Increase Backpressure

[retired]

I've got a low d whistle that plays pretty good but has virtually no back pressure (resistance). I'm expecting to see my lungs come flying out the bottom of the tube any moment now. So, for self preservation, I'd like to increase the backpressure without interfering with tone or volume if possible. So far I've tried putting an o ring in the barrel between the C# hole and the fipple - no help, then I tried a shim of thin plastic from the wife's credit card (that should slow her down for a few days) placed on the roof of the windway -helped a little but altered the tone and volume. Any other possibilities outside of crimping the windway mouth ? I'm reluctant to do something I can't undo as this is a pretty good sounding whistle otherwise.

[ecohawk]

You don't say what brand of whistle this is. There are many makers on the board who just may have some sage wisdom if they knew what you were dealing with.

ecohawk

[retired]

Home-made.

[trill]

retired,

Here is a link that may help. It will both increase backpressure and lower volume:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83861&p=1036396#p1036396

There are two basic ideas at work:

1. have less air (a shorter blade) generating sound.

2. don't change the window area much (it will alter the pitch+tuning).

In a nutshell, find a way to plug about half of the windway, plus, confine the flow to only half the blade edge.

good luck !

[highwood]

You don't say whether the head is removable - if it is just make another head with a smaller windway, or a longer one or both.
If is not removable you could chop it off - and find a way to reconnect it and then make another head as above - but I would NOT suggest this since the reconnect bit can be tricky and effect tuning. I am trying to avoid spoiling a whistle that

plays pretty good

So just make another - you know you want to - and make the head a little different, then you'll have two homemade whistles and can do two whistle tricks (though that takes even more air) and before you know it you'll have a whole band of whistles and just need a bunch of whistling friends to create much cacophony (or maybe beautiful music)

[retired]

Gentlemen (?) -thanks for the tips. I don't want to decrease volume, or do anything to the head that is not reversible. Full story - I'm in Costa Rica right now for a month - I've been here before and found that my home-made aluminum whistles clog up almost immediately here with the high humidity. The backpressure on them is just right for me but they are basically unplayable here - so I cut the head off one and stuck on a plastic fipple - from an old Kerry low D (a good one) I was surprised how good it sounded and it's even in tune. My pipe is thinner gauge and sounds more resonant than the original pipe. Also in the past I have 'altered' plastic fipples and it rarely went well. Looking for that last 5 % backfired more often than not. -- Sooo - I'm looking for some way to add a modification I can discard easily if necessary. I've tried making the windway less tall, and narrower - no good. I suspect making it longer would do it, but no can do. I'm tempted to pinch the end with heat but I'm chicken ! Any pros out there with sage advice ?

[highwood]

sage advice

get used to the low back pressure ...

[retired]

Sorry but that's not an acceptable solution - I have a Goldie at home with good backpressure that allows me to play much more expressively. My goal is to achieve that with this whistle.

[MTGuru]

Sorry but that's not an acceptable solution - I have a Goldie at home with good backpressure that allows me to play much more expressively. My goal is to achieve that with this whistle.

You probably can. But it doesn't involve modifying the whistle.

Instead, try increasing the pressure at the windway by tightening your embouchure. In other words, tighten your lips and lip aperture. This assumes that you're not playing with the whistle tip inserted far into the mouth, but gently resting against the lips, only slightly in. You can even angle the whistle a bit sideways for even more constriction.

This embouchure trick works with many large-windway whistles, such as Susatos. It sounds like your homebrew whistle is another. They allow in a lot of air, so it's up the player to control it. The result can be fairly dramatic in terms of perceived backpressure and improved tone. Give it a try.

[killthemessenger]

Since you're making your own whistles, you might take a look at how recorder windways are constructed. They are much more adjustable than the common whistle windway design. You can change the voicing enormously to make it as recorder-like or whistle-like as you want. But they are more complicated to make.

[Choctaw]

I love flutes with a high back pressure. The penny whistle that was sent to me as a gift was actually bent in two places near the plastic cap and it is so bent that it makes it almost funny. but I think it actually increases the back pressure even if only a little bit and makes it easier for me to play

[retired]

Thanks for the additional ideas - tried MT's suggestion and it helped but I move a lot when I play so I kept loosing the ideal embouchure then I got the idea to put some tape over part of the mouthpiece and that helped so at this time I'm going to experiment with the tape a bit - again thanks for all the suggestions.

[MTGuru]

I move a lot when I play so I kept loosing the ideal embouchure

Well then, that's definitely something to work on.

Watch good wind players who move around a lot as they play. You'll find that even amid their gyrations, the embouchure, instrument and arms tend to form a fairly rigid "frame". Despite the movements, they always have control of the instrument. And that kind of control is not optional. It's an essential part of playing well. As with other aspects, experienced players make the difficult look easy.

Sure, experimenting with the tape is fine. But if your movement is preventing you from getting a consistent embouchure, you're basically doing it wrong.

Try setting yourself up in a comfortable but fixed playing position. Be aware of the position of your arms, hands, head, and instrument, and keep them there. Make note of where the end of your whistle is pointing, and keep it aimed there. Then play. If you can't get through a tune or passage with only your fingers and lungs/diaphragm moving, and nothing else, then you need to practice that until you succeed.

Your pay-off will be more consistent tone, embouchure control, and even fingering dexterity. And if you ever hope to record or perform into a microphone, you'll never "play the mike" - controlling the distance and position between the fipple and the microphone element - unless you can avoid wiggling around.

Again, give it a try!

[retired]

The Man has spoken ! - ok I'll practice it.

[MTGuru]

The Man has spoken ! - ok I'll practice it.

Well, my mental approach is to imagine that you're sitting across from me, face to face. You're paying me big bucks for a personalized lesson. Or you're a young person who will someday carry the flame of tradition into the future. And you have a problem that either you mention or I notice. What exercise would I have you do to not only address the problem, but to try to give you some insight into the problem?

There you go. And here on the board, only you can decide if the advice is worth what you're paying for it.