Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hello,

I've recently been working on making an emergency whistle in wood. Something like this pic:



Except mine has two chambers of different length with dissonating tones, much like the ones you can buy in outdoor stores. I'm getting quite good result with clear tones, but it's not as loud as I would wish. So my question is, what in the design affects the "loudness"?

As long as you can get a clean oscillation (a tone rather than just wind noise), I expect the principal determinant would be the amount of air going through the windway, and hence its cross-sectional area. To get a clean tone, I'd aim to keep the soundblade between the middle and floor of the windway.

When I saw the thread title, I thought we were looking for something to get you through a whistle emergency, like being invited to a session with Mary Bergin when you'd left your Feadog at home.

Yes.. it *is* early (just starting on the coffee), but I looked at the picture and wondered how many notes you could get out of that, and if it would be enough for said emergency (as in: A tune to play, but no [Feadog] at hand)

Jonas.Sj wrote:So my question is, what in the design affects the "loudness"?

Hello Jonas,
I believe the size of the opening between the fipple-block and the blade is also goining to be a large factor in “loudness”. Also, the amount of blade that is utilized for splitting the air.

Tunborough wrote:When I saw the thread title, I thought we were looking for something to get you through a whistle emergency, like being invited to a session with Mary Bergin when you'd left your Feadog at home.

I thought that too. But I am sure Mary Bergin has Whistle Acquisition Disorder just as bad as most people here, so surely she’d be able to help. As long as one can get past being star-struck and embarrassed, she seems like the kind of person who’d help out.

Thanks all for your replies. And sorry for the "emergency" confusion!

Guess an emergency can mean very different things for different people

So to sum it up, a wider blade (and windway) should be louder, as more air is hitting the blade.
And the distance between the block and the blade affects loudness too? As in closer = louder or further is louder?

What about a long and narrow chamber vs a short and wide chamber with same volume?

When I examine my plastic one the distance between the windway and duct is longer than on my home made one.

Jonas.Sj wrote: So to sum it up, a wider blade (and windway) should be louder, as more air is hitting the blade.

Yes, I believe so. (I have limited experience making flutes and whistles; but if I am not mistaken, what you said should be true. For reference, flutes and whistles use the same basic sound making method; the difference is with a whistle, a part of the whistle [the fipple] directs the air at the blowing-edge while with a flute the player is the one who directs the air at the edge.) In my experience, having a larger blowing-edge does allow the flute to be louder.

Jonas.Sj wrote: And the distance between the block and the blade affects loudness too? As in closer = louder or further is louder?

Without changing the size of the blade--further is louder... but you are also limited regarding how far the block can be from the blade. If the block is too far back, it won't work. Perhaps someone else could comment as to the exact reason, but it might be too low of air-pressure. I don't know for certain. I just know that having it too wide doesn't work.

Jonas.Sj wrote: What about a long and narrow chamber vs a short and wide chamber with same volume?

When I examine my plastic one the distance between the windway and duct is longer than on my home made one.

When you say "chamber" are you talking about the window? If so, I would suggest experimenting to learn; but I think a short but wide chamber works better. If I understand you correctly, this is what we see with most whistles that are being made; which also suggests it may be the best way to do it.

Thanks Aaron! This cleared up a lot for me!

Sorry, by chamber I mean the bore. Still a bit confused with the terminology!

Jonas.Sj wrote:Thanks Aaron! This cleared up a lot for me!

Sorry, by chamber I mean the bore. Still a bit confused with the terminology!

Ah alright. I don’t think bore size will make much difference for what you are doing, but it might be worth playing around with in making whistles. Part of your consideration for bore size will also need to be aesthetics and practicality. [That is, what makes it look like an attractive option to buyers over another whistle or synthetic whistle? How is the whistle intended to be carried (in a pocket, in a purse, on a strand)? Et cetera.]