Advice on my whistle, please?
I have a Walton Irish D (you know, that one that comes in a "kit"; it was my "first" whistle and still my favorite. I love the sound of it... the Sweetone that was my mom's and made its way to me doesn't compare.
However, a couple things annoy me:
1. Clogging. This is the biggest one. Not to get TMI, but let's say I have a reputation at the dentist's office and they've learned to make liberal use of the sucker-vacuum thingy, so something I've read tends to be a problem with the Walton whistles anyway is a big problem for me. It only takes a few minutes to clog, and though I can clear it out (first give it a good shake--this is always gross-- and then a good hard blow with the tonehole covered), it really doesn't play the same (squeaks, cracks/misses, in general I sound like I just picked the whistle up ten minutes ago-- I'm still not very good but I'm not THAT bad when it's unclogged) until it's dried out again. I just tried the waxed-dental-floss trick though, so we'll see how that works. Failing that I'll try the dish soap thing. Anything else I can do? I really try not to put the mouthpiece so far in my mouth, but it doesn't seem to make a difference anyway.
I don't have this issue with the Sweetone (once the Walton clogs, I have to move my practice to the Sweetone), nor my Gen B-flat, nor so far with my Clarke Traditional C (but I just got that one and haven't put in the time on it that I have with the others, so I don't know it as well).
2. Second octave is not so easy to play as on the Sweetone. more comparable to my Clarke Traditional C (untweaked) in terms of air requirements, a bit more shrill than I'd like.
Is there anything I can do for these, or have someone else do (since I know nothing about whistle mechanics myself)? I've soaked the head off and did remove an extraneous shaving of plastic that was just sitting in there, but that doesn't actually seem to have done anything.
I don't want to give up this whistle. I really like the sound--kind of reedy and unique-- and I've looked at just plain getting a different whistle, but some of the "higher end cheap whistles" that come well-recommended like the Dixon and the Parks Ghost just don't quite have the sound I'm looking for (they're beautiful, and from what I've read from you all they sound so nice to play, but they're what I consider a bit more recorder-y, like the Sweetone, and for a recorder-y sound I'd just play my recorder! I like the sound of the Impempes, but that's probably too much whistle for my current skill level [playing just a couple months now]).
I'd rather not have to get a new one, but I'd be willing to look at a Freeman Mellow Dog if it'd be an improvement on these issues (had I known I'd like the sound on the Walton so much, I would've picked up a Mellow Dog from the beginning, but hindsight = 20/20 and all that and I didn't understand the value of tweaking then and yada yada). It's just that, you know, I already have this whistle, I've formed an attachment to it, lol, and would hate to see it go to waste and just sit around if I got something else.
_________________ Here's tae us-- Wha's like us? Damn few-- And they're a' deid-- Mair's the pity.
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