I was looking in the internet for Whistles, since I want to have more. Here where I live (Brasilian Northeast region) it’s not so easy to find a cheap whistle (the one i have cost me something about R$80,00 reais /$50,00 dollar/ £30,00 euros - Generation D + fare).
Really noobie move, I admit it. So I was looking in the internet the prices from US or Europe, but then i found this site:
I have heard of people doing this before, but I have never heard one so I wouldn’t know about the sound quality… Looks very interesting. I think I might try it. “Might be fun.”
I’ve made a few whistles, but I haven’t been happy with the sound quality, the tuning, or the playability.
If you search for Jerry Freeman on ebay, you will find he has a wide range of whistles that he offers to ship worldwide for the same price.
Unlike my efforts, Jerry’s whistles have great sound quality, great tuning, and excellent playability.
So if you like making things, then by all means, go ahead and try to make some. Maybe you will have great success. On the other hand, if you just want a good musical instrument with minimal effort, check into Mr. Freeman’s offerings.
Guido’s plans make good whistles provided you can find tubing the same size as he uses, else the hole-spacing will be incorrect. The tone of the instrument is mostly due to the design of the whistle-head. Once you’ve got a set of finger-holes that play in tune, it is quite easy to make interchangeable heads without having to re-drill a whole whistle … you can even make it into a flute
I have made whistles according to Snr Gonzato’s measurements for more than ten years now.
The high whistles are a doddle (a dawdle, i.e. easy and fun) and the playability is fine. Considering the fact you can adjust the fipple and windway cover, you can eliminate the squeaks you are liable to encounter with a raw, untweaked Generation.
I’ve also made low whistles. Playability is a factor here, as the hole positioning makes them more difficult to finger. I have square, spatulate hands with short fingers. For a while I could not finger a low D at all, and contented myself playing a low F, which is shorter. A low G is shorter still, but somehow I feel it’s not low enough. There is no difficulty in fingering a low G.
Playing the low F exercises your fingers and makes the low D more accessible. I’ve learned that the ridges I’ve put on the back of my preferred low D needed extended, as I place my thumbs differently now. It’s also necessary to play at a slight angle, so my right hand doesn’t have so far to extend. I can’t play a fast hornpipe on my low D, but I can play jigs and reels.
My local hardware supermarkets don’t carry PVC pipe - or if they do, I haven’t noticed. I prefer the polypropylene barrier pipe, which is thicker, and gives me more leeway in carving the windway blade. Unfortunately this material does not abrade, so sanding or emery-papering is not a possibility. The only way of working is cutting.
If you have any inclination to try this, I say go ahead. It’s not difficult, the pipe is cheap, and feeling of accomplishment in playing a whistle you made yourself is a wonderful feeling.
I’m not that good at making whistles so I ordered two from Guido out of curiosity. I thought if I saw his then I could better understand the design in order to make my own. When I received them then I changed my mind. His are so professional looking that I don’t think I can even come close. But as I said, I’m not good at making things.
I have the High D & Alto G. The High D is great and I have no problems playing it. The Alto G sounds wonderful, it sounds much like a flute, very different than the Generation sound I’m more used to. I am getting used to the wider finger spread required. I can play slow songs on it but I cannot play anything fast.
Overall I’m very happy with them. The only “challenge” is playing a C Natural because they are so light they want to float up in the air. You can’t really stabilize it with the lips/mouth. I just keep the low D finger on it and that helps.
I suggest you try making your own but it would help if you had one of his to see in person. They’re cheap so I think it’s worth it.
They can be really excellent. Buying them from Guido himself, ready-made, is inexpensive, and you don’t have to have exactly the same tube as he uses - it is easy enough to adapt his specifications either empirically (trial and error - and you do a bit of that with the first few attempts anyway!) or using one of the online calculators (e.g. http://www.kingsmills.us/twcalc/twcalc.htm & http://twjcalc.sourceforge.net/) - and asking here for guidance.
Whether you buy from Guido or make your own, you can expect to end up with an instrument that plays far better than many of the commercially available ones, even many of the “high end” expensive ones. Personally I don’t like the all-aluminium ones anyway - I dislike the metal beak in my mouth, regardless of how they play. I find the plastic much nicer - and if you can get black PVC like I use for my piccolos, it is aesthetically nicer to look at and to handle than metal, for my taste at any rate.
Here’s a review I wrote of one of Guido’s low D whistles a while back - there are links to sound clips etc. - take those with a pinch of salt, however, as I believe Guido has modified the design since then, I am sure for the better.
My advice also would be to buy one of Guido’s, then have a go yourself.
I tried making one of Guido’s whistles, and I was only about halfway through before I realized I was NOT enjoying myself! I like to play whistles, not make them!
So, a better question might be, do you like tinkering in the workshop? If not, buy!
I’m a big fan of Guido’s whistle designs. So far, I’ve made four high-D, and two Bb. None is the ultimate whistle, but all playable, and a couple of them are nicer to play than typical commercial whistles. I’ve used CPVC and cross-linked polyethylene (PEX). The PEX is lighter than the CPVC, better for lower whistles, but perhaps too light for high whistles. PEX is softer; easier to carve or drill but doesn’t sand well at all. It takes a day or two to make a whistle; not much more time than you’d probably spend finding and importing a good whistle to Brazil.
The great thing about making your own is you can adjust the length of the window by moving the fipple closer or farther from the lip. A short window makes the second octave sweeter and easier to reach, but makes it harder to keep the low D and E from jumping into the second octave. There will be a sweet spot that depends on your breath power, breath control, and your own inclination.
For tuning, I suggest the Syaku8 (Shakuhachi) Auto Tuner by Tatsuaki Koroda (“Sound color analyzer and Tuner for shakuhachi” at http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~tuner/tuner_e.html).
I got sidetracked from whistle number 7 when the Bb whistles didn’t tune the way I expected–the holes weren’t nearly as large as I thought they’d have to be. So I’ve been researching, measuring, modeling, and calculating, trying to understand what happens in that tiny little window.
You bring up excellent points about making your own. I haven’t ventured that far yet but I did experiment with some electronic tape covering up the window in different ways and I managed to mute my whistle quite a bit so now I use my Guido D as my “quiet” whistle for when the family are around. Ultimately a Parks whistle would probably work better as it’s adjustable with a sliding mechanism.
If I could make my own I’d like to make a quiet one and a loud one.
One thing I’m curious about, my Guido High D is as thick as my Generation Bb. I’m curious what effect the thickness of the tube (the bore) has on the sound and the tuning. The Guido D is exactly the same length as my Gen D yet it’s bore is larger. i find it interesting that it’d give the same tuning.
I’ve made a whistle from Mr. Gonzatos instructions.
The whistle turned out OK, and I expect to do better with each attempt.
(BTW, I ruined my first whistle with too much super glue. Use as little as possible when glueing.)
I bought a used GG just to see how they compared.
The GG is a really a nice whistle, very well made and sweet playing.
As for a whistle silencer.
I used a short length(1/2 inch) of CPVC pipe and cut it so that it fit over the whistle.
To silence or mute the whistle just turn it so it blocks the wind way from a little to near complete.
If you look at the Parks Every Whistle( http://www.parkswhistles.com/EveryWhistle.html ) you’ll see where I stole the idea, he calls it a ‘Tone Ring’.
I took my tone ring off the ruined whistle and put it on the GG, it works great too.
Can you post a photo of your silencer? Do you have a single piece or two? From what I saw in a video of the parks there are two pieces one on each side and you turn them to make the hole smaller. If I put one piece wouldn’t it make the hole off center? I’m not sure that’d have an effect.
I don’t own a Parks Whistle, so I can’t say exact what your looking at in the video.
What I think it is, is what I made for my self;
A piece of pvc or cpvc pipe the same diameter that the whistle is.
Cut it to about 1/2 inch or so, enough to cover the wind way.
Then cut the 1/2 inch piece lenght wise, this allows the ring to split and then you can put it over the whistle tube
with a gap that should be wider than the wind way.
Look again at the Parks Every Whistle photo or the Parks Walkaoubt Whistle photo. http://www.parkswhistles.com/WalkaboutWhistle.html
It really couldn’t be simpler, once you get the idea.
Maybe I’m not explaining it well?
