I have been reading around and noticed that Tipple PVC flutes use a wedge in the head to assist with intonation in the upper register. This is apparently beneficial because the PVC bore is straight instead of conical like many/most flutes.
https://tippleflutes.com/the-tipple-fajardo-wedge/
Whistles don’t seem to have this same issue. That is to say, straight-walled whistles I have seen have blocks that end perpendicular to the length of the instrument without even a slight wedge extending under the blade/labium. So why wouldn’t a straight whistle benefit from the same kind of wedge as a straight flute?
There are two (at least) things going on here. One is that flutes and whistles tend to differ from each other in terms of the portion of the bore upstream of the embouchure/window. Most flutes have a section of bore above the embouchure hole, between the cork and embouchure, which is, in the case of our flutes, at least 1 bore width in length. Whistles, on the other hand have their bore terminate right at the window. Acoustically, the whistle’s window and the flute’s embouchure hole serve the same purpose. On certain kinds of flutes, for example, flutes used in Charanga music, the cork is pushed in close to the embouchure, and this has an effect on the tuning of the higher harmonics, specifically sharpening them. But note that Charanga flutes still have conical body bores, so the movement of the cork doesn’t totally solve the problem of second octave notes being flat.
Close examination of most whistles shows that the second octave generally is flat unless blown harder/louder/sharper, and that, especially in the case of low whistles, there is some kind of tapering or constriction in the upper part of the bore, close to the window. Sometimes, say in the case of Goldie whistles, this takes the form of a squared-off section close to the window which has a smaller cross-sectional area than the rest of the cylindrical bore. Other whistles have ears that extend down the side of the bore from the block for a short distance. Acoustically, these constrictions in the bore serve the same purpose as the Fajardo wedge in a Tipple flute, or the parabolic head in a Boehm flute. They sharper the higher notes.
Thank you! That explanation helps a lot.
The closest I had seen in my search was this post of a 3d printed whistle head, but it is not even close to the length of the Tipple wedge. https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/3d-printed-whistle-head-with-pvc-pipe/93803/1
Yes, the length of the constriction in whistle heads tends to be a lot shorter than that in a cylindrical bore flute head. The section of bore above the embouchure hole in flutes requires more correction for the high notes, but it does significantly strengthen the lowest notes.
The best examples of tapered heads I’ve found are Goldie/Overton whistles and other whistles that copy that style (Kerry Optima, Karavaev, etc.). You can see a big “pinch” in the head, which functions as a taper.
Another good examples is the low D Qwistle, which has a plastic piece inside the head, right past the window, that creates quite a dramatic taper.
One question I always had in my mind is why all cylindrical whistles don’t have this, since it seems to improve tuning significantly. Perhaps there’s some tradeoff I’m unaware of.