Correct me if I’m wrong, but I have read here that whistles–even metal and plastic ones–need a break-in period. In fact, I have come to believe that my Oak sounds better now than it did out of the box.
My question is, why? I can see a wooden one, but what changes take place that can make a metal whistle better?
I’m under the impression that whistles don’t change, your playing does. Albeit slowly and gradually, so you don’t immiedately notice it.
You don’t break in a plastic and metal whistle; it breaks you in.
I’d agree with that. When I first got my standard Walton’s and Feadogs I hated them - squawks, unwanted octave flips, you name it. Simply awful - I liked my Sweetone D much more than either.
I still think my Sweetone’s are OK, but now that I have more experience the Walton’s has improved to OK, too - and though the Feadogs require more breath control, I think that they’re one of the best non-premium whistles available - if I had to chose one cheap whistle to play for the rest of my life I’d be torn between my well-tweeked Gen Nickel D or my favorite Feadog.
FWIW, my whistling daughter still has the same problems with her Feadog I used to - but when I play it, it sounds as good as mine does.
I think that each whistle has its own peculiar breathe requirements, including embouchure, so that you are over time really just adapting to these requirements. In short, you learn how to blow to make it sound better, including transitions between octaves, etc. I almost returned my improved Feadog, because of the difficult transitions and tendency to overblow. When I got used to the soft air flow required, it was a pleasure. Same whistle.
regards,
Philo
Thank God! When I saw your post, John, I though someone had broken into your home to steal your whistles!
I think that each whistle has its own peculiar breathe requirements, including embouchure
I agree. I’ve noticed in the few days that I’ve had it that my Susato is easier for me to play if I stick the whole head into my mouth because of the short-ish fipple part thing. I don’t think it actually changes the sound, though.
I’d agree with that. When I first got my standard Walton’s and Feadogs I hated them - squawks, unwanted octave flips, you name it. Simply awful - I liked my Sweetone D much more than either.
Precisely so
Thanks. I figured it was ther person and not the whistle. So my Oak sounds better because I sound better playing it. Cool.
I agree that it’s mostly the player, but I remain convinced that all instruments do change a little over time as you play them.
But it’s a very slow and gradual thing, and can have unpredictable consequences, such as a whistle that’s always been fine suddenly starting to have an unpleasant burble on a few second octave notes (to use a real-world example).
Best,
–James
James, when something like this “sudden burble or disturbances” is happening, then it possibly it the right time to have a look into the windway and clean it out again. 
Brigitte
That’s good advice…but already tried.
–James
While I hate to disagree, it’s the whistle that changes.
Whistles are in fact a mere extrusion into this dimension of the toes of multi-dimensional beings. The whole creatures are shaped something like a full set of uillean pipes, only with more pipes and valves and whatnot.
These creatures are very fond of having their toes tickled, and they dip these toes into our Universe for this purpose, like a swimmer dipping his toes into a cool lake while sitting on a jetty on a hot sunny day.
When you first get your hands on a new whistle-toe and start to tickle it, the creature whose toes you are now tickling may shudder or jolt with these new sensations.
In time however, their sensory nerve endings recognise these sensations as nice (they are multi-dimensional but not very bright), and they wriggle their toes in sheer joy. This wriggling of the whistle-toes feeds back in a way not yet completely analysed by whistle-toe-scientists and produces better music.
Once this process is fully understood, it will become clear that the idea of getting used to a whistle after playing it for a while is folly.
But, Martin, what happens to the monster’s toe when we take off the head of the whistle and file down the blade? I can’t imagine that that’s a particularly pleasurable sensation for the monster! My, oh, my.
Mike
That’s just trimming the toenails, Byrnsy! They love a pedicure, it makes them wiggle their toes even more!
Martin, your prose is much like Dahl’s BFG, my favorite book to read to my daughter when she could not yet read herself. Are you published, man?
Philo
Well, it seems to me a plastic fipple is going to leach volatile material into the air, loosing some flexiblity and gaining some rigidity as well over time.
Pressure from your lips, especially on a new plastic fipple, might tend to narrow the airway a bit over time, and the warm air you are blowing out is going to make the airway and blade expand at a greater rate than the rest of the fipple during play, producing stresses in the fipple at these points.
I don’t suppose there will be much change in the metal tube, although I am not convinced there will be no change over time.
How large or permanent these changes are, and how much (if any) they affect the way a whistle plays probably varies from whistle to whistle and from material to material.
That said, whether or not these are the reasons, I remain convinced that whistles and other instruments do, in fact, change their playing characteristics over time.
Best wishes,
–James