Hello again, folks! I’ve a quick question.
I was browsing through some of the older posts, and found one where someone was giving advice on the inner diameter of the materials, and with some sort of math equation was giving the proper length and base note for that size inner diameter. Could that person give me the same?
My prospective whistle has an inner diameter of 19mm or 0.748 inch. The wall thickness is 1.5 mm or 0.059 inch.
If I could get some assistance, I’d really appreciate it.
Searching the archives of C&F is a good way to find all the whistle making discussions that have transpired here over the years. I would encourage you to continue along that vein. Much has been offered here in the way of advice and opinion, some of it from very experienced and well known makers.
Your basic question concerns the bore to length ratio of a flute or whistle. Keeping this ratio optimal makes for good whistle performance. 19mm is going to be best for a low whistle, maybe low E or D. Seems to me Boehm liked that bore diameter for flutes. But there are a whole lot of other factors to consider as well. There are several web sites I could direct you towards which may be of assistance. One is provided by Daniel Bingamon. Daniel is a frequent contributor to this forum. Daniel provides a number of aids for designing whistles. Particular to your question, he has a bore to length ratio calculator. That is provided here:
Also available from that page is TWCalc which is a good tool to help develop your own whistle designs.
Daniel also offers a book on whistle making which I would suggest as a good primer for getting started in whistle making. There is a link to that book on the page listed above.
Another good site for the beginer whistlesmith is provided by Guido Gonzato, also a contributor to this forum. His site offers several designs as well as tips and hints on whistle making. I don’t believe that a 19mm bores is used on any of the designs there. I recall a 22mm bore on the low D.
Thank you, Feadoggie. Thank you very much for that information. it’ll help a LOT. I think I’ll continue with the PVC for a while. At least until I have my design just the way I want it. It’s much cheaper, and will serve me well in the time to come. I’ll hold off on my Stainless Monster until then. After all, why potentially ruin a beautiful beginning? I’ve already got the window cut, and it’s got an absolutely beautiful sound. Yeah. I think I’ll stick to the simple stuff for now. Maybe aluminum, as I can get that for next to nothing at work. Actually, I CAN get it for nothing…
