New to the board, new to whistles and new to music in general.
I know absolutely nothing about music other than I can pick a song out on the piano or whistle by ear. I’ve never practiced enough to be good at any of it but now I want to learn and I’ve got the time and inclination to practice.
I’m searching for a music teacher in my area and I’ve been reading the C&F board for a few days now. I bought a cheap whistle when I was in Ireland years ago, thinking I would learn to play but it’s gone by the wayside and I never liked the sound of it anyway, too shrill for my ears. Now, with all the internet information available I decided to make my own. I’m pretty handy with tools so feel more confident I can make a whistle than actually play it.
I have the instructions for the GG DIY whistle and all the supplies ready ..
I managed to lay my hands on some black pvc in two diameters, around 13mm and 17mm. Couldn’t find acrylic or plastic dowel in correct diameters so ended up with wood dowel (thank you to the person who posted the information on correctly making a wooden fipple, I’ll be using those instructions). That should give me something to play with. After listening to all the sounds bites I find I gravitate toward the deeper tones so I think I’ll aim the larger diameter for Alto G and not sure yet about the small diameter (bought that on a whim because it was there and everyone said black was hard to find). Again .. I know nothing about music so I’m just going to dive in and flounder in the pool until I learn to swim .. it’s cheap enough to not worry about failures.
I also found some clear acrylic that is around 17mm or 20ishmm diameter (they were all in imperial and I haven’t had a chance to measure them in metric yet) and clear acrylic dowel that fits snug. The idea of a clear whistle seemed really neat at the time but now that I think about the condensation … hmm .. maybe, not so much, LOL! We’ll see. Still .. worth some fun to play with.
Anyway .. sorry for my long-winded introduction. Thank you to all who have posted to the board, the shared information is invaluable (even if I don’t understand a lot of what you’re saying when you talk music talk). Special thank you to GG for the instructions, what a happy find for me.
Any suggestions before I dive in making my own whistles?
OK, first off, I am jealous. Where’d you find 13mm black pvc? Can you share the source?
You might want to think about that one a bit. After you’ve made the whistle, how do you evaluate it unless you can play it? Having a benchmark as a guide can be helpful. Knowing how to play would be the best tool in your shop for making the whistles. I’m all about encouraging people to make their own whistles. It’s a great learning experience and a fun activity. But there is a bit more to it than following the recipe from a cookbook. Cookbook whistle making rarely turns out well, at least at first. Dr. Gonzato’s instructions are great, a real gift to the whistling world, but there are spirits lurking in the ether that can mess with the outcome. Be prepared to make a pile of rejects, evaluate every one, figure out where to improve it and make another. You’ll get a good one soon enough. And have fun. There’s some work to do first but soon enough you can call it “playing”.
Make sure the diameter of the finished plug fits nicely in the pipe without stretching the walls outward. That is critical to maintain the geometry between the windway exit and the labium edge. If you hae issues with that, let us know. We can advise you on techniques and methods. There are quite a few whistle makers around here. And we like to help.
The clear acrylic tubing is something a few makers have offered. Cary Parks makes what he calls a “Ghost whistle”. No different from the ubiquitous translucent ABS recorders out there.
OK, first off, I am jealous. Where’d you find 13mm black pvc? Can you share the source?
Plumbing department, Home Depot, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Tag for small diameter says - 1/2" x 2’ long NSF 100 PSI poly pipe, so (12.70mm x 609.6mm). The larger diameter is 3/4’ x 2’ long (19.05mm x 609.6mm). It’s 2mm wall thickness.
Forgot to say thanks for the welcome and the advice.
After you’ve made the whistle, how do you evaluate it unless you can play it?
Good point but I feel that since I don’t have the ability to evaluate one I buy either .. might as well make one. shrugs
Maybe this is where the music teacher will come in handy! I have a relative who makes guitars; I wonder if he’ll be able to evaluate my whistles or are strings and wind so different he’ll be as lost as me?
It may be good to note that those are nominal sizes they list for the pipe, the actual dimensions (which they do list on the product details) will vary somewhat. The wall thicknesses there are close to 1/8" (which is fine) with a bore of 0.608"/15.44mm (which is fine for some keys, High D and above that’s probably a little much starting out).
Whew! OK. Yes, I have that pipe on the shelf in the shop actually. It’s not PVC though. It is softer than PVC or CPVC pipes. I think it is sold as riser pipe for sprinkler systems. But the good news is that you can still make a whistle with it just fine. So, no reason not to carry on with it.
AlexD offers good counsel. The pipe sizes are nominal, 1/2" in name only, meaning that they are meant to be compatible with pipe systems named for 1/2" fittings, as an example. The actual dimensions of the pipe inside and outside will vary. The actual sizes are what you use to design your whistle. It looks like you’ve got that figured out. The .608 is a bit large for a high D whistle. Ideally a high D will have a bore of 1/2" or a little less. It is probably more what you would use for a whistle in A, Bb or B. A C whistle might work. Just calculate the bore-to-length ratio and make sure that it is within norms for the scale you choose. I could recommend Daniel Bingamon’s TWCalc: http://www.kingsmills.us/twcalc/twcalc.htm or DrPhill’s TWJCalc: http://sourceforge.net/projects/twjcalc/ to do the math. Both are members here.
Be aware that the plans on the Gonzato website use European pipe sizes. The inside and outside diameters will vary from what we have available here in the US. When Guido states he is using pipe with a 13mm bore, he means 13mm. His tone hole calculations are based upon a specific bore diameter and wall thickness. You will have to re-calculate the designs to work well for the Home Depot pipe. Or of course you can make a whistle, evaluate the tuning and adjust from there - the well worn trial-and-error method. Either way works in the end.
Woodwinds are different but instrument making is a fraternity of sorts so, yes, ask them to help you. We learn things from a lot of different disciplines. I made stringed instruments for many years before I got into making woodwinds.
But really, I may sound like the harbinger of doom with my warnings. That’s not my intention. Just go ahead and start making whistles. It’s fun. You’ll have a hoot. And hopefully you will learn to play a whistle in the process.
I haven’t looked at GG’s instructions and they may well include this bit of advice: wear a dust mask when cutting or sanding PVC pipe. That dust can get in your lungs and stay there forever. Get some wet/dry automotive sandpaper and use it wet to keep the dust down.
Good luck, you’re in for some frustration probably but a great deal of satisfaction in the long run.
Well .. after all that I ended up just buying one because, like someone suggested, hard to make one if you don’t know what they’re supposed to sound like.
I’ll keep all the supplies and maybe make one when I’m actually able to play one.
