I have a new 2-piece Clare D whistle, it's great that I can carry it around on my adventures without bending it, which is what I've done to my Shaw whistle, but I much prefer the textured sound of the Shaw.
Is there anything I can do to make the Clare whistle sound a bit more impure?
Impure thoughts
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rubenroks12
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Re: Impure thoughts
Modifying the labium: that blade-like part that the airstream hits.
You can blunt the sharp edge by cutting/carving it with an exact-o knife. You can also create a blunter edge by gluing a laminate of sheet plastic to it. My favorite tweak is made by using a tiny rectangle cut from a tic-tac box and glued to the labium. If you do this, look through the wind way and make sure it hits the airstream dead center.
Note that you will have to adjust tuning a bit. The first raises the pitch a tiny bit and makes the whistle a little louder. The second lowers the pitch a bit as well as the volume. I prefer doing the second.
A word of caution though: take care as tweaking might irreversibly damage your whistle; especially the one that involves cutting. I would sudgest trying it out on a whistle you do not like as much or only if you have a spare Clare whistle. Happy tweaking! Second to playing whistles, I really enjoy tweaking mass produced whistles to my liking.
You can blunt the sharp edge by cutting/carving it with an exact-o knife. You can also create a blunter edge by gluing a laminate of sheet plastic to it. My favorite tweak is made by using a tiny rectangle cut from a tic-tac box and glued to the labium. If you do this, look through the wind way and make sure it hits the airstream dead center.
Note that you will have to adjust tuning a bit. The first raises the pitch a tiny bit and makes the whistle a little louder. The second lowers the pitch a bit as well as the volume. I prefer doing the second.
A word of caution though: take care as tweaking might irreversibly damage your whistle; especially the one that involves cutting. I would sudgest trying it out on a whistle you do not like as much or only if you have a spare Clare whistle. Happy tweaking! Second to playing whistles, I really enjoy tweaking mass produced whistles to my liking.
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Sirchronique
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Re: Impure thoughts
I have two clare whistles. They sent me a nickel black-headed two piece first, when I ordered the brass, and then were nice enough to send me the brass for free. Honestly, I don't find either one to be very pure at all, and wasn't terribly fond of either. I've contemplated taking the head off and replacing it with the head of a better cheap whistle that fits the same tube.
There's all sorts of stuff you can do to make it sound less pure through altering the window distance and labium edge, but you won't be able to make it sound like a shaw.
Cross post with Ruben
There's all sorts of stuff you can do to make it sound less pure through altering the window distance and labium edge, but you won't be able to make it sound like a shaw.
Cross post with Ruben
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rubenroks12
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Re: Impure thoughts
I second what sirchronique says. You can do plenty to alter the sound of your clare, but it would be very unlikely to make it sound close to the shaw. The Shaw's construction is simply too different, bore-wise and wind way-wise.
That being said, you can still make your clare sound very good in a different way. Each whistle has its own distinct personality.
If the tweak doesn't work for you, try attaching a different mouth-piece to the clare body as sirchronique has contemplated. I find that feadogs have an interesting raspy first octave. Fraken-whistles are fun. I use a Hoover whitecap on my clare most of the time (those are more pure that airy, not what you are looking for) Those cost a tad more than mass produced whistles though. Still, you don't have to spend much to get the sound you want. I'm sure you will eventually find the impure sound that you like from experimentation.
To give you an idea, here is a photo of the tweak I was speaking of. This one is done on a Waltons LBW though, but it can be done with a clare too. It makes the whistle airy and complex with a sweet upper octave. I also shoved some blu-tac in the recess.
That being said, you can still make your clare sound very good in a different way. Each whistle has its own distinct personality.
If the tweak doesn't work for you, try attaching a different mouth-piece to the clare body as sirchronique has contemplated. I find that feadogs have an interesting raspy first octave. Fraken-whistles are fun. I use a Hoover whitecap on my clare most of the time (those are more pure that airy, not what you are looking for) Those cost a tad more than mass produced whistles though. Still, you don't have to spend much to get the sound you want. I'm sure you will eventually find the impure sound that you like from experimentation.
To give you an idea, here is a photo of the tweak I was speaking of. This one is done on a Waltons LBW though, but it can be done with a clare too. It makes the whistle airy and complex with a sweet upper octave. I also shoved some blu-tac in the recess.
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s1m0n
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Re: Impure thoughts
Bravo!
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
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Bernio
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Re: Impure thoughts + blu-tac-tic-tac-tweak-talk.
Thanks everybody. I am lucky enough to have a small selection of undistinguished or despised whistles to sacrifice in my quest for impurity.rubenroks12 wrote: To give you an idea, here is a photo of the tweak I was speaking of. This one is done on a Waltons LBW though, but it can be done with a clare too. It makes the whistle airy and complex with a sweet upper octave. I also shoved some blu-tac in the recess.
Ruben, thanks for the inspiration, but I am not sure what I am looking at in the tweak photo. Is this the tic-tac-tweak? Is that blu-tac I can see, or tic-tac pack?
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rubenroks12
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Re: Impure thoughts
Bernio: Both! 
That white bit stuck to the labium is a sheet of plastic cut from a tic-tac box. That alters the timbre of the whistle.
The blu-tac is put underneath the cavity to improve tuning between octaves. It raises the pitch of the second octave which tends to be flat in mass produced whistles. Glad I could help!
That white bit stuck to the labium is a sheet of plastic cut from a tic-tac box. That alters the timbre of the whistle.
The blu-tac is put underneath the cavity to improve tuning between octaves. It raises the pitch of the second octave which tends to be flat in mass produced whistles. Glad I could help!
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brewerpaul
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Re: Impure thoughts
The OR nurse in me loves this...Mr.Gumby wrote:Labiaplasty on a whistle?
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ahogrelius
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Re: Impure thoughts
Impure thoughts indeed!brewerpaul wrote:The OR nurse in me loves this...Mr.Gumby wrote:Labiaplasty on a whistle?
If tin whistles are made of tin, what are foghorns made of?