Hi everybody!
I’m a long time reader, first time poster with a question regarding that ‘liquid’ that is collected in some whistles!
I just received to wonderfully good Elfsong Jaspers in C and D and they play like a dream. Right until the sound suddenly goes all squeaky and squawky! When I do the whole blowing in the fipple stunt it works fine, but not great and I usually need to let it rest for awhile before using it again. Do any of you have a solution to this problem? Will that soap trick that Dale posted work?
Yes … Dish-washing detergent, Jet-Dry, Duponol / Anticondens for recorders, dental floss … All may help. To prevent wax build-up in the windway, I wouldn’t use dental floss too often (on the whistle, that is!).
To clear a clog, carefully cover the windway with a finger, then both suck and blow. Works better than either alone. In the middle of a tune a quick suck between notes may do the trick. Also try shaking out / swabbing out the bore of the whistle. Condensation in the bore, as well as the windway, can sometimes affect the tone.
I have too often seen what can come out of a windway when whistles have been well used and also in surroundings when drink and food was involved. I find the thought already hairraising
Yeah, I bet my dog would have liked you to mention this a week ago. I just about brained the poor little bloke with the Overton Low D when I decided to “Flick the Spit”.
But seriously, why do you recommend that?