Hello all!
I bought a budget low-D whistle awhile back, and while it plays exactly in tune, it plays at a very low volume, and wants to flip into the second octave very easily. Any ideas on how to fix this? 
Thanks! 
A high-budget Low D whistle?
Volume and voicing are factors of the window size, ramp angle, windway,⌠generally the entire fipple area. Retooling all these in concert will give you the desired results.
If it was one of those middle eastern jobbies from Amazon or Ebay then, outside of reconstructing much of the fipple, I donât think thereâs much you can do. Since theyâre made of metal then youâd need some real tools to do much with it. Itâs quite possible that you may be able to narrow the windway a little to focus it a bit more but without seeing the whistle I wouldnât know.
Yes, Straycat, thatâs exactly it. Made in India, out of a copper or copper alloy. As I said, the tuning is fine, but the volume is low. As a result, I âpushâ a little harder, and therefore flip up into the second octave very easily.
I donât knowâŚIâve had fair luck making flutes that are loud and in tune out of PVC pipeâŚmaybe I should give a whistle a try!
I think the first thing Iâd try is taking a look at the windway, that could possibly be your easiest and least destructive option. Look down the windway and if the blade is much higher than the floor of the windway then put a small piece of laminate or something flat on the floor to bring it up a bit.
Well, just to sort of follow up, I took a deep breath, got out the Dremel, and opened the height of the window up just a bit.
It was only 5mm from the maker; I made it about 9mm. It seems to have worked, and this low-budget whistle is now playing about as well as itâs ever going to, I guess! WhewâI was lucky! 
Well, sorry I didnât see your post before, John. It must have moved down the list quicklyâŚor else, I just missed it! 
I would have suggested you build a blue tack U-shaped wall around the top and two sides of the window, like Copeland uses. That usually strengthens the bottom octave, and makes jumping to the second octave harder. Keep adjusting the height and length, and donât block much if any of the window size.
I even have one Low D that likes a flat and thin layer of putty about 1/8" in front of the window, and about 5/8" long going towards the holes, besides the top and side walls U. It has a thin blade, and that seems to improve the voice a little too in the upper octave, in combination with the U.
The downside is you have to do it whenever you play it, but the up side is that it can be modified and adjusted easily, and is repeatable-not permanent like some tweaks.
You can do more with putty and pieces of credit card for in front of the window, but you will have to experiment to see what works and doesnât. Itâs easy, and fun to see what improvements you can make.
PS Some of the white poster putty is easier to work with because itâs not as sticky.