Hello,
I just started on the whistle. Purchased a Clarke Meg and love it. The next week I purchased a Clarke original. I really love the sound of the original except, it will not play in the upper register. The low register is great, but swith up and it becomes all breath. On the Meg, I can go back and forth at will, except the low D and E sometimes. How can one tweak the original or what will work to give the upper register? Thanks
All Clarke originals are different. If you like that particular kind of whistle, I’d try another and see if it’s easier.
Alternatively, if you know anyone locally who plays whistle, have them try your whistle and see how it responds for them.
Another thing to consider might be trying a different type of whistle. Oaks, Feadogs, and Clares are all inexpensive and a good player can make very respectable music on them.
Good luck, and welcome to the boards and to whistling.
–James
The Clarke original is a great looking whistle, but I’m not surprised that the high register sounds bad or won’t sound at all. Try bending the sound blade so that it gets a different position. You may ruin the whistle by doing this, but what the heck . . . it’s already screwed up anyway 
I’ve never run into a Clarke Anything that it’s second register wouldn’t play… This is news to me… Are Clarkes losing quality these days? Last one I bought was a little over a year ago.
I had a similar problem, but all I had to do was bend the labium a bit.
Quick question, I love the way Clarke Originals sound, but I want something tuneable, durable, and less prone to clogging. Basically a high end whistle that sounds just like a Clarke. My Sweetheart Pro is somewhat similar, but much more shrill. Ideas anyone?
First of all, how in the world do you end up clogging a Clarke Original? 
The windway is huge! Sorry, that comment blew me back a bit.
That’s a tough question there, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anything that sounds like a Clarke Original. The only tunable whistle I’ve seen in a conical bore is the Copeland but I’ve never personally played one. My guess would be that in order to get close to that sound you’d have to find a very thin-walled whistle that is very breathy or perhaps you’d find something close in a wooden whistle. If you find a whistle that sounds close but isn’t breathy like the Clarke, maybe try dulling the edge of the labium to give it the breathy sound. I think anything that isn’t a conical bore is going to sound slightly different though. Maybe talk to the Copeland company about customizing something special for you… and start saving!
I think I have come close. The sound blade was bent in like a dent when I received it. Concave or something. Reading your replies and other items it seems like the blade should be flat. by doing that, I now have a pretty good sound whistle. Wife said if I can learn, maybe I can get more. Thanks for the replies as I do not have any other whislter in my immediate area.
I was also thinking of the Copeland whistles.
If you read the interview you will see that he mentions the Clark whistle.
Yeah, it’s a good interview (I haven’t read it for a year or so) and it’s interesting to hear about how he came about his design. His incorporation of knowlege from pipe organs into his product is fascinating to me.
By the way, okstatepiper the Clarke originals all have the concave blade design, that’s how they’re manufactured.
it seems like the blade should be flat. by doing that, I now have a pretty good sound whistle.
AAARGH!
what did you do to that poor whistle?
Clarke’s blade is not flat: it is concave!!!
Re-reading it I found it interesting that he learned to make the body from a tube (rather than a sheet of metal) from a French horn maker.
I have three Clarke originals, two Ds and one C. All have been perfect right out of the box…but, if you haven’t played one before, the upper register is tough to get a handle on, especially the upper A and B notes (on a D whislte). They take a lot of wind, and yes, they do sound a bit windy as well.
The old question of “is it the whisle, or is it me?” - when it comes to a begginer and a Clarke Origional, chances are it is NOT the whislte.
I usually blame the whistle for high end issues, but in this case I agree with Kerry. The Clarke Orig is usually very playable. Breathing from the diaphram takes time to learn. (BTW, I learned how to do this by playing into a tuner and trying to get the needle to stay as centered as possible as I played a tune. Suddleny I found myself doing it.)
I too love the sound of the Clarke’s, and have just bought a Sweetheart. The sounds are quite different, so I vary which whistle I use acording to who I am playing with. I haven’t fiddled much with the Sweetheart yet, so I am not sure of its capabilities. I’ll keep you posted.
Glad you decided to attack that ramp!
All Clarke originals come with the “dent” - it’s done using a press to voice the whistle to the original design in the simplest and cheapest possible way. After that, any bit of rough handling can change the config. To me it’s kinda like an invitation to improve it somehow. Because it’s tin, it is easy to bend and shape - I always thought that was the whole point of the “Original” - something you can make your own without risking a fortune.
I agree with Mitch. I have several clark originals and I have tweaked the heck out of them all. My 2 main tweaks are to raise the blade a little (but not flatten it) and to squeeze the airway where the air comes out just enough to make the air requirements better. I also sometimes mess around with the holes to bring it into better tune.
I bought all of mine over a year ago, but a guy brought one to me last month to tweak and it was pretty bad. The upper register was unusable, just like okstatepiper said. It was fine after those 2 tweaks, though. Very little metal bending.
Clark’s blade stomper needs adjusting. <>
I don’t agree with Chuck. I like the way the Clarke plays: its windy and breathy voice it’s unique and chacteristic. I got two of them, and I find them good as they come out of the box. ok, it takes a little more air than others, but come on! have you ever climb a 3500-meter-high mountain? well that is air demanding!!! 
Of course you can tweak them as much as you want to fit your taste, but to say that they have to change their blade stomper it is like to say that those guys from Talisker should change their whisky because you find it too peaty!
Anyway tweak yours as you like, but… “don’t touch my Clarke”
Not really clogging it I guess, but the wood gets a bit soggy and dulls the tone.
Hey Stef, There’s no question that the CO can be a damn fine whistle right out of the box, and in fact, I know a few players who chose a CO for the work-out it gives them in the wind department - a bit like the weights they put on champion racehorses to train them.
In this case however, we were discussing a CO that had a problem in the high register.
I think Tweakery was the order of the day.
I used to put superglue on the part of the block that touches my lip to sort of seal it so that my lips wouldn’t have all of the moisture sucked out of them. The CO was the only whistle I played for about the first two years after I got started and I had chapped lips for the first six months!
I’d find pieces of dead lip skin stuck to the block where it sucked the moisture out and fused the skin to it (I hope you’re having a nice breakfast by the way for those of you on the west coast!).
I never had much issues with the fipple getting “soggy” but then do I live in the dry heat of Arizona so it keeps my whistles nice and dry. If California ever did fall off the map I’m sure we’d dry up the Pacific ocean too!