i have a tuneable dixon low d that i love. i have been playing it for a little over a month and i feel comfortable with the fingering and i can produce some incredible sound with it. but sometimes it seems to be stuck on the second octave and even if i reduce my breathing it won’t budge. or, it seems to jam up and the only sound that comes out a high breathy, raspy din. most of the time, however, the whistle has a most haunting sound that i can’t get enough of. but i can’t tell if this is two different problems of clogging or fingering. any suggestions?
On 2002-11-11 10:15, cramer wrote:
… the whistle has a most haunting sound that i can’t get enough of…
Can’t help Jonathan but I’m pretty sure the same question has come up before regarding Dixons. Try a search…
I’m replying mainly to say that the adjective “haunting” applied to “Celtic” music in general and whistles in particular is a word that I have certainly had enough of.
ok sorry to use the word haunting, do you have another word you prefer?
Two answers!
Soap or suck - but not at the same time 
)
1)Coat the windway with strong soap solution on a piece of card. Wait until dry.
- Suck when playing - not that you suck when playing! When you think it’s going to clog, suck at a convenient moment in the tune. This clears the water out of the windway quickly, and you can play until the end of the piece.
Both methods work on my tunable low Dixon.
I find that eating (chocolate/biscuits etc) shortly before playing makes things worse, whilst drinking doesn’t.
HTH
I also have a tuneable Dixon Low D that I hardly ever play because it gets stuck kind of like you are saying. One thing about mine is that it seems like it’s mostly the second octave E that seems to “go whacko” sometimes. It gets stuck in some kind of mode where it’s not really sounding an E just a lot of air and sqeaks. The only way to get out of it is to stop the note and start it again. It’s so unpredictable that I’d be afraid to use it to perform. I’ve tried soap, etc. with no luck and I now don’t think it’s necessarily related to clogging, etc. I successfully play my Burke Low D most of the time.
-Joe
that is exactly my problem..i love the sound of the dixon but i will be playing in front of a group soon and i don’t feel like i can depend on it. this is my only low whistle, and the only low whistle i have ever really played. would you say there are low d’s that wouldn’t have this problem?
[ This Message was edited by: cramer on 2002-11-11 11:28 ]
Do the soap thing anyway, but also cover the window and blow into the airway a few times before you start playing in order to cover the airway with a uniform dew of condensation. Repeat this during breaks in playing to clear any build-up of moisture.
I’m very happy with my Dixon low D but was surprised at the moisture build-up, which I would expect more in a metal than in a composite whistle due to temperature difference. Maybe it’s a surface-tension thing.
Hmmm…
Personally, I suspect a leak at the tuning slide. If you wipe too much of the lube off the slide on those whistles, or if the fit just isn’t right, you’ll get a leak that may only occure when you hold the whistle a certain way, or blow with a certain amount of pressure, this is why these things can be intermittent.
My suggestion to all who are having a similar problem: Do what I did - wrap a winder or two of teflon plumber’s tape around the slide (after cleaning all the lube off) till you get a snug, but not soft plastic deforming fit. This worked for me when I had a similar problem with my Dixon tuneable Low D.
Loren
I have a tunable Dixon Low D and I have no trouble with it. I wholeheartedly agree with the comment about covering the window and blowing. This knocks off spitdrops. I like the suggestion about the teflon tape. My slide is a bit loose and I have a rubber band wrapped around it to keep it in place (i.e. in tune). The teflon tape sounds considerably more effective and aesthetically pleasing.
do you wrap the teflon tape around the smaller section then insert it in the body? or do you find the desired tuning with the pieces assembled then wrap the tap around the area where the pieces connect. could both work?
I wrapped a piece around the smaller side of the slide and then insert that into the the larger section. You’ll probably only need about one or two wraps, max. Too much tape and you won’t get the slide back together until you remove a bit, so start with one wrap and go from there.
Loren