Mothpiece questions

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Narzog
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Tell us something.: Can play several instruments at an unimpressive level. Currently most interested in whistling with a side of acoustic guitar.

Mothpiece questions

Post by Narzog »

Hey guys. I've been trying to learn to make my own whistles. But I dont just want any mouthpiece. I've been trying really hard to make a super legit plastic mouthpiece haha. I just dont really care for the normal diy pvc mouthpieces, and when I can make metal whistles I dont like when I hit my teeth on metal. So I've been trying to dremel a mouthpiece out of a delrin rod.

But I've been having difficulties. Which has lead me to want to gather some more information to make sure I'm not trying to do an impossible project. I'm primarily using these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCRD5MW/ . Primarily for my windway, I've been trying to use the skinny point one on the right (3rd from the right) in the image. This has some complications though.

Does windway entrance height matter? As you can see in the amazon image, the tip is nice and fine but the base is still fairly wide, around 3mm. This makes my windway entrance pretty big. But if I do it right, I can still have a windway exit of around 1mm.

How important is windway exit height? Are there any benefits to larger that I could make use of (its much easier for me to make a tall windway than short).

Bernoulli effect. Does the difference in windway entrance and exit height matter? Will a big to small opening have more Bernoulli effect?

If I have a big entrance and a small windway, will this still take more air than if it was a smaller entrance with a small exit? I feel like as long as the exit is small not a lot of air should be going out so it shouldnt use a ton of air but I'm not 100% sure.

For doing a flat lip, does lip location matter (like, in line with the bore but flat, or should it be inside the bore a little)? My current attempts have all been a curved windway to match the curve of my lip on my pvp pipe. But I think it will be a lot easier to just make a straight (rectangular) windway. but this doesnt seem to work very well with my curved lip.

For lip angle. The low tech whistle guide says the less sharp the better. But all my other whistles are sharpish lip blades. Whats the difference?


Heres a picture of my last attempt, alongside my 3d printed prototype on my whistle (which actually works pretty well). I dont want to use 3d printed because 3d printed parts have loads of ridges making them a bacteria buildup hotspot. So I'm trying to replicate a similar mouthpiece out of delrin.
when I shared it to the post the resolution was crazy so it was hard to see haha. So I'm just posting the imgur link.
https://imgur.com/a/1spK5Bg

Any input is welcome even if you cant answer everything.
Ultratone
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Tell us something.: Experienced classical musician now crazy about whistles. I would like to share knowledge and ask advice on whistle construction and tunning.

Re: Mothpiece questions

Post by Ultratone »

From my own experience making PVC and also 3D printed whistle heads, my conclusions are:

-Windway must be as smooth and homogeneous as possible, and point to the direction of the blade (lip) so air stream hits the blade in the correct way. So yes, windway entrance height matters unless you make it really long and homogeneous just after so air stream perfectly adapts geometry before exiting.
-Windway height depends on which whistle you are trying to make (eg. Tin vs low), but for a standard D my go to would be something between 1 and 2 mm. Normally higher heights mean higher air consumption and more breathy sound, while reducing it will allow you to obtain back-preassure.
-Lip angle must match the windway shape. I’ve tried both curved and flat. When I 3D print I always go for flat blade, with PVC I go for curved. I would say flat is easier to manufacture just using a flat file, while a curved smooth fipple machining requires a lathe if the rod dimensions are not off the shelf.
Tunborough
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Re: Mothpiece questions

Post by Tunborough »

Yes, the windway cross-section should be as uniform as possible from entry to exit. An entrance larger than the exit can make breath control more difficult. An exit larger than the entrance (or any other point along the windway) can make the whistle unplayable.

The shape of the underside of the blade (inside the tube) must match the shape of the floor of the windway (the top of the fipple), and should be no more than a hair higher (maybe 0.1-0.3 mm) across the width of the window.

The length of the window, from windway exit to blade, has a huge effect on how easy or stiff the second octave is.

There seems to be a lot of flexibility about the ramp angle on the blade, and whether the blade tapers down to a sharp edge. I've seen some indication that a steeper ramp or blunter edge can make for a cleaner transition between octaves, but I don't have a lot of examples on that.
Narzog
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Tell us something.: Can play several instruments at an unimpressive level. Currently most interested in whistling with a side of acoustic guitar.

Re: Mothpiece questions

Post by Narzog »

Thanks for the info guys. I made some ok progress today. I decided to scrap my idea of dremeling out a windway. It just isn't going to be precise and have a small enough windway do be air efficient. So I went to plan B which I forgot existed. I cuz the mouthpiece top off and sanded a windway in it, to then glue the two pieces together. My first attempt isnt perfect but it does work. What makes me sad is I'm pretty sure at some point I accidentally flipped the top part around so my exit hole became my entrance and I didnt notice and now trimmed it so it cant be turned around. It may be fixable though. But my exit windway is just slightly shifted to the side, and may be slightly larger. But the exit is still only like 1.4mm tall so I think its fine, and I can maybe make it a little wider to make it centered, and slightly enlarge the entrance.

Heres some images for anyone interested. Its not done and I just have it taped lol. But you may be able to imagine it looking nice when its actually fully shaped, sanded and glued. It should look similar to the one in my original post but without a giant terrible windway. I still also need to make a body for this but in the meantime I've just been holding it up to my 3d printed body I made.
https://imgur.com/a/KNNUkbT

Also as a bonus question. Does moving finger holes closer to the windway make the holes smaller? On my low f body I made, my last hole is super big and far away. I'm wondering if I re make the tube (the easy part) if I could make it not have as bad hole spacing.

Other bonus question. If I go to cut the top off (to make a new one) and its at a slight angle. How bad is this, and would an up or down angle be better, if neither? My first cut attempt was at a really bad angled but I just bade that the bottom of the mouthpiece and tried again, which ended up being a good straight cut. But I'm wondering if I had a slightly angled cut on another attempt if it would still be usable.
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