly, what is the life span of a whistle? I mean, it shouldn’t be going out after only 4 months should it?
Thanks,
Peace be with you all,
Sara
Yes, the life span of a whistle is
years, depending on the whistle.
Some whistles (e.g. Copelands) are
made to last for centuries. What sort of whistle is it that is
buzzing?
Really, centuries - that’s a long time. My whistle that’s buzzing is an Acorn Low “D”. I think I’ve read on this board that Acorns aren’t good whistles, is this true?
Peace,
Sara
Acorns are notorious for buzzing, but it is odd that it hasn’t buzzed since you got it.
They are very sensitive to breath pressure, and my guess would be that you’re getting more confident and enthusiastic in your playing and unintentionally blowing a bit harder than you were.
That’s assuming that the whistle hasn’t gotten damaged in some way, of course.
Experiment with backing off a bit with your breath pressure and see if that doesn’t lessen the buzz.
P.S. I think you meant to say soprano D instead of low D. 
raindog1970:
Hi! You are absoultely right; I just got done experimenting with the air pressure and found that slacking off in breath made the buzzing stop! Thanks so much for info! It helped a lot!
Actually, when I got this whistle it had a little sticker on it and it said “Acorn Pennywhistle Low D”. Hmm, is there no such thing as low ‘D’?
Thanks again,
Peace,
Sara
There is such a thing as a low D, but they are almost 2’ long and Acorn doesn’t make one.
By the way, I recommend a Dixon when you get ready to take on the low D… they are excellent whistles with a very comfortable finger stretch and the holes aren’t too large.
Hhmm, then I wonder why this sticker had low ‘D’ on it - that’s weird. Okay, thanks, I’ve been looking for a new whistle to add to my collection that I’m starting and I think I’ll look for a Dixon.
Sara
“Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky, imagine all the people living for today” - John Lennon
[ This Message was edited by: Sara on 2001-11-05 13:37 ]
Hi Sara - you may not want to jump to low D right away, but the Dixon soprano Ds (same key/octave as your Acorn) are very good as well. I have both the tuneable and nontuneable. I find I like the nontuneable slightly better, and it’s less expensive, too.
–Beth
Hi Sara,
I highly recommend to work your way down to the low D… getting a C,Bb,A,on down. Your fingers will gradually stretch and you won’t get so frustated with a low D. For the “high” whistles I prefer the cylindrical, the “low” whistles the conical’s sound better and are easier to finger. For what it’s worth, I got a chance to play a Copeland low D…I am saving up my pennies.
Cheers, Virginia
…I am a rain dog too…brump bump bump bum bum bump bum…
Hey Sara, how did Yesterday work out for you? I see your a Beatle fan. Have you tried Fool On The Hill yet? Might be a good whistle song.
If your looking for more whistles check out the modified Clarkes sold at the whistle shop. Might be worth the money.
Peace, Jack Orion
avanutria and Tir na Ceol:
Thanks for the suggestions. Are the holes for the low whistles farther apart? Is that why I should work my way down? Sorry if I keep asking questions - I’m new to this and the different brands and keys and everything is confusing to me sometimes. Hope you don’t mind me asking these questions! One more thing, what is a tuneable whistle?
jackorian:
Hi! How are you? I’m great. Actually, I found Yesterday quite difficult and I was never able to play it - I think it was because of the sharps in it, I haven’t gotten down how to do them yet. But I’m still going to try to learn Yesterday in the future because it’s one of my favorite songs. Thank you for asking by the way! Oh yes, I’m a major Beatles and John Lennon fan! I’ve just recently become a fan. Are you? I’ve never heard of Fool On The Hill, is it a Beatles song? Okay, I think I will look for one, I haven’t seen the modified Clarkes, what is the difference between the modified and the originals? I have a Clarke ‘C’ and really like it.
Peace,
Sara
Hi Sara,
You can check out the modified clarkes at the Whistle Shop. You can get there through the C&F links page. From what I understand, the modified clarkes take less air, so you can play longer on a breath. I modified my Clarke D & C by crimping the top of the fipple, but this loosend up the wood plug, so I need to deal with that issue. I build furniture so I’m thinking of making new plugs for mine, shouldn’t be a prob. But I would suggest just buying a modified version from Thom at the whistle shop, he does a couple extra little things, to them. Plus he has the solid black whistles in stock, they do not have the gold diamonds. You’ll have to request the solid black if thats what you want. I want an unfinished Clarke. That would be so cooool!
About the Beatle song Fool On The Hill, it comes from the album Magical Mystery Tour. It’s a great album containing John’s classic Strawberry Fields, and Paul’s Penny Lane. What a single that was. I’de love to find an original 7" vinyl of that one. Fool On the Hill is a Paul number, it has flute in it so thats why I think it might be fun for whistle. Not sure the key though. I’ll have to check that one out myself. Personaly I dig John more myself
Peace, Jack Orion
Hey, I just picked up my D and played the melody, there are some #'s in there but not to many, you just need to place your finger over half the hole to raise the pitch.
Ok here’s the deal I just checked out the disc. The flute comes in on D. but goes down from there, so a D whistle can’t hit the low notes. You could start on the second octave D but that would mess up the nice run up the scale from low to high. Still works though. So the whistle key it should be played on is an A. On an A whistle the top hand down bottom three holes open is a D, and you can follow the melody going down from there. Key of D plays super easy on an A whistle. Also the main melody is played on a recorder (could be a whistle, hard to tell). It’s a great song, and with a couple half holes you can play it on your D.
Good luck, have fun, and whistle free!
Hi Jack,
I’d like to have a modified Clarke if it takes less air. That’s one thing about the Clarke I have that I don’t like. If I play my Clarke for too long it makes me extremely dizzy because it takes so much air. What is the wood plug? I’m not very familiar with the parts of the whistle. Okay, I’ll look at the Whistle Shop. That would be totally groovy if you could get an unfinished Clarke, I wonder where a person could find an unfinished whistle?
Oh cool! I’ll have to look for that album, I’ve heard of The Magical Mystery Tour before but didn’t know much about it. One of my all time favorite songs is Strawberry Fields - I listen to it all the time. I also like Penny Lane. That’s so cool that it has a flute in it, I would really like to try to learn that. I dig John too, do like John Lennon as a solo artist? If so, what songs of his do you like? I like all of them but two of my favorites are Imagine and God. 
Really, I’ve tried sharps before and have found that convering only half of the hole isn’t an easy thing to do!
So I need to look for an A whistle to play Fool On The Hill? What is the “top hand down bottom three holes”? I understand “bottom three holes”, but not “top hand down”. Sorry that I don’t understand.
Peace,
Sara
Sara, I’m not sure if plug is the right term for it. I’m refering to the wood part on the Clarke’s. I think I answered the D whistle question just now on the “Fool” post.
About John,you know I dig most of John’s stuff, I always have a hard time with a “favorite” because it changes from day to day. Lately I’m realy into his song “Beautiful Boy” off his last album “Double Fantasy” It’s one of his most honest songs. Written for his son Sean, it gets me because he just went through so much stuff for ten or so years. He looked so forward to hanging out with Sean and watching him grow. Too sad a subject to write anymore on.
The last part, I mean the top three holes closed, or fingers down, or top hand down…ect. I’m sure there are a few people out there, who could come up with a bunch of creative ways to put it. My terminology seems to drift down the odd path of the river, sometimes leaving people for a swim.
And so the wheel of Fortune turns. Peace, Jeff
[ This Message was edited by: jackorion on 2001-11-07 22:13 ]
If your making a new plug for your whistle, you might want to use cedar for wood or preferably delrin for plastic. Delrin is available through http://www.usplastic.com
Because I work in a woodshop, I’ll use wood, but deralin would be interesting in a clarke. I’m curious why ceder? I was thinking of cherry or walnut.
Cheers, Jeff
CEDAR absorbs moisture quite well. Cherry
or Walnut being “Hardwoods” don’t. Almost
all makers of wooden fipple flutes (i.e.
Pennywhistles, Recorders, etc.) use cedar
for the plug. It’s my understanding that quite a few European recorder makers get there cedar from of all places Tennessee. Good Luck!
Kelhorn Mike
Cedar also has a natural resistance to moisture induced rot - which is why I used it to build my daughter’s playground & sandbox. Something in cedar keeps the green nasties from growing on/in it when it’s wet.
jackorion,
Oh, now I know what part of the whistle you’re talking about - I think the wood part is called the fipple, am I wrong? I’m about to go reply to your reply on the “Fool” post.
I like most of John’s stuff too. I have his ablums - “Imagine” and “John Lennon Live in New York City” - both are very good and I absolutely dig the live one. I like “Beautiful Boy” too, and the first time I heard it I almost started crying because I thought about that exact thing, about how he was looking forward to seeing Sean grow up and how he never got the chance to do it… now on a happier note
Now I know what you mean, that’s sort of what I thought you meant, I just wasn’t sure. I like it when people use their own terminology, even if it does drift down the odd path of the river - it makes a person unique!!!
Peace,
Sara
[ This Message was edited by: Sara on 2001-11-08 13:54 ]
Right on Sara! Thanks for the info Mike and Dan. I’ll be digging for some cedar tomorrow.
Always bright nad merry, Jeff