I have a Clare two-piece whistle that I frankly love - sometimes. It seems like sometimes, I put it together and it’s perfectly in tune and off we go. Others, I put it together to the same mark and it lets off with a sound like a neck-wrung chicken. To add to the problem, I have a somewhat severe hearing problem, especially in the left ear, so trying to tune it can take a while.
Because its in a nice wood case, its my car/outdoor whistle, so I’ve assumed the problem to be one of heat/humidity. Has anyone else with one of these experienced a similar problem? If so, is there any solution besides trial and error for getting it back in tune?
Chuck, I have a two-piece brass Clare, and mine seems to really need to be warmed up at LOT before I play it. It’s the same with my brass
Walton’s. It’s not a condensation
problem when it’s cold, but both whistles squeak and don’t take tonguing too well if it’s the least bit cool. It plays best after it’s been sitting in a sunny spot for a couple minutes.
I also have a severe hearing problem
and find that all my whistles sound
better in the morning than in the
afternoon - so maybe timing has
something to do with it.
Mine didn’t come with a wooden case
but I’ve seen the 2-pc advertised
with one and assumed they all came
that way; do you know where I might
get one? It seems a little fragile
to carry around in my backpack
without protection.
I also have a two-piece Clare. It’s a very nice whistle, but it has a few peculiarities.
It requires extremely low breath pressure to play well, even in the upper octave, and the lowest notes seem a little sharp to me, say from the G down.
Almost any whistle (probably any wind instrument) seems to play better warmed up, and this one is no exception. I think two things happen when you take time to warm up the whistle. One of course is the whistle gets less liquid in the fipple and bore because it isn’t cold anymore, and it comes up to pitch. The other, and I think equally important, is it gives you a few minutes to switch mind, breath, and fingers into “whistler” mode.
I like to warm up whistles (and flutes) with soft, low, long tones, say for five minutes or so before playing. Leaving it in the sunlight will certainly work too.
I too love my Clare whistle. It’s always in my pocket, ready to play, and I find it very easy to tune. Since I’m so careless with it I even ordered a second from Shanna Quay. It came with a little dent in it (from shipping) which pleased me because now I don’t have to worry about putting in one of my own. I don’t find that I have to blow particularly soft, however. The air pressure required seems about average for me.
I find that I have to occassionally clean the joint on my Clare. I use a little 4-O steel wool and just wipe both sides. Also, any moisture or dried up crud in the windway will make it sound terrible.
When I pick it up I place the fipple in my mouth covering the blade and blow to make sure there is nothing in the way. It also helps to warm the whistle.
I also love the Clare 2 piece, sometimes. It’s not a tuning issue for me, mine is alright in that way.
Because it’s my travel whistle, it isn’t used that much. That is a shame, for I find that this is probably one of my favourites. The thing is (with me anyway)that it requires a very particular breathing which is not hard but takes a couple of minutes to adjust to. I also have a Hoover narrow bore that requires a different way of breathing then my usual waltons/generations/clarkes. But every whistle has their particulars of course!
To me the Clare is the most wonderful whistle when I play it ‘exclusively’ for a while, but a bit finicky to just pick up and play a tune (which I still do of course, but the first tune never sounds the way it could when warmed up and ‘adjusted’ to). You could try it for a while…
Tuning can do very little on a Clare, I’ve found but the couple that have past my hands were all pretty good in tune (and in tune with themselves). Do you find it just a bit off or is it really bad, and have you checked it against a tuner? If it’s just a bit off it may improve if you try playing it exclusively because it’s breathingpressure that makes or break this whistle! IMHO
Good luck!
Ilana
[ This Message was edited by: Curlyblue on 2002-06-15 08:14 ]
