Just saying hello

[Dlew919]

Hi everyone. I'm a new member, new to whistling. Just wanted to say hi, and ask if the breathy tone on a Clarke is desired? I've spent several months practicing to try and eliminate the breath but I read on thisite that breathy tone is part of the tone. Ee

[DrPhill]

Hi and welcome, this is a good place to be. I am a learner here, and maybe a heretic, but I say play the sound you like, or the sound you want. Have you tried other whistles? Did you like them more or less than your Clarke?

[ecohawk]

Dlew, welcome to the forum. You've come to the best place, short of a personal instructor, to learn about whistles and flutes.

Spend some time browsing the forums and you'll find a lot of opinion on your question. Bottom line, and what makes whistles so wonderful, is that it's up to you about whether breathiness is desirable. If you like it, then who cares? If you're asking about majority opinion, good luck with that. You will find instruments like your Clarke, that are very breathy out of the box which some love, but some will "tweak" them to clean that up a bit. There's a thread on that here on the forum BTW. Then there's the other end of the spectrum, such as Burke, with a very clean, pure sound. And all manner in between. There's no right or wrong. If the whistle is in tune both ways, to it's key and to itself, meaning all the holes are in tune relative to each other, play it until you get comfortable. Then get another with different characteristics, then another, then another......WHOA.

Have fun.

ecohawk

[brewerpaul]

Hello, and welcome.
That breathiness is indeed inherent in the Clarke and gives that whistle a unique tone of it's own. As previously mentioned, it is possible to tweak some of the breathiness out of it but not all. No amount of practicing will get rid of it either. A Clarke is a Clarke.

If you're new to whistle, try a couple of other inexpensive whistles too. Each will have it's own personality.

[Dlew919]

Thanks to everyone. I'll check out other whistles. Once I saw the breathiness was an integral part of the Clarke, I began to like it a great deal. This made a change from making micro adjustments to angles, breath force, fingers, etc. I bought my whistle at the national folk festival in Canberra Australia this year. And what a fun instrument it is. I play guitar, bass and my main instrument is mandolin.

This is a great site. Ain't the Internet wonderful?

[James_Alto]

Hi and welcome, this is a good place to be. I am a learner here, and maybe a heretic, but I say play the sound you like, or the sound you want. Have you tried other whistles? Did you like them more or less than your Clarke?

You're suggesting whistle acquistion lol. Go for it!

I did the same actually - I tried various whistles, and gave up on what I had, moved on. I've had a few, including terribly cheap little flageleots, a Copeland low D, Howard low D, abandoned whistles and moved back to recorders, then abandoned recorders, moved to flutes, then rim blown flutes, then oboe/clarinet, then errr...harmonica (chromatic) ...then umm... the triangle

Looking back, I think I should've stuck with the Copeland whistle. I wouldn't appreciate a breathy tone as a beginner - mostly, I spent my first months playing the flute trying to get rid of it, and preferred clear smooth flute like tones. That went like a phase, so did the Copeland, and now I'm liking rim blown flutes with breathy overtones more. Looking back (seriously) - I would've just stuck with one instrument, and learn it to the best of my ability, rather than becoming a jack of all ...errr...well.

Welcome!

[walrii]

A Clarke is a Clarke indeed but record yourself and see how it sounds. What you hear while playing the whistle differs a little from what your audience hears. Being so close and behind the whistle, your ears pick up some sounds the audience doesn't hear.

[brewerpaul]

Mandolin huh? If by some chance you haven't been there, hop on over to mandolincafe.com which is the Chiff and Fipple of the mandolin world. Lots of nice helpful people there. Think WHOA is bad, with high end whistles stretching up into the hundreds of dollars range? These people talk about "cheap beginner" mandolins in the $500 plus range, and luthier made ones in the tens of thousands. Some vintage collector mandolins sell in the HUNDREDS of thousands
Seeya there.

[Dlew919]

Ah, I know mandolin cafe very well... I also like jazzman do.com . Thanks though, and I'll keep my eye out for you when I get back there,which won't be very long.

[Dlew919]

Just bought a feadog. Less chiff but a harsher tone. I like it though.