So…I’ve been playing the whistle for two weeks now. I’m still getting the hang of things, and I don’t know much about whistle idiosyncracies yet. My Walton brass D (besides lacking the willpower to hit anything above high E without shrilling like a banshee) also seems to sound much better and in tune when warm (ie, when I’ve been playing him for awhile or he’s been sitting next to my computer). Is this typical, or is my whistle just more appreciative of the sunny side of things?
I’ve noticed that with my little dinky whistle I’m stranded with at the moment. It’s not so horribly out of tune after it gets warmed up and going.
I do know that with any kind of wind instrument (clarinet, sax, trumpet, flute, ect), after you get it warmed up it plays much better that going cold turkey. Fot example, clarinets have the tendency to go sharp when they are cold, but are fine once they get warmed up. Wind instruments also play better during warmer weather than colder weather. (There is not much worse than band intonation in the winter. shudder)
I even leave my clarinet in the car before I have to play during weather like this (before it gets too hot) so I have a nice and toasty horn to play. That way I get to skip the warming part.
All-metal whistles do tend to play better when they’ve warmed up after a few minutes, especially the low whistles or ones that tend to clog with condensate. My Generation whistles, having plastic heads, don’t seem to need much warm-up, even when they’ve been sitting around in the cold…
OTOH I find that I often need warming up before I begin to sound anywhere decent, especially for a whistle that I haven’t used in a while. Part of that warm up is reacclimating to the tone hole positions (and size) and the ideal breath pressure of the instrument.
10-4-----i take a torch to mine---- -----no seriously—you should close all the holes and just cover the MP hole and breath hot air into it–i do this alot with my overtons—the metal has to equalize with its introduction to a new atmosphere -acclimation—it does not take long—i also do this with wood----its reception of the air is more tolerable
My Chieftain Low D needs such a serious warm up to get it going that I’m considering getting it it’s own personal trainer! Not only does warming it up effect the tuning but the tone as well. When it’s really cold it won’t even play the bottom E and D.
All wind instruments sound better, play better, and are better in tune when they are warm verses when they are cold.
On any whistle, I’ll put my finger over the window and blow some warm air through it before playing it.
I do the same on flute as well.
Years ago I used to be in a college marching band. On game nights when it was cold, the whole band would be blowing slow, warm air through their horns at once. It’s sounded a bit like a Darth Vader convention!
Of course one could put the whole head joint of the flute up one’s sleeve to keep it warm during the game. That’s what I did. On the occasions I got to borrow the school’s piccolo I put the whole thing up my uniform sleeve…
-----no seriously—you should close all the holes and just cover the MP hole and breath hot air into it–i do this alot with my overtons—the metal has to equalize with its introduction to a new atmosphere -acclimation—it does not take long—i also do this with wood----its reception of the air is more tolerable
Not only does warming it up effect the tuning but the tone as well. When it’s really cold it won’t even play the bottom E and D.
