Part of the innards is falling out of my laughing whistle! The black gunk on the right (when playing) side of the ‘mouthpiece’ has come loose and likes to wander into the cutting edge. If I hold the whistle upside down and tap it, it falls back into place. I tried compressing it to the side, it doesn’t stick. If I pull it out I think it won’t go back in, because I’ll have to bend it to get it past the cutting edge. What will this do to my sound? Should I superglue it back into place, or take it out and hope for the best?
It doesn’t seem to have made a difference in the sound…but loose bits make me nervous…
I don’t have a clue on that one, sorry. But while we have you on the line, what do you think of the whistle, apart from the fact that it’s falling apart.
I was playing mostly it during the SLC session recordings. Though it’s not very easy to tell which one is me. Listen for the least ornamentation, hehe.
I can’t quite imagine what you’re talking about. It seems like a solid piece in mine. I would certainly contact Noah Herbison and ask him about it. The ony problem with mine is the tubes want to slip and I’m sure some teflon tape will take care of it. Good Luck. Gm
When I received my Laughing Whistle I asked Noah about this material and its purpose. He replied “That tapering of the windway is intentional. I use a polymer clay that hardens when heated, and it is very tricky to get the airstream focused on the center of blade. Without it, the upper octave (especially the top notes) is a bit loud and shrill, and sometimes more breathy.”
Because I was having problems with clogging, I finally removed the clay. Noah was right, the upper octave became a bit more shrill, but it’s not too bad. I would send the whistle back to him so he can replace the polymer clay - unless you want to take a chance on removing it like I did.
I’ve never had any trouble with my Laughing Whistle. And I do like it since it plays in tune and is quite which is sometimes an asset if you share living space with someone.
Hmm, I thought it was a wax, I was going to heat it in my car tomorrow to soften it but I suppose that’s not such a good idea, eh? I already emailed Noah this afternoon but since others were saying earlier this summer they were haivng trouble getting in touch with him, I don’t know how long it will take…
And I like my whistle’s sound the way it is…I don’t want it shriller or louder…sniff…
I had the same problem with my whistle, and eventually blew all that stuff out..the upper octave isn’t really shriller or louder, but it is more breathy.
The clay pieces in the windway broke up and fell out of my Laughing Whistle just a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, I lost the pieces. Noah said he could have told me how to glue them back, but since I no longer had them I had to send the whistle back to Noah. He fixed it and it’s now good as new.
I didn’t like the sound at all when these pieces were missing; too breathy and sometimes shrill. It’s possible it affects different instruments differently.
I suggest you email Noah and ask him what to do. He is busy and doesn’t always respond immediately, but I’ve always gotten a response from him within a day or two and he has always been helpful.
I “cleaned out” my laughing whistle within months of getting it back in 1998 or 99. I thought it was gunk or something. I now have two laughing whistles and I like the first one best although I can’t hit the highest notes quite as well. But the sound has less edge and is very pleasant. While I don’t intend to “modify” my second whistle, if I had to keep only one it would be the first; I just like the sound better.
Hey Beth,
I wish I had checked the board and seen your message sooner. I don’t play my Laughing very often because it is designated my purse whistle for those times when I wish I had a whistle. I bet if I played it often the same thing would eventually happen to me.
Perhaps you could try to recreate the effect of that black gunk once removed with blue sticky tac. I did this to a Shaw whistle to cut back on breath requirements. Of course I agree with the others that you should try to contact Herb first. But, if the gunk comes out all the way on you, sticky tac wouldn’t permanently affect anything. I cut the tack in very thin strips the length of my Shaw’s windway from the top to the beginning of the window. I used a toothpick to position and press in each piece until I had built up enough on either side. I got this idea for the Shaw by examining that stuff in the Laughing! All it did for my Shaw was to quiet it down dramatically.
To all who ask, I think the Laughing has an amazingly pretty and accurate tone, but even though its sound is both my music partners’ favorite, I can’t play it with them for public performance because even with the jet dry trick, it is too prone to moisture build-up problems. And it seems to me that with frequent use the brass will eventually stretch so that a tight fit will make the whistle out of tune,… But while it still works it sure sounds better than my Clare Eagle two piece!
Lisa
[ This Message was edited by: ysgwd on 2002-07-26 11:14 ]
I got responses back from Noah and just attempted a fix (he assured me that he could repair it if I screwed it up ) While I was fixing the one side, the other side came out, so I guess it was due for a tune up. The epoxy is still wet but I gave it a test scale - I got a clear third octave D! I was impressed. Hopefully it will stay that way.
) While I was fixing the one side, the other side came out, so I guess it was due for a tune up. The epoxy is still wet but I gave it a test scale - I got a clear third octave D! I was impressed. Hopefully it will stay that way.