What happened.............?

Whistle
1

Help me solve this mystery, which I find quite peculiar…

Some months ago, after reading JessieK´s rewiew, I ordered a set of o´Brien whistles, one head-joint and five bodies Bb, C, D, Eb. E, to sort of fill in the lacking keys. The whistles arrived shortly after, and after playing them I have to admit that I was a bit dissapointed. They seemed to be quite nice and clear in the top of their register, but very weak near the lowest part. But the worst thing was; it seemed to clog up emediatly. In fact it soundet dripping wet, almost like when you blow through a straw or something into water: Bubbly!?

I tried to check if something was stuck inside the window and I washed it, but got no change.

I put it away, and picked it up again several times during the next month, but came to the same result. Not good, hardly playable.
Ok. No big deal.

Yesterday I found out that I will need a tunable D for a gig in july, and the o´Brien beeing the only one i have, I went to the dusty shelf it had been lying on for some months. I tried the E body which I remembered to be the best one first. Hm…sounded very nice, and didn´t choke up.What!!!

Tried the D body. Just as nice! Maybe a bit weaker bottom, but you´d expect that with the same bore and increasing lenght of the tube I guess.

They were all very nice!! The C-Bb perhaps to weak in the low end. But the clogging, or what it was, was gone!!

What happend??

Here are the possible factors I can come up with:
Air humidity a lot higher than last I tried? (Nickel plated copper and copper fipple)
Dust! Probably inside the head joint as well?
Something which should not be there might been remowed from the headjoint?
Som kind of breaking in effect?
My air control has improved? :confused:

Any thoughts?

2

Yes, your air control has improved.

3

It could also be that it’s a bit warmer. I have a couple of whistles that I only play in the summer, because they clog so easily when the temperature drops.

Have you put Jet-Dri or soap in the windway?

4

I’ve no doubt that Jessie and others who’ve experienced more whistles will give you the more technically accurate explanation of what, for me, almost amounts to a mystical conversion of some sort wherein a whistle which I wasn’t getting along with seems, after a fallow period, to have become more friendly and accommodating. Or perhaps it was me who adjusted. But for whatever reason, something’s different and often for the better.

5

Metal whistles need to be warmed before playing, especially in humid conditions. Maybe the weather is warmer/ less humid now than when you tried them before. A little dilute dish detergent in the windway will cause condensation to sheet and flow rather that bead up.

6

Absolutely! If you breath on any cold metal you can see the condensation, this is the vapor that clogs the windway of whistles. Your breath comes out hot and humid. If you warm the whistle up to near body temperature, your breath is less likely to condense in the wind way. If you left it out in the sun and picked it up, it would be quiet different than a couple of months ago when the winter shade would be chilling the metal. Again, try to warm the whistle up to body temperature (90 degrees plus), instead of room temperature between 60 or 70, and there will be less condensation.

This has prove true with all my whistles but especially with my metal fipple whistles, in this case Overtons and a Harper. It also held true for some whistles that I used to have Chieftains, Clarks, and Shaws.

So it takes more than a warm heart to make clear tunes,it takes warm whistles to …