With the exception of Abells, new wooden whistles tend to come with instructions about how to treat them during the ‘playing in’ period. These might be fairly minimal, as with Paul Busman’s suggestions about limiting daily playing time, or they might be quite extensive, as with Michael Grinter’s suggestion that you do rather kinky things to the whistle with almond oil as well as limiting daily playing time.
I understand a little about the scientific reasons for doing these things, but would like to know more. In particular, since I find it hard to practice on a single whistle for the length of time suggested on a daily basis without making my other whistles jealous, I feel I ought to know more.
My question is this. During the playing in time, what are the respective contributions of the following activities: following oiling instructions carefully and actually playing the whistle on a regular basis? I guess what really concerns me is this: if I don’t play a whistle on a daily basis for the full time allowed, will I have to be careful to restrict playing time for a longer period or does simply having it around and oiling it regularly break it in regardless of the amount of playing time it gets?
If I understand correctly, a large part of the “playing in” instructions are designed to get the whistle “used to” regular changes in temperature and moisture gradually, so it won’t crack when suddenly expected to put up with longer playing times. When you blow into a whistle, you raise its internal temperature and humidity considerably…if you just pick up a wooden whistle and play it for an hour without first accustoming it to this sudden change, you run the risk of overstressing the wood. At least that’s how I understand it.
Oiling is a different thing…the idea behind that is simply to keep the wood from drying out. So, if my understanding of the break in is correct, simply oiling the wood regularly isn’t a substitute for “playing in.”
That said, I don’t know that it’s necessary to play the new wooden whistle every day, or to adhere strictly to the maximum playing time each day. When I was breaking in my Busman, some days I’d play for 20 minutes, others I might play it for 10 (and maybe 10 more later in the day). Week by week, I’d add 5 minutes or so to the maximum time I’d keep the Busman in play, until I COULD, if I wanted, play it for the entire practice session. Since I usually play for 45 minutes or more, when it was time to put the Busman away during the break in period, I’d switch to another whistle. Even now, often I switch whistles during a practice session…just to get a feel for how a certain tune may sound on a different whistle, or to work on breath control, or even just for variety…so I don’t think anyone got jealous
Redwolf, I was under the impression, perhaps a false impression, that oiling was more important than you suggest. It might vary from whistle to whistle. My impression was that oil absorbed by the wood and exposed to daylight in some chemical sense stabilised the wood and that this contributed to robustness down the track. Michael Grinter recommends immersing the whole head in almond oil for five minutes and then letting it drain down through the whistle overnight. The sound is weirdly unfocussed for a day or two after the bath but beautiful thereafter. Part of my problem (problem?) is that I’m actually simultaneously playing in my Busman and my Grinter.
So does advise Yvon Le Coant, with minute variations.
What I see is that both Le Coant and Grinter have a wood block, while most American-made whistles (except, at least, Ralph Sweet’s) have synthetic blocks.
I think you’re right on your hunch: some oils like linseed/flaxseed, or poppyseed, or to a lesser extent almond oil polymerize through UV exposure and become a sort of varnish which had the time to impregnate the wood structure before hardening.
Finally some woods are naturally “oily” and will dry out only superfically. I reckon African blackwood is one of these, but I guess many other dalbergia like cocobolo as well.
Exposure to air (oxygen, actually), even in the absence of UV light also polymerizes drying oils, though more slowly than in combination with daylight.
Thanks Jerry and Zubivka for confirming my hunch. I probably only learnt the ‘hunch’ from one or both of you anyway. Now how does that bear on Redwolf’s view that playing time is still important to the playing in process?
Don’t wooden whistles take a LOT of breath, like ones with wooden fipples (Shaw, Clarke)? Or am I mistaken, having reached this assumption without ever playing a wooden whistle for an extended period of time?
I can’t speak for all wooden whistles, currently having just one (a Busman), but I would say mine takes good breath control, rather than a lot of wind. You have to push the upper octave a tad, but it’s more a matter of focused breathing rather than blowing harder. Play it for a couple of weeks, you get used to the difference, and then it’s no problem…in fact, I’m finding that I like having a whistle I can lean into a bit, especially when playing faster tunes.
I imagine the design of the whistle has as much to do with breath pressure as materials, if not more, but that’s just a guess.
Shaws (and Clarkes) can be tweaked to drastically reduce their air demands.
Some wood whistles take a lot of air, some very little… just as metal ones.
Bleazey and Swayne whistles also have pencil cedar fipples, and I’ve asked both makers specifically about soaking the heads. They both recommend, and in Phil’s case, strongly caution, against it. I’ve never had any problem with my Grinter clogging, and I followed his instructions. I feel like one of my Swaynes and one of my Bleazeys may have clogging problems, though. I might try the soaking thing after a prolonged period of not playing these guys.
[quote=“corinthia”]Don’t wooden whistles take a LOT of breath, like ones with wooden fipples (Shaw, Clarke)? quote]
Nope, not necessarily. Some do and some don’t-- depends on the design of the head.
People have pretty well covered the break-in question. As I see it, the purpose of oiling is to prevent the porous wood from absorbing too much moisture from condensed breath. If the pores of the wood are filled with oil, they can’t hold much water. Be sure to let a wooden whistle dry out for a day or two before oiling, or you will actually be sealing moisture into the wood.
i read these posts with interest. as most of you know, i’m a big fan of the sweetheart professional in laminate–which by its very nature is pretty well impregnated with a phenolic resin. the idea is pretty similar to using an oil that will polymerize after impregnating the wood to some degree, however the use of a laminate insures that the the theory is carried out consistently and thoroughly all the way through. point is, ease of care, no need for breaking/playing in.
It’s not anywhere near as difficult as we are making it seem I think. There are several different approaches being discussed here, with conflicting advice, and you have to decide which one to go with. But once you decide, it’s pretty easy following the instructions. Usually just a quick oil, once a month, inside and out and wipe dry after each playing session.
Even though I’ve learnt a lot from this discussion I still don’t have the situation completely clear. But to anyone who wants wood and is hesitating, I’d say go for it. What I do with each whistle is just follow the maker’s advice. So what I do with my Busman D is very different to what I do with my Grinter F and slightly different to what I do with my Abells. But the advantage of this approach is that I can always return a whistle to the maker and not be asked: why on earth did you do that? These are all top-class, high-end, whistles and the makers stand by their work but why would they if you don’t follow their advice?
Please don’t get that idea! All of this care is really pretty simple, and takes only a minute or two. It’s not rocket science- just some very simple, common sense precautions. Actually, if you love the look and feel of fine wood, doing the maintenence is pretty enjoyable.
Naturally, brewerpaul hit the nail squarely on the proverbial head. Fine wood is to be appreciated and given loving care, whether it be a whistle or an exquisite piece of furniture - and fortunately, a whistle takes a lot less time to care for than, say, a maple dining room table!
And Redwolf is spot on about breath requirements. When I first got my Thin Weasel I had one hell of a time hitting the bottom D, until I realized it was a matter of breath control - in other words, “focusing”, if you will, the amount of air flow I was putting into the whistle.
Though I love playing a wide variety of whistles, to me, wooden whistles rule!!!
