th whistle(couldn't guess that subject, now, could you?)

Whistle
1

Hello whistlers!
I have a couple of questions for you all:

  1. What do you do to keep your whistle in good shape?
  2. My whistle got kinda pilled I guess, the color came off. Why is that and how can I avoid it in the future?
  3. When I play D second octave and up all the notes are kinda airy. You can hear the air coming out. It’s a nice effect but it doesn’t have that bright pure sound I’m looking for and have in the lower notes. What do I do? I am using a Walton D whistle, which I believe isn’t very good. Maybe that is the answer to all of my questions???


    Do keep yourself in good health,

raiden29

2

The only whistles that actually require a lot (or not a lot, depending on how you look at it) of care are wooden ones, which need to be kept oiled…you can polish brass whistles if you want to, but you don’t have to. If it’s a Walton’s, whistle, the green-ish coating will come off. That’s just how they are, I think they look better after all the coating is gone…

I like Waltons whistles, (except mabey the LBW). I have 6.

3

Hi Raiden,

  1. The most my whistles get is an occasional wipe with a damp cloth, or a flush out with tapwater, if they’ve gotten particularly gungy inside, followed by a drying with kitchen paper towel rolled into a dibber to dry the inside.

  2. Did the colour come off a) round the fingerholes, or b) all over. If a) that’s a nice patina which we strive to achieve, if b) what did you do to manage that?

  3. I think that’s probably just the nature of the whistle. Waltons whistles are fine, no worse than other cheapies. Have you tried any other cheap makes, e.g. Clarke, Generation, Feadog? If they perform exactly the same, it may be that you’re not putting enough breath into it. Or it may be your particular whistle, and another of the same brand would be different.

4

You might try not venting the top D, just blow a bit harder and it’ll pop up and sound a bit brighter.