Need some advice in DIY whistle

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Facu
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Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

Hello everyone, my name is Facu, I'm from Argentina, I'm not a musician, I know some basic guitar things but that's it.
A week ago, my son and I listened to a song from a video game that we played together, composed by bill brown, the song is called sheperds flute, it's a beautiful melody, he asked me which instrument was the one that sounded and so began our weekend proyect,make a whistle, after several hours reading and analyzing several tutorials the result is not so bad, the whistle sound amazing (for a garage flute) but there is a problem, it costs a lot to jump to the second octave, I tried to approach the block towards the lip, But there the second octave is constant, I leave some photos of the mouthpiece, if someone is so kind to guide me on where to look for the problem I will be very grateful.
The whistle is made in brass 1mm thick, 12.7 ID, rosewood for the block and aluminum for the mouthpiece.
We know that making an instrument is not easy, but we believe the next ones will work out better.
We use twcalc to project the flute, which is in high D.
Please, any suggestion is welcome.

PS: English is not my mother tongue, please if something is not understood try to explain it better.
Thanks in advance.
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Last edited by Facu on Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Chifmunk
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Tell us something.: Hi, I play 5-string banjo, mountain dulcimer, bones, and am now a beginner pennywhistler. I have some Dixon, Freeman, and Susato whistles. This is obviously the most extensive forum for information in whistle learning- thanks!
I also run a banjo/mando/fiddle shirt site at https://harmonias.com/
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Location: Germantown, NY

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Chifmunk »

(I can see your images when I right-click and view the image in a new tab)- tip in case others see broken image links here.
Having FUN playin' my whistles!
http://pennywhistleclub.com/
...a new social network just for whistlers
Tunborough
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Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Tunborough »

The images you uploaded are too high a resolution to use here. When I tried to insert a link, the photo came out huge. Here's a link to the second photo: http://i.imgur.com/VNiiuaZ.jpg.

Point the end of the whistle toward a bright window and look up the windway from the mouthpiece toward the end. You should see a thin sliver of light between the top of the fipple block and the bottom of the splitting edge or lip on the brass tube. If you don't see any light (From the second picture, I suspect you won't.), flatten the top of the block until it is level with the lip and you can see a sliver of light. Flatten the whole length of the block, so the windway doesn't get wider from the mouthpiece to the window; it can get a bit narrower, but not wider.

Let me know if this explanation isn't clear.
Facu
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Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

Chifmunk wrote:(I can see your images when I right-click and view the image in a new tab)- tip in case others see broken image links here.
Thanks for the advice, i wll re-upload the photos.
Facu
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:44 pm
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

Tunborough wrote:The images you uploaded are too high a resolution to use here. When I tried to insert a link, the photo came out huge. Here's a link to the second photo: http://i.imgur.com/VNiiuaZ.jpg.

Point the end of the whistle toward a bright window and look up the windway from the mouthpiece toward the end. You should see a thin sliver of light between the top of the fipple block and the bottom of the splitting edge or lip on the brass tube. If you don't see any light (From the second picture, I suspect you won't.), flatten the top of the block until it is level with the lip and you can see a sliver of light. Flatten the whole length of the block, so the windway doesn't get wider from the mouthpiece to the window; it can get a bit narrower, but not wider.

Let me know if this explanation isn't clear.
Hi, is perfectly clear, I see light, but I think it is not enough, I'll try some more.

Thanks.
musicaddict99
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Tell us something.: I am interested in Irish music. I mostly play tin whistle but also dabble in other folk instruments.
Location: U.S.A.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by musicaddict99 »

The whistle looks good. I have been experimenting myself with making whistles and flutes and PVC plastic pipe is a good (and cheap) material for making whistles. Maybe after you have perfected making a PVC whistle you can try again using metal.
Facu
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Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

musicaddict99 wrote:The whistle looks good. I have been experimenting myself with making whistles and flutes and PVC plastic pipe is a good (and cheap) material for making whistles. Maybe after you have perfected making a PVC whistle you can try again using metal.
I agree, unfortunately in my country pvc is toxic, so I decided to try metal, greetings.
Facu
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

Things are coming out better, flatten the top of the block and improve the octave change, but its sound is very loud and strident, the window is 7.5mm wide, will it be too narrow?
Tunborough
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Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Tunborough »

Facu wrote:Things are coming out better, flatten the top of the block and improve the octave change, but its sound is very loud and strident.
Now, try moving the block and the aluminum windway cover closer to the lip, a fraction of a mm at a time. Too far away makes it hard to get up to the second octave; too close makes it hard to play low D without it jumping into the second octave.

Also, make sure the surfaces of the windway are smooth, the top of the fipple block in particular.
Facu
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Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:44 pm
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

Tunborough wrote:
Facu wrote:Things are coming out better, flatten the top of the block and improve the octave change, but its sound is very loud and strident.
Now, try moving the block and the aluminum windway cover closer to the lip, a fraction of a mm at a time. Too far away makes it hard to get up to the second octave; too close makes it hard to play low D without it jumping into the second octave.

Also, make sure the surfaces of the windway are smooth, the top of the fipple block in particular.

I moved the block to the lip, and now the whistle is quite stable, but the second octave still sounds very loud, I would say that triple volume, I begin to suspect that the width of the window has something to do ....
If I add width there is no going back, opinions?
Greetings and happy saturday
Facu
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:44 pm
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

Update: I made a new block, this time of delrin, because the block of wood for more that was wax absorbed moisture, now the whistle is very good, the tuning is almost perfect in both octaves, so far everything is fine, but ... .. sounds like a recorder, not a whistle .... any ideas will be much appreciated.
Regards
musicaddict99
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Tell us something.: I am interested in Irish music. I mostly play tin whistle but also dabble in other folk instruments.
Location: U.S.A.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by musicaddict99 »

Post a video of you playing it or a sound clip, then people can decide it it sounds like a recorder ;).

I see some advice online about making the labium/lip a little more blunt to make whistle less "recordery", but I would hate for you to ruin your hard work.

Edit:
I am actually envious of your work using metal, I find it much easier to make a transverse flute than a tin whistle, because it seems to be
easier to make an average working embouchure hole than make an average working fipple that works well in the first octave.
Facu
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:44 pm
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Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: im from Argentina. im not a musician, im here becose mi 8 years old son askme to do a irish flute, and now i cant stop, i need help, i spend all my money in brass tubes and now im geting divorce.

Re: Need some advice in DIY whistle

Post by Facu »

musicaddict99 wrote:Post a video of you playing it or a sound clip, then people can decide it it sounds like a recorder ;).

I see some advice online about making the labium/lip a little more blunt to make whistle less "recordery", but I would hate for you to ruin your hard work.

Edit:
I am actually envious of your work using metal, I find it much easier to make a transverse flute than a tin whistle, because it seems to be
easier to make an average working embouchure hole than make an average working fipple that works well in the first octave.
Thanks for the compliment, I can not upload a clip because it still sounds bad, besides I'm not a musician :), I still have to learn.
Today I made an aluminum ring to canalize the airflow after the lip (see photos) and the change was radical, now sounds like a whistle, but I'm having problems with some high notes, and I'm sure it's the geometry of the Lip, now I will fill with solder and start filing again, then I tell how I was.
Greetings.

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