Of Silly Putty and Ceramic Whistles

Whistle
1

Oh, okay. I just put the “Silly Putty” in there to get your attention. It’s really Jerry Freeman’s bailiwick, along with chewing gum and the other stuff used to backfill hollow fipple plugs in plastic whistles. Come to think of it, ain’t Silly Putty thixotropic? Hmmm… don’t be shakin’ that whistle too hard if that’s what you used…

So, on to my Other Love, ceramics. Bet not many of you know I used to own Laughing Dragon Pottery in Woodstock NY, and later in Santo, TX. Well, I did. I’m a thrower and a slip-caster, a sculptor, and a modelmaker. Also a joker, a smoker (former) and a midnight toker (also former, worse luck).

So, sittin’ here chomping on a baked chicken leg, anticipating my eventual delving into the baked chicken breast, and reading C&F, I was brought to think on ceramics yet again by someone who shall remain nameless, but whose initials resemble “Shadeclan”, who posted in my CP to try to get me in trouble. Didn’t work. I started a different thread. So there. :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyhoo, it brought me to the realization that um… glass is a ceramic. And Hall makes a bunch of various keys in six-hole glass flutes. And you can cut the head off a Hall flute and replace it with an appropriately sized fipple. And you’d have a ceramic whistle (mostly).

You could also very probably get Dan Bingamon, who is an experimenter extraordinaire, to build a flute-blower fipple for you, I’ll bet, and wind up with a whistle that sounds like a Hall flute! And since IMNAAHO, Hall flutes sound just wonderful, you’d have a wonderful whistle!

So, what say you to those ideas?
Bill Whedon

2

According to those who play them, one of the unexpected features of the clear plastic recorders is watching the spit/condensation/ambient moisture trickle down the tube while you are playing. It’s described as mesmerizing in a lava-lamp sort of way. A clear whistle could take ITM to this next level of entertainment value.

OK, I’m being a smart-a**. In truth, I’d like to hear a glass or ceramic whistle.

3

Get a Hall flute and a diamond cutoff wheel, carefully remove the fipple end, and have at building a new fipple for it. I think it’d sound delightful. I’d do one meself, but I’m up to my ar** in 4130 Chrome moly tube right now, awaiting the arrival of black acetal rod so I can make the blardy whistles make a peep!

If you know a potter with a decent extruder and a tubing die, you could always get him/her to make you some tube. Have 'em do it out of heavily grogged stoneware, to minimize final shrinkage. Bisque-fire the tube after cutting to approximate length, then you make your whistle using abrasive drills and like a Dremel grinder. Then remove any flammable or meltable bits, and have it fired to cone 8 or so. If you make it just a cent or so flat, the final shrinkage should bring it into tune. You will probably have to resize the fipple plug a bit, too.

The addition of a bit of lithium carbonate to the clay will also cut down on firing shrinkage, but don’t use too much, as it’s a very active flux. Probably best to test fire starting around cone 6 and going up until you get warp or fusing. Um… fire it on a bed of silica, thick enough to make a semicylindrical “cradle” to keep the tube from distorting too much.

Damn it! You’re making me itch for the smell of firing pots, and the feel of clay spinning in my hands!

Cheers, mate,
Bill Whedon

4

:smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp: :smiling_imp:

Seriously - it was not my intention to get anyone in trouble, I just thought it was an interesting idea.

When I made that remark I was actually thinking about a clay tube, with steel or fiberglass mixed in for strength - similar to concrete. The inside of the tube should be unfinished, similar to ceramic tile, in order to reduce condensation, but smooth enough to produce a nice tone.

As has been mentioned in another thread, glass would be too fragile to carry around.

Maybe Corning would consider making musical instruments out of Corelle . . . probably sound like nails on a chalkboard. . .

5

Glass is not at all too fragile to truck around. I know people at the KC Renfest who wander around daily with Hall flutes – sure, they’re not exactly period, but then, neither are the steel resonator guitars or the banjos, which latter were invented in the USA, some (considerable) time after the Renaissance! :smiley: Long as you have a nicely padded case and put the instrument in it when you’re not playing, you should have no problems!
Bill Whedon

(edit) Forgot to mention.. both of my Hall flutes (alto G and low D) came in spiffy boxes with cut-to-size foam inserts. Should be pretty easy to carpenter up a simple wood case that fits the insert, or to make an insert that fits an existing case. Or support your local sheet metal shop and have them manufacture a nice aluminum or stainless steel case for you (most expensive option).
Cheers,
Bill