Bought myself a Shaw Low D not too long ago. Inexpensive as these whistles go and something one might think should lower you gently into the technique of playing those ethereal, haunting melodies and airs so popular nowadays.
However, like an old pet haddock that never could do tricks I’m developing an overwhelming desire to destroy the thing with horrible sharp and pointy things . . . since the air requirements and wind-tunnel noise that is ever present is really starting to tick me off.
4 weeks after purchase I’ve plucked up the courage to cut a radius or curvature on the mouth/lips end of the wooden block (Much nicer fit in ones cakehole) . . . better than that, I noticed that as I looked down the windway at the blade, the ‘knife-edge’ appeared to be aligned with the top of the windway. I understand this is usually not at all desirable in whistles, so I cut a short length of hardwood 15mm x 10 mm and gently nipping the whistle in a padded vice (either side of the fipple window) I set the smoothed, dressed end of hardwood ‘dolly’ against the ramp of the 16 mm wide blade and I gently gave the wood a few taps. This depressed the blade a millimetre or two so that the blade edge now appears to be aligned just above the floor of the windway.
Net result has been an easing of the wind requirements . . . however, I still can’t eradicate the sound of Hurricade Andrew (especially in the 2nd octave).
Still hacked off, I’m now about to auger out the wooden fipple block, unsolder the metal windway insert and go right back to basics and make myself a brand new wood fipple block, radically reducing the size of the windway at the same time (Currently measured at 37 sq.mm at the ‘mouth’ end, narrowing slightly towards the ‘window’ end).
Anybody out there with a better fweaking suggestion? . . . apart from a 4 pound mash hammer!
Regards . . . Tony P.
[ This Message was edited by: tony pearson on 2001-10-06 20:30 ]
Mike