Folks,
looking for exercising purposes at home for a high D whistle which is more quiet, you may say "muted" especially in the higher octave.
I really much like my Clare D, but it's too noisy and almost shrill in the upper octave for exercising at home .
Do you have any advice? I'd like to avoid PVC tubes. Prefer wood or metal.
Thanks in advance
Alex
Best regards from
Alexander
down in the Rhine valley
I've found the O'Brien to have a very nice and clean upper octave. Doesn't get loud or shrill at all. I have the C in copper, no plating. Lovely whistle, very easy blower all the way up.
I also have to add that David's service is excellent.
I would recommend contacting Mack Hoover and explain to him what you are looking for. Mack is currently making a whitecap for me to fit on a Clare two piece brass barrel. I indicated to him that I wanted a whislte on the quite side with a smooth 2nd octave. I haven't received it yet, but when I do I would be glad to share my impressions of it with you.
I am a big fan of the Original Clarke whistle. A bit different than your Clare but quite nice. I recenlty posted a topic about "muting" this whistle which both makes it quieter and tames the 2nd octave - might be worth looking up if this sounds interesting to you.
Just get sticky-tac [Bluetac] and place some in the windway. Adjust position and amount to the degree of muting you want. This method will allow you to get the volume down to a mere whisper. Many whistlers use this method and others place some tape over the windway. Experiment!
I had Mack Hoover make me a Whitecap D about a year ago so I could practice late at night without waking up the family.
Turned out to be my favorite all around whistle. (I have used a Burke, Sweetheart and Susato if you wonder what I use for comparison.)
It's about a quiet as you would want for a whistle that you might use to perform. For those late nights, I still need to use a piece of masking tape to cover half the window, but it's just about right then.
Mack makes even softer whistles. I haven't tried them, but I bet you would have to adapt to a whole different kind of breath control for them.
All of us contain Music & Truth, but most of us can't get it out. -- Mark Twain
Kerry wrote:I recenlty posted a topic about "muting" this whistle which both makes it quieter and tames the 2nd octave - might be worth looking up if this sounds interesting to you.
Kerry
Hi,
yes it sounds interesting!
Curious regards
Alex
Best regards from
Alexander
down in the Rhine valley
Kerry wrote:I know this isn't a new concept, but I thought it might be of interest to those looking for a quite whistle and/or for those who dislike their Clarke Originals due to high air requirments.
A few months ago I set out to "mute" my Clarke (see below), but I was really surprised by the affect this had - especially with regard to the 2nd octave. The result was a Clarke that required less air, was lower in volume, and has a very pleasant 2nd octave. It also has the benefit of being reversible - I didn't want to squash the windway of my favorite whistle.
I made the muter (or muffler) with a piece of balsa wood. A piece measuring 3/16 x 1/4 x 36 (inches) costs less than a dollar in craft stores here in the States. With an exacto knife and some sandpaper I shaped a small piece to fill up half of the windway. It takes a little bit of work to get it just right, but it is worth it. The only problem is that it does occasionally slip out of position, but this is more of a problem when the wood is dry. After playing for a little bit it isn't so much of an issue. Alternatively you can just wet it in your mouth first to get the balsa wood to swell up a bit.
Hopefully the pictures below will illustrate what I mean. The top view on the left is with my trusty Clarke D and on the right looking down the windway is a Clarke C. I haven't really got it to work as well on the C, but on the D this whistle really sings.
I think I understand what you mean and'll give it a try. The "newer" Clare-D has a plastic mouthpiece with a smaller windway, I think, than the classic Clarke, so this wooden piece should be even smaller/thinner, more like a match. Have a lot of 'em here due to modelling purposes
Thanks
Alex
Best regards from
Alexander
down in the Rhine valley
That is the one I was talking about. I have many whistles with plastic fipples around, but I have never tried this same sort of "mute" on them. I am curious to hear how it goes for you if you try it.
Something like a matchstick would probably be the right size. The reason I used balsa wood is so that I could shape it do to the unique design of the Clarke windway.
For the adhesive tape mute, it works much better for me to have to tape go through the window into the barrel of the whistle. It doesn't affect the air requirement too much, and isn't too fiddly unless you cover more than half the window (experiment). It cuts down the volume a lot.
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