When I get interested in something I like to know how it works and if possible build one. I started playing dulcimer a while back and have since built two from kits- have 2 more kits to finish and I am gathering material to build from scratch. I have been a tuba player for years but luckily have never even had the desire to try to build one of those.
Okay, now I have become obsessed with whistles after playing it for about a month. When I wanted to build dulcimers I was so thrilled to find a forum geared just to that @ http://everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewforum.php?f=5 . I have gotten much help from very friendly people there. I see many postings here about making and tweaking whistles. I don’t, however, find a separate forum here specifically about making whistles. I have searched for one with no luck. Is there a forum out there for making and or tweaking?
I don’t, however, find a separate forum here specifically about making whistles. I have searched for one with no luck. Is there a forum out there for making and or tweaking?
That forum active in spurts and has had activity in the last week or so. Many of the memebers here that make whistles monitor the activity there. Reading through the old posts may be of interest to you and can save you some time and effort. I hope that helps.
Thank you Carey. I have printed out all the instructions from http://guido.gonzato.googlepages.com/whistle.html and also found http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/6611/makewhis.htm . I am chomping at the bits to try making one of these. Unfortunately I still must pretend that I work for a living. I am a professional (although slowing down) woodcarver and the orders start coming in pretty heavy this time of year.
The directions I have downloaded do look very good but of course I have questions. That is where a forum comes in handy.
Speaking of questions- I have found this http://www.cwo.com/~ph_kosel/flutomat.html . I am hoping it is like the online calculator I found for putting frets on a dulcimer which is just as critical as the hole placement on a whistle. I have not really tried to figure this thing out yet and at first glance the directions are confusing. Is this a tool that I need to mess with?
Again, thanks for all the help I am getting at this forum.
You’re probably already well aware of this, but can’t be stressed enough. Just be very careful working with PVC or CPVC. Wear an appropriate mask to prevent breathing in the dust, and work in an open area with ventilation if possible. I’ve made many good whistles out of CPVC and started getting orders but gave it up since it’s just not worth the health risk.
You are finding the right type of tool in the flutomat. You can start with that, certainly, but I would suggest another tool which is the product of Daniel Bingamon, a member on this board as well as the whistlemakers board. TWCalc is another interactive tool which helps you design your whistles. It is available for download from this page:
Look around Daniel’s site. It has much useful information on making whistles. Daniel also offers for sale a Tinwhistle Maker’s Anthology which walks you through the procedures for making a whistle.
Keep in mind that wind instrument design isn’t quite as automatic as laying out the frets on a fingerboard. There are a lot of variables in play. I won’t go into it all here though. So design your whistle and make one. Don’t be surprised or dispirited if it doesn’t come out quite perfect. Expect to adjust things. It’s part of the normal process. Just analyse what’s not spot on, think through your adjustments and make another one. Unlike string instruments (I’ve been there) you shouldn’t have a huge investment in materials and hardwware as you are learning the craft. It’s a lot of fun. Good luck!
I was looking at this page, http://www.tinwhistles.us/jubilee/pagesmith/11 , at Daniel Bingamon’s site, and noticed the hybrid piccolo whistle. This looks very cool, and I have to wonder if Daniel or anyone else is actually making and selling these.
Yes, that’s a neat piece of work. I’ve gathered from what Daniel has posted on his website that he’d be willing to make a whistle head for another one of these piccolos. It’s sure more affordable than buying/restoring a vintage flageolet or an Orkon if you want the chromatic scale in a high D whistle pitch. Daniel has described what he went through to re-tune that piccolo elsewhere. It sounded like a labor of love to me. And I’d bet that each piccolo would present different challenges. Of course you could make a chromatic whistle without the keys yourself. Just drill the holes where your extra fingers hit the tube. Well, there’s a bit more to it than that.
I’d love a chromatic whistle for those times when I feel like playing non-ITM ballads with accidentals that are hard to nail with half-holing. I can always pick up a recorder for that sort of thing, but now that I’ve found what kinds of sounds whistles can make, I wish I could play anything on them.
I appreciate this link - a neat tool. I was wondering about the embourcher diameter. I ran some numbers using an equivalent diameter determined in the same manner the instructions for TWcalc discuss, ie. determine the area of the fipple window and then find the diameter for a circle of equal area. I noticed the only thing that changes with changing embroucher diameters, all else remaining constant, is the distance from the embroucher to the end of the tube. For my “equivalent diameter” this gives a distance of about 22.75" as compared to a measured 10.375" on my Dixon Trad from which the “equivalent diameter,” tube diameter and wall thickness came. That’s a considerable difference which leads me to conclude that the embroucher diameter should be ignored for whistles??? Or am I missing something here? Sorry about the newbie question, but a guy’s got to ask somewhere.
Yes, I know. However, both Flutomat and TWCalc have a place for embouchure (thanks for the correction) diameters and TWCalc goes on to say how to determine an equivalent diameter for whistle calculations. I assumed the same applied for Flutomat but when I used the measurements from my Trad it gave a tube length which was twice as long as the Trad. So I surmised that emboucher diameter was not needed for whistles design in Flutomat and possibly not in TWCalc either. My note discussed this and was a request for verification and perhaps futher comment.
The size of the whistle’s voicing window does matter and will effect the tuning of the instrument. We could spend a lot of time talking about the differences between the two sound making mechanisms but suffice it to say that they take up the same position in the calulations for flute or whistle. I am not sure what you may have entered in the flutomat. Is it possible that you used the pitch frequencies for a D flute in the flutomat? Also keep in mind that the calculators will render a theoretically correct result that is based on a number of assumed variables in the calculations for things like end-correction values and tone hole efficiency. When you take an existing whistle and insert its dimensions into such a tool the results will probably not describe that whistle exactly. You would have to muck about with the varibles until it matched the accurate layout. It’s a fun game, really.
I’m sure it will be a fun game and I’m looking forward to the learning curve. And you’re right. I was using the frequencies for a low D flute. Changing that to high D made all the difference and now the numbers come out fairly close to my Trad.
My next purchase will probably be a Tin Whistle Maker’s Anthology. Appears to be some theory in there which should be helpful.
There is some good information on this page http://www.kingsmills.us/jubilee/store/fipterm.htm Keep in mind that the picture is oversize for clarity. I suggest making the upper, and lower radius on the wind way exit last, and if your think you need to put a very small radius on the bottom of the blade do it as the last of the last. These radius need be only small, but do have much effect on the whistle.
