Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

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bruce.b
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Tell us something.: I’m a whistle, fiddle and tenor guitar player. Mostly low D, mostly Irish trad, but I’ll try any fiddle tune on whistle.

Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

Post by bruce.b »

My low D whistles started clogging constantly several days ago. It had been pretty cold in my music room, low sixties somewhere. I turned on the heat today and set it at sixty eight. The clogging problem went away. My MK low D doesn’t clog very often, but before I turned up the heat I couldn’t make it through a tune. Is this common with others?
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pancelticpiper
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Re: Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

Post by pancelticpiper »

Here that's about as cold as it gets, in the 60s.

Maybe that's why I never had clogging issues with MKs, Burkes, or Susatos, which all have curved windways.

What I did have constant clogging problems with were Overtons, with large flat parallel narrow windways. People would say all you needed to do to keep them from clogging was "warm them up" but the whistles still clogged when they were over 100 degrees.

I remember leaving an Overton Low D in the car on a 100+ degree day, the whistle at first was too hot to hold. When it cooled down enough to not burn my lips I played it, and it clogged in a few seconds. So much for the "warm it up" theory.

What I had to do was the toothpaste & dish detergent method, which has worked very well.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
bruce.b
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Re: Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

Post by bruce.b »

Richard, I want to order a Goldie low D sometime, but the clogging issue makes me hesitant now that I have a good idea of what I want (softer blower). i’m perfectly happy with the MK, but I have never played a Goldie or Overton.
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Re: Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

Post by psoutowood »

It's amazing how much a little difference in windway height affects clogging. My Goldie mezzo A is a medium to medium-hard blower and regularly clogs unless I use sodium lauryl sulfate and clean out the windway every few weeks. The Overton low D and high D have never once clogged. The Low D is a medium-soft blower and the high D is a medium blower. I've never had any other whistle clog but the Goldie A. Still worth it, though for the ridiculously beautiful tone!

-Peter
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Re: Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

Post by fatmac »

Most blown instruments behave best at body temperature, we blow through our whistles/flutes to help bring them up to temperature.
If we play a cold instrument, our breath condenses on the cold surfaces, & can so easily cause tonal/clogging problems.
Keith.
Trying to do justice to my various musical instruments.
bruce.b
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Tell us something.: I’m a whistle, fiddle and tenor guitar player. Mostly low D, mostly Irish trad, but I’ll try any fiddle tune on whistle.

Re: Sixty eight degrees fahrenheit.

Post by bruce.b »

I sit by the window when I play and it could easily be as low as 60F there, before I turned on the heat. At that temp an Al whistle is going to cool off rapidly. The problem is much better with the heat on. Nice to hear that a soft blowing Goldie is more resistant to clogging than a medium or hard blower. I currently have just my MK Pro low D and Killarney D. I sold the rest even though one was right there for my favorite low D, along with the MK. I’m going to inquire about adding Goldie low D soon.
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