I’ve got a generation whistle for a while now but haven’t played it much since it sounds shrill and bad on most notes. I think I know why though, the plastic mouthpiece isn’t completely smooth and there’s a tiny piece of plastic blocking a bit of the windway. I tried to fix this but none of the tools I have are long and small enough to reach there.
So I wanted to take the plastic top off so I can reach it from the other side. But first I want to know for sure I won’t render it unplayable by doing this.
My whistle is a Generation Eb, the top is glued firm to the body (I think, can’t get any movement in it anyway). If I take it off and put it back on will I still be able to play or will I just screw it up? And what would be the best way to take it off?
Immerse the mouthpiece in hot water for a few seconds. Apply a firm grip and twist the mouthpiece off. If it won’t come off, repeat the whole process until it does. Removing and putting the mouthpiece back on will not ruin the whistle in any way unless it splits or cracks.
I think there’s a whole “tweaking” section about these things.
In short, if you dip the top of the whistle in hot water the glue will soften and you should be able to take the top off. You always have to do this on Generations anyway, because the factory usually shoves the tops all the way down so that the whistles play very sharp. You have to have the top moveable so that you can tune it.
I did have one Generation that I could never get the top off of.
Rather than try to modify a flawed top, I would go to a place that has a number of whistles and choose one that plays well. Generation’s quality control is hit-and-miss and only about 5% of them play great. Around 5% are just awful. The rest are medocre. Find that top whistle and play it!
See the current thread “bad Generations vs good Generations” for a long discussion of this issue.
Wow, thanks for the quick replies. I’ll try it straight away.
@pancelticpiper: I didn’t have the luxury of being able to test out the whistle, I didn’t even know Generations were so troublesome. Guess I’ll have to do more research for my next purchase. Good thing these Generations are cheap, I would’ve been much more discontent if it was a €150 whistle instead of a €5 one.
It’s also hard to find whistles at all in my region, the store I went to only had 2 Generations…
EDIT: It sounds much better now! Not top quality, but there’s a significant increase in quality.
Hehehe, thanks. I’ll rephrase, I didn’t know MY generation could be so troublesome
I’ll take a look in some other music stores to see if they have a wider selection, and ask if I can test them first. Or maybe I’ll wait a little longer, my birthday’s coming up soon so I might even go for a more expensive one.
Ask anyone. It was the generation before or after them that is responsible for the downturn in life.
Oh… wait… you meant the whistle.
Some are great, some are foul. Most are playable. It is most often the player, but that bit pf plastic and the roughness will certainly hurt any efforts to sound good. Try your tweaking skill, and bask in the comfort of knowing they don’t cost an arm and a leg.
I think it’s a combination of whistle and skill. I’m just a beginner (as in, only really started playing it a few days ago) so that will without a doubt be a factor too. I tweaked the top a bit, although I’m a novice at that too, it sounds a liiiiitle bit better.
And is it just my bad playing or does the C natural sound exceptionally bad, or is exceptionally hard to make it sound right?
Don’t worry too much about the C-natural. The fact that it’s not perfectly in tune and sounds a bit stinky only adds character to the whistle.
Listen to Brid O’Donohue when she plays a set-dance on her latest album.
The C-natural in the tune really stands out like a sore thumb, but is all the more charming. There are whistles to be had that has a C-natural thumb-hole. Well,-I’d cover that hole with a piece of tape and make sure it was never to be used ever again if I got hold of one of those whistles . . .
Don’t let the simplicity of it fool you. The tin whistle is very easy to play, but playing it well is another thing all together. It takes a lot of practice to get good… Even more to get very good.
Enter “C natural” on the C&F search feature, and you will learn a lot. Personally, I prefer to half hole for the extra notes, but many prefer one form or another of cross fingering. You will want to try several to see what works best for you. There is such a variety in whistles that what works well on one may not work so well on another, so there is no hard and fast rule. (Again, I personally prefer the half-holing, because that doesn’t change from whistle to whistle, though even with that, whistles still vary.)
Also, depending on just where the note occurs, absolute accuracy isn’t necessarily important. This is another aspect of whistling (and life) that gets endless debate and doesn’t really have one answer. Try all you can and find what works best for you. I predict that practice is the most important item you will find in the tool department.
Welcome to C&F! 
