Pat O'Riordan D whistle
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jem
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Pat O'Riordan D whistle
I purchased a C/D set of O'Riordan whistles a couple of years ago and have a couple questions about the D. The inside of the bore is quite rough. I don't know if this would affect the high B in particular as it often breaks and can be quite screechy. They are rosewood, have a nice tone and play well. Any input is much appreciated. Thank you!
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Terry McGee
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Re: Pat O'Riordan D whistle
Hi Jem. And a Happy New Year to you!
Today's my 75th birthday, and I was expecting nothing. It's pretty quiet down here in our sleepy village on the south coast of NSW. Suddenly mid afternoon, three old band members showed up, fiddle, guitar and box in hand, for a celebratory session. Quite an honour, as two of them had to drive over an hour to get here. So we've had a great afternoon of music. It did raise the interesting question, why do all my presents come in bottles?
Can you tell us the bore diameter of the O'Riordan whistle? That can have a bearing on how easily the top notes sound.
I haven't enough experience with wooden whistles to know if a roughened bore is likely to produce or magnify that effect, but in general, I haven't noticed any aspect of flutes that a roughened bore improves. But hopefully real experts will wander by soon....
Today's my 75th birthday, and I was expecting nothing. It's pretty quiet down here in our sleepy village on the south coast of NSW. Suddenly mid afternoon, three old band members showed up, fiddle, guitar and box in hand, for a celebratory session. Quite an honour, as two of them had to drive over an hour to get here. So we've had a great afternoon of music. It did raise the interesting question, why do all my presents come in bottles?
Can you tell us the bore diameter of the O'Riordan whistle? That can have a bearing on how easily the top notes sound.
I haven't enough experience with wooden whistles to know if a roughened bore is likely to produce or magnify that effect, but in general, I haven't noticed any aspect of flutes that a roughened bore improves. But hopefully real experts will wander by soon....
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BKWeid
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Re: Pat O'Riordan D whistle
Happy birthday Terry!
Noticing that some of the best sounding flutes have mirror polished bores, wooden whistles ought to follow the smooth bore practice.
Noticing that some of the best sounding flutes have mirror polished bores, wooden whistles ought to follow the smooth bore practice.
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RoberTunes
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Re: Pat O'Riordan D whistle
Did you buy them new or used? Is the D bore surface rougher on the surface than in the C?
I'm wondering if a previous player was cleaning them and by chance roughed up the surface.
Rosewood has something of a more open grain than something like maple, and certainly metal,
but a new rosewood whistle should (I'd expect) have a smooth bore surface. Or maybe it got wet at some point.
Look for any kind of scratches, wear marks or wood grain expansion/roughing that are inconsistently found along the length of the whistle.
If you bought them new, I'd first check carefully to see that the D is as clean as it can get and then
contact the maker to discuss this issue.
A roughened surface on the bore, should certainly affect the performance of the whistle, and
it sounds like the whistle needs some minor corrective work.
I'm wondering if a previous player was cleaning them and by chance roughed up the surface.
Rosewood has something of a more open grain than something like maple, and certainly metal,
but a new rosewood whistle should (I'd expect) have a smooth bore surface. Or maybe it got wet at some point.
Look for any kind of scratches, wear marks or wood grain expansion/roughing that are inconsistently found along the length of the whistle.
If you bought them new, I'd first check carefully to see that the D is as clean as it can get and then
contact the maker to discuss this issue.
A roughened surface on the bore, should certainly affect the performance of the whistle, and
it sounds like the whistle needs some minor corrective work.
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Terry McGee
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Re: Pat O'Riordan D whistle
Thanks BKWeid. But that was yesterday, and now all I have left is a list of tunes to brush up on!
Yeah, I certainly notice an improvement with old (and some not-so-old) flutes when the furry bore is repolished, so I assume the same applies to whistles. Which raises the issue, how best to repolish whistle bores? I imagine one has to be a bit careful up under the blade area not to alter the voicing.
And if the bore has gone furry, I imagine the windway has too. My inclination there would be to tap the block out, sand off just the fur (and not the wood beneath it), polish up with fine steel wool, then at least one coat of a drying oil, wait, wipe off excess and let dry? And, especially if that oil seems to have been absorbed, follow up with a second, wait, wipe off excess and let thoroughly dry before playing again? That all takes some time. But maybe there's a better way?
The good news in my experience is that once the raised grain has been dealt with and the bore resealed, it doesn't rise again. Some years back I reamed some cheap wood for Physics UNSW (the coarse wood chosen to make the cells and fibres more easily visible). They took sections of the reamed bore and viewed them under an electron microscope. The image showed that some fibres had simply bent over, rather than getting cut off. It's these fibres that rise when the bore gets wet, even though the bore might have since been thoroughly oiled. There are parallels in fine cabinet making, where they finish the top of the table, wet it to raise the grain, let it dry, then apply a sanding sealer, dry, then sand it and polish it back to smooth, before applying the real finish.
Yeah, I certainly notice an improvement with old (and some not-so-old) flutes when the furry bore is repolished, so I assume the same applies to whistles. Which raises the issue, how best to repolish whistle bores? I imagine one has to be a bit careful up under the blade area not to alter the voicing.
And if the bore has gone furry, I imagine the windway has too. My inclination there would be to tap the block out, sand off just the fur (and not the wood beneath it), polish up with fine steel wool, then at least one coat of a drying oil, wait, wipe off excess and let dry? And, especially if that oil seems to have been absorbed, follow up with a second, wait, wipe off excess and let thoroughly dry before playing again? That all takes some time. But maybe there's a better way?
The good news in my experience is that once the raised grain has been dealt with and the bore resealed, it doesn't rise again. Some years back I reamed some cheap wood for Physics UNSW (the coarse wood chosen to make the cells and fibres more easily visible). They took sections of the reamed bore and viewed them under an electron microscope. The image showed that some fibres had simply bent over, rather than getting cut off. It's these fibres that rise when the bore gets wet, even though the bore might have since been thoroughly oiled. There are parallels in fine cabinet making, where they finish the top of the table, wet it to raise the grain, let it dry, then apply a sanding sealer, dry, then sand it and polish it back to smooth, before applying the real finish.
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Steve Bliven
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Re: Pat O'Riordan D whistle
Difficult to contact the maker. Sadly, Mr. O'Riordan passed a couple of years back.RoberTunes wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 4:35 pm If you bought them new, I'd first check carefully to see that the D is as clean as it can get and then
contact the maker to discuss this issue.
Best wishes.
Steve
Live your life so that, if it was a book, Florida would ban it.
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jem
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- Tell us something.: I'm an Irish flute and whistle player from Seattle, WA. I think I'm already a member, but I can't remember my username or password, so I thought I'd just reregister.
Re: Pat O'Riordan D whistle
Thanks to all of you for the thoughtful replies. I did talk to James Pellitier who lives here in Seattle and worked with Alexander Eppler for many years. He was of the same opinion, that polishing the bore may help. I will let you all know if that's the case when I meet with James and hopefully get some work done on the whistles. I believe that the whistles were never played. Thanks all! Joan