I recently bought a Tuneable Alto A Whistle (Brass Trad) by Tony Dixon DX007A.
Right now it’s flat. I happen to be running a spectrum analyzer (spectroid on android) as I was curious about harmonics and it registered at 434hz. It’s 6 cents flat on a tuner app.
The fipple is stuck on the body such that it doesn’t move. So I’m wondering how to do it.
With my cheap D whistles, I put the end in 150F water for about 30 seconds and then able to slide the fipple. Should I do it with this one also? Or is there some other technique?
it registered at 434hz. It’s 6 cents flat on a tuner app.
At A=434 hz it is 6 Hertz flat, that’s an A a lot more cents than 6, at least 20-ish I’d say. Hz and cents are different things. A mistake easily made (been there, done that).
Okay, I gave it a good firm twist and got it to turn. Now I can adjust it.
But, it’s still flat (434hz) and the tube is all the way in against the stop inside the fipple. Am I going to have to trim the tube? If so, is there a recommended procedure?
Re cents, I don’t know what the tuner app on my phone reads in, I guess it’s not cents. I put my little clip on tuner I use with my mandolin on it and I did get about 18-20 cents flat.
I may be unlucky but out of the eleven “tuneable” whistles I have in various keys, eight need the head pushed all the way in to be in tune so there’s no margin to sharpen them. Two that can be sharpened are only pulled out 1mm to be in tune. The only satisfactorily “tuneable” one is a relatively inexpensive Dixon polycarbonate low D.
I have one like those, too. Only can be tuned flat not sharp. I could just cut a piece of the top if I wanted to. Can be done with any ordinary pipecutter from the hardware store.
Trimming is best done with a jeweler´s frame saw. Blades and saw available at bead stores, or sometimes big box hardware stores. A pipe fitters trick is to use a paper or card board ´collar´ to use a sharpies and clearly mark your cut-off line.
Alternatively, you can take off 1 to 3 mm with very coarse carbarundum paper, like #40 or #80, then dress off with a finer grade.
Much easier to use a pipecutter. I know what I am talking about as I make whistles and flutes myself. Why use a saw? It’s much harder to get a clean and straight cut. No metal saw I ever came across (at least not in a normal hardware store) was able to cut as cleanly or as straight as a pipecutter. You just need to sand the inside a little after cutting. I cannot count the instances when one of my multiple saws developed a mind of her own and messed up a whistle (cuts at an unwanted angle or slipping and scratching up the tube are the most common issues). So for every round tube (aluminium, even steel) I use a pipecutter.
There is a reason however that might favor a saw in this case. You could probably smash the tube if you’re not careful with the pipecutter. But it’s an A whistle, so the tube is not as thin as of a high D.