I’ve just bought a secondhand Clarke Original off the notorious Bay. The seller said he bought it about thirty years ago, and having put it away it’s just surfaced at his mother in law’s. My first disappointment was seeing that it was in C (my fault as I didn’t ask), and for some reason I’d assumed it was in D. It was, as he’d said, in good condition in it’s original packaging with advertising blurb and beginner’s stuff. A question arose in my mind here; when did they move to the Five Oak Green address?
The next thing I noticed was the fipple plug - the tube side of which sloped away into the tube; I’d expected it to be square, is this normal? The next thing I noticed was that the fipple plug was retained by three indentations both sides, as the Shaw.
What I’ve intentionally omitted of course is the M shaped blade, made by just stamping the centre of the tube with punch; I’m guessing this is a simpler and cheaper way of getting the whistle to play than flattening the blade and the top of the windway?
As expected, it’s going to take a fair bit of tweaking to get this beastie to play well, but it’s going to be fun, and will keep me occupied while I convalesce.
Cheers
Max
Back in the day, when I was starting out, the Clarke was only available in C. So if it is an older Clarke that could have been the first clue that it was going to be in C. But 30 years back would put it around 1985 and I just do not remember when the D whistle became available (at least here in the US). Perhaps someone else here will recall that.
Stop and think about how these are made - today as well as yesteryear. You may need to re-adjust your thinking by getting into the wayback machine. These were designed and made using early 19th century technology, tinsmithing. They are simpley pressed together, ergo the concave sides and punched indentations to hold the block. That’s what makes it “an original” just like Robert Clarke would have made, tradition lives whether the Clarke is a new or an old one.
I was under the impression that they’ve been in the same place for decades. Could be wrong. Dale, the Undisputed King of Internet Tinwhistle Journalism, has been made privy to the secrets of Clarke Tinwhistles. He’s traveled across the great water on DaleForce One to visit with his friend Norman Dannatt. Norman wrote the book on Clarkes. Really!
You might be able to discern something here in the old newsletters Dale published when things started out here. Dale’s visit to Clarke was described in this edition and perhaps a couple more. http://www.chiffandfipple.com/cf11-23-03/cf.htm
Props to Dale, as always.
Oh, don’t over-tweak the thing - not that it shouldn’t be reversible anyway.
Feadoggie
So I looked around a bit figuring that Bill Ochs would know when Clarke put out their D whistle. Well, my suspicion was right. He does know when that was. But I was pleasantly surprised to find him quoted in the interview he did with Paul Busman for Chiff and Fipple. (Gotta love the C&F community!)
The rest of the interview is on the main C&F website: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/billochs.htm
Feadoggie
Hail Dale!
Mmm. Would certainly love to find one of those big low G Clarkes on the notorious Bay one of these days!
Oh, don’t over-tweak the thing
Re tweaking, I think wiser words were never said!
Reading thru the main C&F website ought to be required reading. Enjoyed the refresher.
Hello Feadoggie!
What can I say, but thanks for all your hard work. I suspect, and hope, some of it particularly the D date will come in useful for other researchers.
I love your display board, which looks really impressive, and has I think some quite rare beasties.
I have to now decide whether or not to keep my C Clarke (I may name it Arthur) as it is, or modify it to make it playable.
One small thing you skipped by, I’m sure unintentionally, was the sloping wooden plug. I realise I may not have made that part crystal clear. It slopes into the tube from the windway. Not backwards under the windway, but into the tube. Another nicety I noticed, was that the fipple plug, on the mouth end where it enters the windway, had been slightly chamfered. Do they still do this?
Cheers
Max
Thank you, Feadoggie, for clearing up something that had been puzzling me. Through various purchases of individual whistles and whistle sets, I have ended up with four Clarke Original whistles, all of which were in the key of C. I thought it might be just the luck of the draw, or maybe the D’s weren’t as popular as the C’s. Never occurred to me that Clarke didn’t make a D whistle until a later date. I wonder if that was because Irish trad music would more likely be in the key of D, while English trad music would more likely be in the key of C, and the Clarke was an English-manufactured whistle? Nah, probably not. Any thoughts? I also realize that Clarke didn’t really have a lot of competitors way back when, so they could pretty much do what they wanted.
But 30 years back would put it around 1985 and I just do not remember when the D whistle became available (at least here in the US). Perhaps someone else here will recall that.
I would have put it around the mid eighties as well but I suppose the interview you already quoted says differently.
I also realize that Clarke didn’t really have a lot of competitors way back when, so they could pretty much do what they wanted.
While there were probably not a lot of makers turning out conical rolled tin whistles, there was always a multitude of brass and nickel silver cylindrical whistles available.
FWIW, I have one ‘of the type’ in E, which is unmarked and painted red. I don’t know where that fits in the whole story. I thought it was an old one someone painted over but both the block and the paintwork (one chip aside, but that may well have happened while I had it) are a bit too pristine for an old whistle (unless it’s ‘new old stock’), and there’s no rust either. So it’s a bit of a mystery item.
Your guess is as good as mine! It looks, apart from the plain paint job, like any rolled tin whistle made in England, the US, Germany or Japan in the first half of the 20th century! Most of those whistles had very decorative paint jobs. The folded metal on either side of the window is reminiscent of the HB “Pied Piper” whistles made in post-war “U.S. Zone” of Germany. Neat whistle. Not a terribly great player, though. But I guess beats out the four and five whistles made in Japan at the time that I think can hardly even be classed as “toys”!
And yes, if the paint job is pristine (and original) and the inside is clean and unrusted, then I’d hazard the guess “new old stock” as well.
On the third hand, it could very well be a one-off made by someone musically oriented in a metal shop at school. Would certainly have access to the tools needed to cut and shape sheets of metal.
There were quite a few whistles of this type in Germany during the thirties, I have seen (photos of) ones with a full complement of swastikas and, as you said, very elaborate and colourful decorative paint jobs.
This one is unusual for its key (E at A=440). It plays just fine. I really never gave it much thought but it struck me earlier it looks a bit too clean for a used, old whistle. it came from Hungary, maybe five-ish years ago, @ €7.
Never seen Nazi whistle…
Apart from the “Pied Piper”, I have a Delta-K cherub, a Shepherd (made in Japan) and a Schoha (also Germany). All in E. Bb, C, D and E seem to be the keys these whistles were made in most.
It is entirely possibly that yours was a Soviet era made in Hungary whistle.