Hi all,
I live in Buchanan, Michigan (Near the Indiana Border by South Bend, IN. I am looking for others who play whistle in this area. Anyone? I am trying to get a few friends at work interested as well. I wonder, how well can a whistle play in snow and wind?
Chris Miller
christopher.miller2@us.pilkington.com
I’ve not tried playing in very cold conditions, but I expect that most whistles wouldn’t do well if the windway couldn’t be warmed above the dewpoint and kept there for the duration of a tune. Moisture from your breath will condense on the inside of a cold windway and disrupt the airflow, making the whistle unplayable.
As far as wind goes, that too can make the whistle unplayable by disrupting airflow over the knife-edge. I have seen whistles made with baffles on either side of the window to reduce this effect – they look rather like little organ pipes – but I don’t know how well it works.
On 2001-12-31 13:10, cmiller2 wrote:
Hi all,
I live in Buchanan, Michigan (Near the Indiana Border by South Bend, IN. I am looking for others who play whistle in this area. Anyone? I am trying to get a few friends at work interested as well. I wonder, how well can a whistle play in snow and wind?Chris Miller
christopher.miller2@us.pilkington.com
No kidding! I just replied to another post of yours before I saw this one. I live in Warsaw, which is only about 45 minutes away from South Bend. The next closest whistle connection I'm aware of is in Bloomington/Indy (which is still a clean 2 hours away, even given how I drive :smiley:). I'd love to get in touch with some whistlers closer to home. Maybe we could meet up sometime?
~Firefly
Another problem with snow and wind
is that when a whistle gets that cold
it plays sharp. Metal whistles are
tough going under such circumstances,
it is mad to expose wooden instruments
to snow and wind–that leaves
plastic and PVC. Then there is clogging,
which can be avoided by playing
one whistle continually so that your
breath keeps it warm. Gloves
with the fingers cut off may
keep your hands from freezing
for awhile. If you are
playing with a guitarist or whatever
the strings start snapping as the
metal contracts. Finally there is
the nagging desire to lie down
on the ground and sleep. Much
good fun!
On 2001-12-31 13:10, cmiller2 wrote:
Hi all,
I live in Buchanan, Michigan (Near the Indiana Border by South Bend, IN. I am looking for others who play whistle in this area. Anyone? I am trying to get a few friends at work interested as well. I wonder, how well can a whistle play in snow and wind?Chris Miller
christopher.miller2@us.pilkington.com
I just got back from Big Bear which is about 7,500’ It was cold and there was snow. Great sledding!!
I brought my 5 Overtons D,A,LF,LE,& BHLD. They played good, but they were cold even while playing. Next time I’ll try the cut off gloves, I’ll even have a modified pair for the piper grip!
I did notice a change in tone quality though. I’m sure it was a combo of the whistle and the player with frozen fingers. I’m also wondering if altitude would have anything to do with it? I’d like to go back in the summer and play there again…but Kings Canyon, and Big Sur keep calling 
Jack “Gotta get back” Orion
Just don’t LICK the body of the whistle!