When I got my first wooden flute (from an old bow (violin) shop in San Fransisco, an expert collector told me not to oil mine too much or it might “sprout!” But when I met Ann Heyman, from Chicago, she claimed she oiled hers every week (lightly). that’s WAY too much. I never oiled my Rudall & Rose flute more than once or twice a year (inside and out–lightly). After a flute gets “moisturized,” it’s considered “alive” and doesn’t really need additional liquids to maintain it, esp African Blackwood which is naturally quite high in resins.
How many of you wooden whistle owners bought your whistles mainly for aesthetic reasons? I mean, I know you like the sound and play them all the time, but I note that a lot of you also like other whistles made from metals or plastics, as well. Chas, for example, seems to be a biggish fan of his WW, as well as of his TW.
Here’s why I ask. I have some recorders (ebony and olivewood) and also some rosewood whistles. I like the wood sound, and of course there’s something incredibly beautiful about well crafted wood instruments. I also have, as everyone knows by now, a Sweetheart Professional made from laminated Northern Birch–it’s the stuff a lot of flooring and cabinets are made from, I believe. My understanding is that it is basically a plastic: thin birch laminae bonded (and impregnated) with a phenolic resin. Many plastics, I believe, use wood fiber to reduce brittleness; this whistle seems to approach it from the opposite direction: take a wood look and make it as moisture resistant as possible. I’ve oiled mine, but theoretically there really shouldn’t be a need for that.
The sound? It retains some of the wood sound, but perhaps a little more pure. Excellent volume without shrillness, excellent body throughout its range. No, it’s not as pretty as true wood, but it seems to provide the best of both worlds: wood look and sound, easy care. It does cost $135, which makes it more expensive than a fair number of metal and plastic whistles, but significantly cheaper than most wood whistles (including true wood Sweethearts).
Hmmm…I’d have to say both. I love the look, feel and smell of real wood, I also really like the sound.
I have whistles of many different types…plastic, metal, and now wood. What I like about them is they’re all so different, and I tend to put them to different uses. The wooden one is mainly for MY pleasure…I envision myself playing out on the deck on our lovely summer nights, serenading the trees, the stars and the raccoons (though I wouldn’t rule out playing it in a performance either, if I were playing a tune or in a venue to which it is particularly suited). Living in a forest as I do, it just seems natural and “right”, y’know?
Redwolf
How many of you wooden whistle owners bought your whistles mainly for aesthetic reasons? I mean, I know you like the sound and play them all the time, but I note that a lot of you also like other whistles made from metals or plastics, as well.
I have to say both, too. I liked the sound of wooden whistles that I’d heard on clips, but I wanted to have one for myself. I didn’t know until I got my Sweetheart that I also loved the smell of wood. When I look at a bunch of whistles, the wooden ones always catch my eye first. I tend to like wood and plastic first, and metal whistles lastly. Not really sure why, though.
That’s a very good question. I think I’ll diverge a little from RW and Cran, though. I initially bought wood whistles for aesthetic reasons. My first two were unexceptional players, though (an old-style Sweet and a Weltmeister).
But the more I’ve gotten, the more I like the sound and playability of them. I would say that, of my D’s, probably four of my five favorites in terms of sound, playability, etc. are wood. I do also like WW’s – I actually play my plastic Bb more than the wooden one, but not the C or D.
Does wood in general have a sound I like? Probably, but I can’t really say so conclusively, especially because a Grinter and a Bleazey sound so totally different. I much prefer wood flutes to metal ones, too. One thing that’s for sure, though, is they’re good whistles because of the amount of effort the makers put into them. I suspect that Glenn puts at least 3 times as much time into a TW as into a WW. I also may very well be prejudiced and just think I like the sound because I like the look, feel, workmanship, etc.
A lot of people think that wood just isn’t worth the price. But I would like to point out that prices don’t really scale linearly with sound quality. Just as a Burke doesn’t sound ten times as good as an Oak, a TW doesn’t sound 3 times as good as a Burke.
I am concerned about the oiling as well. My brand new TW is my first wooden whistle and I want to make sure I break it in correctly.
What concerns me at this moment is that I oiled it this morning but it didn’t occur to me that I might want ot get out any pooled oil. Now it will sit in it’s case all day until I get home. I hope that doesn’t mess up the tone any.
What is a good breaking in period. Say 5 days at 10 minutes a day then 5 days at 15 then 5 at 20? Or can I do it quicker.
BTW I might try the oil alcohol treatment to speed it up.
Did you not get Glenn’s instructions? If not, you might want to email or PM Brewerpaul. I believe his instructions, which he can probably email you, are pretty similar to Glenn’s.
I think he recommends something like 15 minutes for the first week, 30 for the second, then increase up to an hour or more gradually in the next week. Of course, that’s a rough guide; blackwood is pretty insensitive to moisture (not that you should abuse it); boxwood is extremely sensitive.
I stand my whistles up after oiling them, unassembled, for half an hour or so. That way the oil drains to the end. I wouldn’t sweat a little pooling, just wipe it out before you play it.
Sounds about right Chas-- there are no hard and fast rules. You just don’t want to let the wood dry out totally. A little pooling won’t hurt things too much. I usually tell people to put a light film on the wood, and wipe the excess off in a while: minutes? Hours? Glenn and I both hit them with oil pretty heavily once the whistles are completed, and the very dry wood sucks up the oil like crazy. After a few oilings, they don’t really absorb a whole lot more.
Oiling Scmoiling: Tyg, if you are cracking that many wooden whistles, and an Abell to boot, then it’s either an issue of humidity changes, temp changes, or both. Are you keeping the whistles in a properly humidified environment when not in use? Are you swabbing thoughroughly after playing and between “sets” where you don’t play? Cracking that many whistles isn’t simply bad luck, there’s SOMETHING going on here, to be sure. Can’t remember the last time I heard of a Blackwood Abell cracking…
No offense, I’m just saying now is the time to figure this out, before you lose another one.
Loren
Which raises another question…other than the obvious (not storing them near a heating source or window) where do you store your wooden whistles when not playing them for a period? Most houses tend to be fairly dry, it seems…how do you keep whistles humidified other than by playing them?
Redwolf
I’ve seen guitar players who carry a humidifier in their case. Likely one of these could be adapted. Even more likely that Loren (or one of the others here) has a more definitive answer than mine. I do know, from past woodwind experience, that wood instruments need to acclimate slowly to new temperatures, with cold outdoor to warm indoor (or hot outdoor to cool indoor) temperature changes being especially nasty.
In the winter I keep all my wooden instruments, except for a couple of antique keyed flutes, in a Rubbermaid vessel with a cigar humidifier. I got the idea from Loren. It’s so humid here in the summer that I keep those with cases in their cases. I hope to make some display cases with humidifiers one of these days.
Tyg, I’m curious, how old were these whistles? I’m curious how wooden whistles age and if that’s a factor in them cracking.
bumping this to find out how old the whistles were…
Blackhawk, the first one was a month or so old, and a prototype at that.
The second was a premature crack as it was being made. The whistlesmith let me know about it and offered a number of options (including starting anew with same kind of wood; trying a different wood; or repairing the crack, seeing if it would ‘hold’, and giving me a reduced price plus a guarantee for a new whistle if this one decided it was done-for). I chose the last option, and so far the whistle is holding nicely.
The third one (the one that prompted this whole thread) was a whistle I got second hand, and had had and played constantly since December. I believe it was a year or less old when I got it.
The woods involved were blackwood, pink ivory, and Honduran rosewood (not cocobola) not necessarily in that order.
Thanks, Tyghress!
K mart sells plastic containers with lids
that I think are made to go under the
bed as a sort of spare drawer for clothes.
Well one of these plus a damp sponge
will humidify a lot of woodwinds,
flutes, Abells, and so on.
It’s best to keep these fellas out
of their cases when you humidfy
this way; otherwise you
invite mildew.
Honestly I think this stuff about oiling
is one of those issues about which
there is widespread disagreement
among experts. Some are for doing
it a lot; others for doing it rarely.
In addition different wood whistle makers
give different recommentdations for
breaking in–some say you can just
play all you want right away,
others advise gradual breaking in.
Here of course there may be
differences tween the wood and
seasoning that explain the
different advice.
Oiling doesn’t hurt things, I think
that’s plain. And oiled instruments
play better for awhile, at least;
so I sometimes oil before a
gig. Best