Hopefully this is not a commercial post…(but I have never posted one so I hope I am covered)
I wanted to ask those whistle makers out there if they have the same problem as me. I spent a week or two recently of my leave doing my favorite hobby of making whistles. I find that I so enjoy the finished product that I cannot stop playing it to make the next one. I go through my repertoir (not very extensive mind you) and then just mess around on it until I convince myself that I really need to get on with the business of making whistles and then the process repeats itself. How do you other smiths manage to part with your beautiful whistles. Man, if I made whistles like some that are on offer, they would be filling up my whistle draw and not be offered for sale period! Yes I know, I have serious whoa - Now I do sell mine but only locally (thats why I don’t advertise my web site here) and no you cannot have one unless you live where I do I have my reasons! I am always open to a swop tho Eventually I have so many sitting around, and the wife gets the mutters, so they get distributed on the market or by word of mouth and I feel sad for a while until I cheer myself up with another bout of workshop mania.
That’s a question I’ve asked myself from time to time…
Most of my whistles are made to custom order, so keeping them is not an option. However, in each batch I always add a few in whatever wood strikes my fancy, just to have some whistles on hand in case someone wants one quickly.. Some of these I’ve been sorely tempted to keep. Metal and plastic are one thing, but each piece of wood is unique and once in a while one comes along with a grain pattern or color that I know I’ll never see again. Those are the hard ones to give up…
I still have the first decent whistle I made (Tulipwood, handmade simple fittings) and I still like the way it plays. I also have my own older Olivewood, plus a C and an Eb, and a Delrin D. I made mywife a D, and a D+ in Tiger Maple stained orange, which is her favorite color. Plus, I have a lot of terrific whistles in many materials and keys from other makers.So I guess we really don’t NEED to keep any more whistles…
What really makes it easy to send them out is the hope that they will bring as much joy to their owners as the whistles gave me in making them and seeing them come to life. Knowing that there are little bits of me all around the planet is immensely satisfying.
This is one of the greatest joys of my life. I’m less interested in making music than I am in helping enable numerous other people to make music. I’ve always been an artisan more than an artist, and this work fits my personality and skills perfectly in that regard. Whenever someone sends me a clip of one of my whistles being played in church, for example, I’m absolutely thrilled.
I have contemplated selling the whistles I make but have not gotten around to setting up a time effective method and I am limited to a drill press and files. I did make an electric file from a saber saw- but better ones can be bought. I also have a make shiff lathe that is only for polishing. I also find it fun to give whistles and flutes away. What is a great joy to me is teaching a youth at summer camp how to make and play a bamboo whistle. When they do get it to play and know they made it and it plays music. Well, that can not be bought or sold. And as they describe it. Wow, that’s cool.
I make many different kinds of whistles and sometimes it is hard to part with them but the order must be filled and there is great joy that a whistlemaker experiences when you get to hear someone play your whistle. So, I would have to agree with the others that have commented here, the positive feedback makes up for it.
It’s really special when children get whistles, they just light up, I love it.
I hear what you are saying. I happened to be at a jazz session a while back where there was a guy called Blues Mabaso - what a great name - who played kwela music. He made that Bb of mine sing like I have never heard it before or since. I could have listened to him all night. It really did bring great joy. The child thing is really very special too. I remember, while on holiday to Cape Town, going past a group of street children who were making music with homemade banjos and drums for a few coins. I realised that they were very talented and would probably pick up a whistle quickly. I gave a very quick lesson in the fingering and a tune and left them with a whistle and these really huge smiles on their faces - now that was special!
It’s never been hard for me, but that may have a good deal to do with the fact that I’m working with PVC, and can make another just like it in a few hours. That probably helps. PVC isn’t really endearing.
In answer to a question that was asked awhile ago:
“Is it hard to let it go, that one you put your heart into
And intimately know?”
But that’s the very heart of it: to send it on its way!
No doubt denial darkens that departure day,
But when it’s gone the joy lives on, you’ve given it your best.
Yet one unsettled thought remains: will it pass the test?
And while you wait in anticipation, you start another one;
This one nearer, dearer than the one before.
This one, too, will soon be gone, but that’s what you make them for!
Yes, it is hard, but oh the reward!
–Mack Hoover, 11/7/05
I made a whistle from a piece of lilac wood for a friend of my sister. It is beautiful to look at and wonderful to play. I rationalized and justified and figured out how I could keep this one and make her another.
In the end I couldn’t keep it in good conscience. She loves it, and it doesn’t get any better than that!
This thread is a worry. When we look at it like this, could it seems that our basic motivations come from the Pride/Idolatry/Greed spectrum? Really, we are providing a service for humanity, are we not? That is a fine motivation. And now we have a practitioner in deepest Africa. Keep up the good work Doctor, dispense those whistles to the masses!
I find that a few whistles have left my hands very, very reluctantly. A high G I made several years ago almost never made it out. Once in a while you make a diamond. Then again, there’s those that never leave my garage for fear someone will see what an abomination I turned out…it works both ways, I guess.
I have my reasons! I am always open to a swop tho 
Eventually I have so many sitting around, and the wife gets the mutters, so they get distributed on the market or by word of mouth and I feel sad for a while 
until I cheer myself up with another bout of workshop mania.