Feadog Dog?

Whistle
1

Well, I’m new to the world of woodwinds, and so maybe I’m doing something wrong, but here goes:

I just bought my second whistle, a Feadog soprano in “D”. My first was the Clarke “Celtic,” which I really like :smiley: …

Anyway, after about 20 minutes of playing, anything above C# won’t sound, or is fuzzy, and any efforts to “push” the airstream results in the war cry of the Nazgul (for you fans–for you non-fans, think stomping on the cat’s tail). Doesn’t seem to be too much condensation—any ideas? :confused:

Thanks to all! :thumbsup:

2

Hey, I’m newer too (five months) and I am straining to pick up any scrap of information I can. Not to be condescending, but have you been told about covering the window at the top of the mouthpiece with a finger, pointing the whistle straight down (NOT at a friend) and blowing hard to clear the windway? I didn’t know that right away, and scared my friends by trying to shake condensation out!! (Why does everyone assume it’s spit? I only slobbered into my whistle the first two weeks!)
If this doesn’t work, I heard that mixing a few drops of dish soap with water and squirting it into the mouthpiece helps.
Another possibility, less encouraging. I bought a Feadog recently and it plays so buzzy and rough that I’m ashamed to play it. If this is true, you might try “tweaking” it like the Chiff and Fipple website describes.

3

Hmmm… could be schmutz.
I use a match from a book o’ matches, or sometimes a piece of the mathcbook cardboard to clean the windway when needed.

4

A business card works well, too, most days.

5

You cant light up a Lucky Strike with a business card!

6

Will it play ok after it has set and dried out completly?
Look into the windway to see if there are any bits of plastic left from the factory. You may need to take the head off to get to it.

7

It seems like if it plays okay for the first 20 minutes, then it must be saliva in there. When you cover the window and blow it out really hard, is there an improvement?

8

Something to try:

Put just a drop of liquid dish detergent in a glass of warm water. Stir gently.

Place the whistle fipple-first in the solution, then remove and let it dry before playing.

If condensation is the trouble, this should help. The soap reduces the surface tension of the water, stopping it from beading up in the windway.

–James

9

I get a similar thing with mine, and I just blow it out.

The way I do it is; I cover all holes, cover the bottom end with my pinkie, and blow into the windway. The moisture comes out of the mouthpiece. One or two sharp blows clears it right up.

I know this method isn’t convenient if you need to do it in the middle of a tune, but it seems to work best for me.

Also - at least for me - it’s not saliva. It’s condensation from the humidity of breath. I’m sure some of you are spitters though. :slight_smile:

Jason