Hello everyone. I’ve only been learning about a month (Hasn’t stopped me acquiring nearly a dozen whistles already, though).
Things are going well enough. I’ve done the simple tweaks on the nickel Feadog in D that I’m learning on, but I’m having a moisture problem. I’ve tried the soap thing with limited success, but I have noticed a degree of pitting in the airway and think that the moisture might be collecting and causing a more persistent problem. It kicks in after only a minute or two of playing and resists shifting until I resort to shoving a pipe cleaner down it. Maybe I’m wrong - maybe a lot of Feadogs are like that and work just fine. So, do I need to just live with it or is there a simple-ish way to smooth out the imperfections in the airway?
Whistle drool comes is of two kinds: blown saliva (ie, liquid water), and the condensation of water vapour. The solution to the first is to keep playing and the problem will sort itself with little further conscious attention from you. Your mouth will learn how to blow drier air (more air less spit).
As for actual condensation, if your whistle is significantly cooler than body temperature when you start playing, warm the fipple end in your hand for 30-90 seconds first. And every tune or so, stick a finger over the fipple and blow hard. Aim the drool at your enemy’s pint.
A quick and easy solution is to cover the window with a finger and puff a quick breath to blow out the condensation. Takes about 1/2 second and is totally effective. Just make SURE you cover the window or you’ll have dogs going crazy (and anyone else listening will cover their ears!)
Warm up the head of the whistle before you play. Just hold it in your hand for a while until it no longer feels cool. You can instantly clear clogs in the middle of a tune by sucking sharply in. Don’t think of it as drool-- think of it as condensation if that sort of thing grosses you out.
Thanks for the advice, guys. Very helpful. I’ve just re-soaped my whistles with a stronger solution, see how that goes.
I’m still quite interested in knowing if there’s a simple tweak to sort out pitting. I’m not so concerned about it as the source of my problem now. I’ve been paying close attention to the insides of my other whistles and most of the cheapest have an amount of imperfection in the airway. Apart from the Generations, which are as smooth as a baby’s boo-boo (and isn’t the Generation Bb gorgeous?).
You might find this a bit startling if you’re playing a well-soaped whistle.
My advice is to rinse out the soap, warm your whistle, and get on with playing rather than fretting over it. Seriously. Soaping a whistle is overkill. Once you’ve played it for six months you’ll never think about moisture again.