I have a cane low D which I bought based on Dale’s review. Hmm. Now I think he praised the whistle merely because it played at all! It does play, but I have to blow so lightly that it makes my Hoover narrow high D seem air-hungry in comparison!
The whistle is almost too cheap to send back, and is so quiet that it makes a great late-night practice instrument. But has anyone successfully modified one of these to make the lower notes a little less sensitive to breath? I find I’m breathing more out my nose than my mouth when I play the bell note, and that note is almost inaudible.
This is also my first low D, but I assume not all low Ds are like this, yes?
Ya I have one of those things. The cane is very poorus and needs to be sealed up. I used epoxy which you can get in a slow cureing mix. It will seal the cane without changing the tuning. Must be slow curing so it penitrates the cane. Mines not bad.
Thanks for the tip, Blackbeer. Is there a page somewhere explaining how to do this? Do you brush it on the outside or the inside? Will this help with the air requirements?
I dont know about a web page but when I was building boats it was called epoxy saturation. Paint it on the outside being careful not to get any on the blade. Hang the whistle by the fipple end so that the epoxy will move to the end of the whistle. Dont use to much. Make sure no drops of epoxy form in the tone holes. It realy is a simple opertion. Good luck.
I have a similar cane low F which I really like, and I’ve noticed that it “improves” the longer I have it. Actually, the player is the one who improves, but still…
Is the voicing window on your whistle really narrow? The narrower the window, the quieter the whistle. Mabey you can find a way to widen it. The best way to do that, I’m not sure, though.
To make the bell note stronger, you’d need to dullen the blade a little piece of with extra fine sandpaper. Since this cane is the only low F I have, I’ve been too timid to try the sandpaper on mine but if your whistle is next to unplayable, it can’t hurt.
It does play, but I have to blow so lightly that it makes my Hoover narrow high D seem air-hungry in comparison!