So… I’ve been playing whistle for a few years now, and prefer the conical bores, Clarkes and Shaws. I had a Clarke D for ages, which I had no problems with (other than it getting a bit quieter and slightly squeaky as the fipple loosened over time) but then I lost it and got another one recently. The problem is that, whilst it’s fine in the lower octave, I’ve noticed that sometimes when I go into the higher octave, it makes this bizarre noise, like I’m hearing both octaves at once. Once it starts doing this, it won’t stop and I have to put it away and use my Shaw D instead (which is fine but takes WAY more air, so not always ideal).
I’ve noticed that if I vent the D when it starts making this weird double-octave noise, this makes it sound normally, but obviously I can’t do this on every note of the second octave…
I was just wondering if any one knew what may be causing this (I suspect something to do with the fipple, since it seems to happen after I’ve been playing for a few minutes) and any tweaks I can attempt in order to fix it? I’m positive this is a problem with the whistle, and not with me, because I’m used to conical bore whistles, and no attempt of altering my technique will make this whistle behave once it goes weird : (
(I know I could just buy a new one, but I’m curious to know what may be causing this, and it would be handy to know how to fix it if it occurs on another conical bore whistle I have)
Clark original is a nice popular whistle. I think it is the only one that has a wood surface in the wind way floor. One thing that has happened after a few minutes playing is the wood fipple plug has absorbed some moisture and the grain of the wood has risen. When wood absorbs moisture it swells and the smooth surface of the wind way floor becomes rough, and disrupts the air stream. No two pieces of wood are identical so some whistles react worse and some not at all. Remove the wood plug and get it wet then let it dry. If your in a hurry you can use a hair dryer to speed up the drying. Now you will need some very fine sandpaper laying on a smooth surface. . Lightly rub the wind way floor of the wood plug on the smooth sandpaper. Then wet the plug, dry, rub, and repeat this about three times looking closely at the wood surface you have been working on. It will become smooth and the grain will stop rising. You may want to put a very small bevel on the end of the plug where the air exits into the tone tube. Put the wood plug back into the whistle and adjust the distance to the blade till it sounds the way you want it. To prevent the wood plug from moving and changing the sound put a small screw into the bottom of the whistle through the metal into the wood. Then adjust the wind way exit, and the blade till it plays the way you want it.
Yep, it does. It seems to be loudest on the second octave D and E and then as I go up the scale, the sound becomes very thin and eventually dies entirely. : (
Tommy, thanks for the advice… don’t think I have all the tools to do what you described but I wish I could. I wonder if it would work to put some varnish on the fipple, that would maybe stop it absorbing moisture… I did this to a couple of my low Shaws, not because they were giving me any trouble but more as a preventive measure, and they’ve been fine after a year and a half of extended playing…
Just out of curiosity… how exactly would one go about removing a wooden fipple without damaging the whistle? What tools would you need?
I agree with what Tommy has said, but first I would suggest that you play with the positioning of the windway ceiling and the soundblade.
Specifically, try lifting the windway ceiling slightly where the air flows out from the windway into the voicing window. My experience has been that this type of whistle will buzz if the windway ceiling is too low. This may not be the problem, but I suggest that you experiment a bit to rule it in or out.
You may also find that adjusting the shape and position of the soundblade solves the problem. Make sure the soundblade is flat so it matches the shape of the windway floor. Then play with the “step” (the relationship between the soundblade and the windway floor) by raising or lowering the soundblade edge so that you can see a little daylight under the soundblade above the windway floor when you sight through the beak. Typically this type of whistle performs best when the soundblade is about 1/3 of the way up from the windway floor.
Why not just buy another one? They are cheap enough. I haven’t had any trouble with mine so far, but then, I likely don’t play as often as many of you.
Another observation.
I make whistles with wooden fipple plugs and I have found that the moisture problem is solved if you burn the surface of the plug that sits in the windway.
I scorch them with a candle flame. It hardens the wood up and prevents the grain popping up when it gets damp.
Hmmmmmm… OK… then lets do it the low tech way, simple tools, and still good results.
A pair of sissors will be needed here, and some thin cardboard. Sometimes thin cardboard comes as packing with shirts. Another source is in the pantry, various food boxes. Measure the width of the wind way, and cut some strips of the card board as long as necessary to hold and slide into the wind way. When the wood is dry rub the cardboard on the wood in, and out of the windway to polish the wood. This will not work well if the wood is wet because the wet will lubricate and the cardboard strip will fall apart. The cardboard is abrasive enough to take down the raised wood grain.
Yes, you could pop on down to the hardware store, and buy some abrasive paper of 600 grit or higher, some two sided tape (sticky on both sides). Then cut a piece of thin plastic, and stick some abrasive paper onto it with the two sided tape. And get the same results. Then you might go and do whistles for other players, and make some extra cash. Then what would Jerry and I do. lol I don’t know about Jerry but I am not a performer.
I have read that some recorder players will scar the roof of the wind way to get a desired effect from their recorder. But it is pretty well accepted the floor of a fipple instrument needs to be as smooth as possible. My preference is to not put a coating on the wood.
After it has been smoothed down several times it will stay that way.
Make the windway floor smooth, and tweak the blade, and exit as Jerry has described. You will have a first class whistle. Also in the course of adjusting the window you may find some differant voicings that appeal to you. Then it will be off to the music store to buy another whistle to set up.
Thanks very much for all the replies! There’s some very interesting advice here… I’m going to have a fiddle around with the fipple and see what happens…
Truly great advice from Jerry there: my Clarke had this unstable blending-of-octaves problem, but in the lower octave. The trough of that little dent that constitutes the form of the soundblade was dipped down below the level of the windway floor (ie. the top of the wooden plug). I lifted it using the point of a pair of scissors - the first thing that came to hand! - and now it’s totally fine.
Jerry, you mention that the shape of the blade should match the exit of the windway floor. Since making the above-mentioned adjustment it is certainly less of a V-shaped indentation in the body of the whistle, but could hardly be said to be flat, as the top of the wooden block obviously is. Any thoughts on why Clarke make them in this way?