Tinwhistle is unique, I always knew it. Is there any other instrument in the world that can be improved with hammer, candle and glass of water, I wonder?
I’ve bought Clarke Original few weeks ago, but couldn’t play it - it had been taking too much air. I’ve flattened the windway a bit and filled holes around the fipple with hot stearin from the candle. That helped, but was not enough.
But two days ago I’ve got another idea. I’ve put the wistle in water, and left for two days, hoping that the fipple will become bigger (and windway - smaller).
Well, it did. And there was another effect: the position of the windway against the blade also changed a bit. And now I have completely different instrument.
Very pure sound, very few chiff. More backpressure. Small air requirements. And still in tune. However, breath control differs from other whistles I play, so it squeaks in my hands. But I’m sure it’s just a matter of practice.
Here are some recordings: http://breqwas.net/my/clarke_tweaked
I had really few time to make them, and my fingers are quilted in the mornings, so they are not very good. Anyway, that’s enough to hear the difference, I suppose
The only bad thing about that tweak is that I don’t know how stable it is. The wood will start drying out now, and I don’t know what happens with the fipple in such case. And I’m not sure it is good to keep storing it in the water.
every clarke I’ve ever known has eventually ended up with a loose fipple. I imagine this is because of the continued swelling/shrinking cycle just caused by playing.
I imagine you could oil the wood to slow down moisture transfer, but I dunno how well it’d work…I didn’t know a thing about oiling whistles back when I owned clarke originals.
Ok, take your thumb , flatten the windway some. adjust the fipple edge a tiny amount to get the airstream to hit right, you can do this a few times to check to see what you like best. when you get the windway a little smaller , put a flat toothpick on either the right or left side of the windway . Up against the edge of the tin, on the side and up to the end of the wood block on the fipple end, thumd bend it enough to hold it in. break offf the toothpick. Now get a nailset or something similiar, be sure your wood block is where you want it to be from now on, the lay the whistle on its side and use ahammer to whack the nailset to push some of the tin into the wood block, theres gotta be pics of this somewhere, sorry I dont have any. do it on both sides. It will take up some of the slack in the tin that was caused by the thumb bend and keep it where you want it.
I have done this a few times, I am no expert but I have come out with Clarke originals that play easier , and sound sweeter. If you screw it up . Buy 2 more and try again . I have a Shaw// Freeman tweaked d coming to me , and I hope I can learn some more about this process from checking it out..
I hope this works for you, TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK!! Steve
