Flattened thumb patch

[Terry McGee]

Out playing under the Batemans Bay bridge this morning with Box player and Concertina player (until the sea breeze came up! It's very early Spring here and the sea breeze is still pretty chilly!) And I was playing my cobbled-together tapered pic-whistle. They both commented that they could now hear me better than when playing the flute. And kindly added that it was good to be able to hear me! Wait till they hear me and it indoors, snigger....

And then a thought came into my head. That there's really a lot to like about that whistle, although my left thumb never feels really at home. So I spent some of my limited supplies of surplus brainpower analysing that feeling as I played. And came to the conclusion that it was the taper on the body, which more or less follows the taper of the bore. Which is certainly not acute, but enough to reduce the contact area between thumb and whistle by a surprising amount.

So I just got a bit bold, went down to the workshop, popped the whistle body onto the mill, and milled a horizontal flat in the region where my thumb goes. Which, because of the taper, starts off about a cm wide at the top of the body, but narrows as it progressed down the body, petering out about 3cm further down. The maximum depth of cut being almost 1mm at the top end.

Then nervously reassembled the whistle, and played it. What a difference! Positive too, whew!

And I can still experience that difference at will. Pick up the whistle, with fingers on holes and thumb on flattened patch. Comfortable. No tendency to rotate. Secure. The whistle feels thinner. Then for comparison, rotate the whistle 90º so the thumb is back on the taper. Less comfortable, more precarious.

So it then struck me that others might find this helpful, especially if already finding holding the whistle less than secure. And perhaps it isn't only pertinent to tapered whistles, but perhaps any whistle with thick enough walls to allow milling or filing a flat?

And then of course, I suddenly wonder if this is a commonplace thing to do with whistles these days, and I'm just last to the party. What can you tell me?

[Terry McGee]

Of course, you can see what's going to happen next, can't you. If one thumb-flat is good, surely two thumb-flats are better? Yes, the "leave well enough alone" gland gets subsumed by the "but what if?" muscle.

So back down to the workshop and mill a second flat, in the region where the right thumb lives. And the verdict? Hmmm, probably a further improvement, but not as dramatic as the first flat was. Interesting to speculate why. But worth remembering the right thumb had never complained, while the left thumb whimpered constantly. I notice I put my left thumb well above the three finger holes on that hand, while my right thumb is behind the fourth hole. Don't know if that dates from playing recorder before taking up whistle.

Hmmm, now to deal with that little voice that says "now that you've got the left thumb-flat, why not drill a small hole in it to give a nice accurate c note?"

Get thee behind me Satan!

[DrPhill]

Nice idea.

For whistles with thin walls, would a carefully engineered stick-on 'thickener' work? Something that converted the thumb contact point from a curved to a flat surface?

I can see the marketing possibilities already. 'Hold that whistle more firmly' 'gain confidence in playing' 'proven to enhance playing under Australian bridges', 'helps you develop that authentic irish sound'

[Moof]

For whistles with thin walls, would a carefully engineered stick-on 'thickener' work? Something that converted the thumb contact point from a curved to a flat surface?

No need, I already invented them! They're called Customisable Whistle Retention Pads. (Usually abbreviated to Blu-Tack).

I'd love a thumb rest that curves over slightly at the top. The skin of my hands is dry and shiny because they don't sweat, and the only time I can stop a whistle slipping is the five minutes just after washing them.

[Terry McGee]

For whistles with thin walls, would a carefully engineered stick-on 'thickener' work? Something that converted the thumb contact point from a curved to a flat surface?

I went down that path back in late December 2014 when I was finding that arthritis in the base of my thumbs was making holding thin whistles painful. So I came up with tin whistle buttons to make the whistle feel a bit thicker, and to provide secure flat thumb pad surfaces. Interestingly, the problem went away later, don't really know why! But I've left the buttons on my now "highly tweaked Mellow D whistle":



Full story at https://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Tin_Whistle_Buttons.htm

[Terry McGee]

I'd love a thumb rest that curves over slightly at the top. The skin of my hands is dry and shiny because they don't sweat, and the only time I can stop a whistle slipping is the five minutes just after washing them.

This sort of thing? This type made for saxophone, but clarinets, oboes and recorders also use thumb rests.



I'm guessing the screw allows you to tilt the thumb rest to right or left whatever best suits. What isn't clear to me is what holds the rest onto the sax. On a whistle, double-sided tape would be enough, but a sax is fairly heavy. But maybe that weight is taken on a neck lanyard, and so the thumb rest doesn't have to take it.

[Byll]

I really do love this place...

[stringbed]

I’m guessing the screw allows you to tilt the thumb rest to right or left whatever best suits. What isn’t clear to me is what holds the rest onto the sax. On a whistle, double-sided tape would be enough, but a sax is fairly heavy. But maybe that weight is taken on a neck lanyard, and so the thumb rest doesn’t have to take it.

Thumbrests are often instrument specific not just mechanically but also in traditional design. The one illustrated for the saxophone is soft soldered onto the body (applying heat through the detached base plate) and the screw permits the player to adjust its position along the axis of the instrument. There will also be a separate neck-strap ring. At least as they were made back when I was paying attention, oboe and English horn thumbrests included a ring (one put to the obvious use, the other not). Recorder players who wanted them and were handy enough, fashioned their own thumbrests out of wine corks and glued them in place with contact cement. Otherwise, a stock Bb clarinet thumbrest worked just fine. The latter two options also suit tin whistles, alternately using hot glue as the adhesive. If a curve is necessary, thumbrests for larger clarinet often have them.

[trill]

I use "alien tape".

By itself, or to attach something to serve as a "thumb rest" on Low-Ds.

No adhesive residue. Sticks really well.

Some sort of carbon-tube-nano-magic.

Also known as "gecko tape".

[Moof]

This sort of thing? This type made for saxophone, but clarinets, oboes and recorders also use thumb rests.

Yes, that's the sort of shape, but ideally it wouldn't be made of metal. Plastic would be ideal, though, as it can so easily be contoured. A thumb rest wouldn't even need much of a lip for a high whistle - my improvised Blu-Tack pads only turn over slightly at the top. It's just enough to stop the whistle slipping during transitions between notes where all or most of the tone holes need to be open.

I've actually tried a recorder thumb rest on my low whistles. The diameter was a bit big, but it was easy enough to pad it out so that it stayed in place. The trouble was that the ring that clamps it to the whistle extended slightly too far around the body, and it obstructed my fingers enough to cause air leaks. It might not be a problem for people with larger hands, but the ability to seal the holes is a bit marginal with small hands and skinny fingers, and it doesn't take much to cause problems. Blu-Tack pads combined with a strap to take the weight are the best solution I've found so far – although putty is always going to be way too soft to be ideal for the job.

[fintano]

There's a product made for guitar players--stick-on silicon pads that make your grip on the guitar pick more secure. I've thought more than once that it might be useful for making your grip on a flute or whistle more secure too. I don't know if you'd want to put it on a wooden instrument, but with flutes I have more problems with Delrin instruments that way.

PS Terry, did you see any jellyfish there? Before the bridge was built I used to love watching jellyfish from the ferry at Bateman's Bay..

[Moof]

Yes, I've used Monster Grips (which are for plectrums) on my whistles, and they do help a bit. There's not quite enough grip for something that's much bigger and heavier than a plectrum, but as your thumb works its way to the top of the pad during a tune, you at least get good feedback that the whistle is slipping and you're going to need to stop asap to readjust.

[Terry McGee]

PS Terry, did you see any jellyfish there? Before the bridge was built I used to love watching jellyfish from the ferry at Bateman's Bay..

"Before the bridge was built"? You're giving away your age, fintano, the original bridge was opened in 1956! It was a 2 lane steel vertical lift truss bridge - the whole central section of road could be pulled up on pulleys to allow tall boats to pass underneath - but it was becoming unreliable and would sometimes jam in place for hours or even overnight! That was making things risky for essential services like ambulances, so it's just been replaced by a swish new 4 lane bridge tall enough for the tourist tours boat and most yachts. It provides us a good place to sit and play - at 12 metres clearance, it's high enough that the traffic noise goes upwards, but provides us with shade and good acoustic feedback!

We haven't seen any jellyfish from our location - they prefer to be further out in the channel where they can rise and fall and pulsate, as they filter air out of the water. Blue blubbers are brainless, and have hundreds of mouths along their tentacles that capture prey. Their mouths are armed with stinging cells that shoot barbed harpoons that remain attached to the jellyfish mouth by tiny filaments that convey poison to the prey. Once poisoned they reel their prey in. It's a very strange lifestyle!

"Humph", said the Blue Blubber. "At least we aren't making a racket, like those guys up under the bridge...."