Hi,
Just recieved my Clarkes original today, one black with the diamonds the other in natural.
These were from Hobgoblin great service.
Could’nt believe just how quiet they are, just the thing for sessions in the living room. Just what i have been looking for.
My Feadog so so loud, well much louder than the Clarkes Orig.
I have’nt really given them a good blowing yet, due to the old cold virus which has latched on to me..
Another thing, a while ago there was a topic about treating the wooden fipple with some kind of oil.. Any ideas on this, or should it be left alone?? The arcives seem to be out of service..
Thanks Alot
HAPPY CHRISTMAS
Tony Fletcher Sheffield Eng…
I like the Clarke original as well, especially for at-home practice or when you have a reason to be quiet.
Also, of course, the Clarke has a strong and long history, which most other whistles do not.
I don’t treat the wooden block, myself, with anything, and I have a Clarke C that I bought in 9th grade that still plays.
Best wishes,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
Add my name to the list of people who appreciate the Clarke original.
Hi,
As you might have guessed from my posts on the suject I’m a Clarkes Orig. fan. I misplaced my first and had to go out and get another. You really have to try one to fully appreciate it. Regarding care of the wooden plug I have’nt found it nesscary but I suppose you could treat it like a wooden flute and coat it with bore oil.
Cheers, Mac
P.S. Glad you like it
I would also like to express my appreciation for the aforementioned whistle.
I really like it when I’m playing around the house. I forgot it at home once while I was visiting from university. Drove me crazy (well, crazier anyway). But I’m home for Christmas now and reunited with my clarke!
A.J.
Edited to add: I also have not treated the wooden fipple. It hasn’t bothered me in the least.
[ This Message was edited by: Snuh on 2002-12-18 10:58 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Snuh on 2002-12-18 10:59 ]
I’m a Clarke Original lover, too. My grandmother gave me one back in 1974. It was my first whistle and it’s still getting played regularly.
I don’t think you need to treat the block, but I think it can feel kind of scratchy, and that feeling can be avoided by waxing it. I was using paraffin until Tom Dowling converted me to the use of good old Chapstick, which is much easier to apply. It’s made for your lips anyway, and presumably has already passed FDA muster.
Another Clarke Original here, mine with the natural finish. The tarnished fingerholes give it character.
[ This Message was edited by: withak on 2002-12-17 17:45 ]
Count me in.
Nice tone, in tune, easy to play, easy/able to overblow all the way to 3rd octave G [in my collection, only Gens have that same ease and ability - most whistles that I have are in tune up to 3rd octave D only, after which you can kind of get a flattish 3rd octave E at the max].
I find half-holing very easy (ie, you actually get clear non-muddy notes quite easily) despite the small holes. Also, unlike the Sweetone or Meg, I find its conical shape comfortable for my hands and fingers.
Only thing is that my bottom lip tends to get stuck on the wooden fipple if I play it too long. Volume is also too soft for playing in my church band even when miked up.
I find half-holing very easy (ie, you actually get clear non-muddy notes quite easily) despite the small holes.
I agree, and my experience with both flutes and whistles has been that smaller-holed instruments are typically much easier to half-hole than larger-holed instruments.
This is especially true in flutes. I have found half-holing to be close to impossible on a Seery Pratten but acceptably easy on a Rudall and Rose (such as the McGee).
Best wishes,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
I’d leave the wood block alone
unless some good reason arises
not to.
I had the greatest Clarke D…sniff… 
TW
With all of these great responses on this thread, I’m left wondering why I don’t like my Clarke C… I get dizzy playing it!! 
Andrea ~*~
Well…(glances around for people with things to throw)…I had a Clarke and didn’t like it. The wooden fipple irritated my lip to where I couldn’t play it. Several suggestions, including Chapstick or coating the fipple with clear nail polish, seemed to help that problem. However, when also trying to tweak the thing to get rid of the too-intense breathiness, I killed it. No memorial service was held.
Susan
Hi Andrea,
I got myself an Original C as I liked the D so well. I’m not to keen on the C either, it sort off feels like blowing down a pipe, I don’t have a C I like, only other’s I tried were a Generation and Sweetone though. I would’nt mind trying a Dixon but I’ve convinced myself I need a Low F. So many whistles, so little cash.
Cheers, Mac
I have to agree with the three of you on the Clarke C. I have tried to love it, I play it every day but it is just beyound me. I get nothing but wierd sounding air (like wind in the rigging)on the higher notes and, well its just no fun to play. I guess I will have to get a D just to see if I can be a Clarke orig. fan.(I do like the Sweetone in both C and D though)
[ This Message was edited by: Blackbeer on 2002-12-18 16:28 ]
“like wind in the rigging” …what an absolutely lovely description of too much breathiness or chiff or whatever-you-want-to-call-it.
Susan
On 2002-12-18 16:27, Blackbeer wrote:
like wind in the rigging
Maybe your Clarke needs tweaking if it makes it unplayable. Now what you so beautifully coined is to me :
- a quality
- a proof one doesn’t need proper spelling to write beautifully (he, he…)
I’ll guess this is why I like Clarke originals (maybe also because it was my first whistle) and why I bought my second Low D, an early Alba (“ribbed” decoration).
Wind in the rigging
Woosh on the moors.
Ian Anderson on the flute…
My first low was a Kerry (plastic fipple). If you like back pressure, you got it ; if you like the bell note sounding like a Kawasaki triple 2-stroke exhaust, go for it.
This notwithstanding, I don’t dislike this Kerry. It has a sound of its own.
I heard “perfect” whistles played by some of the best musicians. And I prefer them unperfect, chiffy and/or breathy. Without them, I would have never started to learn music, and an instrument, when already aged humpty-seven… Close competition was U-pipe, but this was a bit expensive and just unavailable around here Far Ouest.
I also like the Clarke original best, but then I’ve only bought cheap end whistles so far! I found that the wooden fipple tends to get wet too fast, and you can’t shake the moisture off and it affects playing,so I did the ‘soak it in oil for 5 minutes’ treatment, and then about every other time I play it, I put some chap stick on the outside part and rub it in well. Helps a lot, and of the cheap whistles, its the only one I’ve found so far that is accurate in hitting all the notes; my other whistles seem slightly flat or sharp on some notes. It’s now my favorite whistle!! And it’s purty, too!
Ah Zubivka; you make it so hard to be opionyanated.(hows that for spelling) Alright I will try to discover the charicture of this whistle. I will give my lifes breath to this whistle untill it sings for me. Thank you for the lesson.:roll:
Tom
It’s “opiated”
