Whistle Silencer ?

Whistle
21

When first I started playing whistle, back in the days when I had’t heard of such a thing as a Worldwide Web, back when MS-DOS was the operating system of choice among most PC-users, I had two Coopermans (Coopermen?), and these would have made great whistles for the person desiring to practice quietly. One was like an extra-breathy Clarke, and the other was like an extra-breathy paper towel tube, for those times when you want to be truly silent.

Actually, I second you on the Hoover narrow-bore. I ordered a tabor pipe in this model. Great sound, not loud, and, unlike the Cooperman, low breath requirement. However there is a serious drawback in narrow, or small whistles, and that is, the narrow windway clogs easily, much more easily than a roomier windway (it stands to reason).

22

This is germ warfare again Tim…I’ve been barely vertical for ten days with this latest British affliction and I don’t get ill. Today I squeak and I haven’t played a whistle for three days. I MUST BE REALLY ILL!

Couldn’t your nearest and dearest take up birdwatching or gardening or headphone-wearing…just to get here out of the house so you can enjoy whistling rather than whispering.. :laughing:

Trisha

23

Actually she is a runner, so as well as having a quiet whistle, I’m going to start synchronising my practice sessions with her training.

I guess reels are the thing to do so I can get more tunes in before she gets back!

24

Another reliable whistle silencer: both hands applied in a squeezing fashion around the neck. :laughing:

25

Another trick is to blow OVER the fipple instead of into it. You get a breathy note that shouldn’t bother a soul.

26

It’s not going to work. You won’t be happy with a compromised whistle.

Try the Play-doh thing or get a divorce. If you have any money left, get the whistle you really want.

27

Now you’re getting the idea…but it does mean you can have a whistle with more oomph for during her marathon practice - you did say she was a LONG DISTANCE runner…didn’t you…?

And surely it’s better for you to be adopting a healthy lifestyle playing music at home rather than spending the evening in a nicotine-hung pub? Well OK that comes later, but the whistle comes too m’dear…

Trisha

28

Well Trisha, that was a good guess - she is.

And I’ve tried the Play-doh thing today… it’s a tricky operation, isn’t it ?

I’ve cut two thirds of the fipple away with a Stanley knife, then blocked up the same two thirds of the exit ramp of the whistle windway, and for good measure blocked up three quarters of the entry hole into the whistle windway… and it sort of works.

Plus there’s a couple of dead whistles in the bin where I removed too much of the fipple (I know, no one said anything about performing plastic surgery, but it seemed a good idea at the time!)