CP: Dalbergia and Kafka

Whistle
1

Hi All!

Sorry for the long non-posting.
I often read here, but tend to lurk a lot these days!
“Whistledom” is in good shape thanks to C&F and the community it serves - and all those others of like-mind-and-music.

CP is commercial post, but it never feels commercial to me.
I can do updates for the community.

Commercially, the delrin Visor model is doing well.
It’s just the same design rendered in delrin - it works much like wood, but there’s some steps thta need not be done. Like binding the grain - that means less binding-rings .. and a lot less maintenance.

I get conflicted by the petrochemical source of delrin, but this is the world we live in.

Lately, all of the “dalbergia” species have been listed as endangered. This includes African Blackwood and Cocobolo.
After a lot of dialogue with my federal authorities, it is un-commercial to try to export any whistle made in these woods.
My numbers come to about $200(aud) above and beyond the usual cost-price inputs when the fees and certifications are all calculated. After that $200, I get to not starve.
So I can only offer the remaining scraps of my stock to Australian players. (The restrictions apply only to export).

The Kafka side of this is that the restrictions only apply to wood cut “pre-convention” (which was January this year).
Any instrument-maker will know that no wood can be used for whistles which is not at least 3 years cut.
But, by a quirk of “justice”, such considerations are not valid in political discourse or mainstream considerations of “justice”.

The blunt instrument of democracy leaves no room for instrument-makers.
And we are happy to rule the gaps between the hammer-blows.

That instrument is so blunt that there is probably more room for real people than just people.
…

Delrin is going well. The making of it is easier than wood, The voicing of it is harder than wood, the sound of it is not wood, but it is not bad.

My long project towards low-D nears.
Along the way are the mid-keys G-to-Bb.
These will appear in the new year on my website.
They are long in thought and development and will not be rushed.

2018 is looking like a good year for making whistles!

The playing of whistles has been good in every year!
Keep playing!

Mitch

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Delrin is fun stuff to work with. I find that I have to reel in the long ribbon of material that comes off the lathe tool or it all jams up at the working end. I get a kick out of the little black rosettes
that form during gundrilling. I still use a full set of metal rings for a consistent look.
When I first started using Delrin I had a hard time getting the rings glued in place. I wrote to Dupont for bonding advice, and the rep wrote back to me “Good luck!”. The only thing they could recommend was some very toxic industrial adhesive only available in large quantities.

3

I’ve had and played one of Mitch’s delrin Visor whistles for about a year. It is, by far and away, the most true and exciting whistle that I have ever played - and I’ve owned or played nearly all of the top whistles in the high D and high C family.

This delrin whistle has beautiful tone, is very even across the octaves, is a pretty thing to hold, requires no maintenance, minimal warm up time, a perfect breath vs sound ratio, and in true OZ fashion - the Visor sounds and acts like a whistle should: no squeaks or squawks, or dead notes, or octave breaches, no out of tune cross fingerings. It produces a beautiful bird-like tone that makes you want to pick it up and play some more.

I’ve shed nearly all of the whistles from my kit except for the cream of the crop: the OZ Visor D, a Goldie high D non-tuneable, and a Chieftain mezzo C tunable (IMO the best C whistle out there). There are, of course, other whistles I keep for other purposes, (Milligan D Session for a little more volume, OZ D & C Vambrace because I love these whistles, Chieftain Custom D if I want to be on top of rather than inside the volume level of a gig, Overton/Goldie A for composing/practice), but for gigging, the delrin Visor is my go-to whistle.

Thanks Mitch.

4

Funny, I didn’t care for mine (didn’t think it was much better than the D). Nice lower end, but no good at the top when I’m just not interested in whistles that can’t do two full octaves without trick fingerings (which it required for the top C# and in-tune top D).

5

As most long term whistle troubadours know, Phil’s whistles can vary from instrument to instrument. I might have gotten lucky with my particular mezzo C, who knows? I found that it conforms well to my playing style, and does require a couple of alternate fingerings, but I simply remember to invoke those when I pick it up. I find the breath to tone ratio (some call pressure) to be great for me, (I tend to be a hard blower).

Having had the Chieftain mezzo D, too, (which I quickly passed on), I found no comparison between the D and C. The D was a difficult to control sledge hammer, and the C is a nice tool with excellent tone/control. The Chieftain Custom, which is similar to mezzo D in size, has a completely different tone, a slightly diminished volume level from the standard mezzo D, and none of the harshness, but, being made of wood, does require more maintenance.

Subjectively yours,

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Having seen videos of the Chieftain Custom and been tempted, I’m pretty sure it’s better without yet having tried one. It sounds good, plays at pitch (there are numerous videos backing up my personal experience of the Mezzo D being tuned way sharp) and appears to go cleanly to the top. All so unexpected having found two Mezzo Ds equally problematic that I’ve found myself wondering what’s different about the McManus body and the way it works with the head!

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Hi Mitch.

Although I prefer wood whistles for enjoyment of playing the delrin whistle from Oz is wonderful. I’m just happy that I got my wood whistles before all the latest restrictions set in.