Clogging Issues

greenspiderweb · Post by **greenspiderweb** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:48 pm

Hey Dapple,
I haven't tried the Dr Bronners yet, but I've wanted to. How does it seem to work? Which one seems to work best for you?

PS Trisha, leave the green tea alone! The gloop in the mouthpiece is supposed to add to the tone, didn't you know?

dapple · Post by **dapple** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 6:30 pm

Barry, the Jet-Dry, Dawn, or Dr. Bronner's each seems to me to work the same as the others. Dr. Bronner's Peppermint simply tastes better.

Eric N · Post by **Eric N** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 11:21 am

Using the soap method how long do you find it will take till you need to re-soap? I guess it would be different with different whistles.

Also.... I would be afraid to soap up a Clarke or a Shaw due to the wooden mouth block. I would think that the soap would soak into the wood and leave you will an unpleasent taste

. Has anybody tried the soap method with a whistle with a wooden block?

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 4:48 pm

Eric N wrote:Using the soap method how long do you find it will take till you need to re-soap? I guess it would be different with different whistles.

Playing an hour or two a day, I seem to recall that I needed to resoap every couple of days.

While working, I now mostly play my Burkes (D and C), which I leave warming up on top of my computer, so I seldom have a problem with them clogging. As a result, I seldom soap them anymore.

I'm reluctant to use much soap on the whistles with wooden blades, for fear of injuring the wood. The Bleazey and the Mystery Whistle (possibly an old Sweet) are all wood, so they never get any soap. On the Busman, though, I sometimes use just a little on a piece of card stock, so that I can restrict it to the Delrin portion of the mouthpiece.

I just periodically blow them out, and maybe hit them with the swab a few times during a practice session. Of course, I never play with anyone else--much less perform--so I don't find a little condensation all that troubling.

Also.... I would be afraid to soap up a Clarke or a Shaw due to the wooden mouth block. I would think that the soap would soak into the wood and leave you will an unpleasent taste . Has anybody tried the soap method with a whistle with a wooden block?

Neither my Clarke original D nor my Shaw low G have ever needed it. They both have pretty large windways, and the wooden fipple block itself tends to absorb some of the moisture.

The Whitecap on my low A also has a pretty good-sized opening, so it hasn't been had of a problem, but I still soap it whenever I notice that I'm having some clogging.

So, my main soapable whistles are probably the ones that are out on loan at the moment: Oak, Serpent Village Smithy, Feadog-Whitecap

I've only ever had a problem with condensation, never with any kind of gunk building up.

Stine · Post by **Stine** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 8:05 pm

Also: Being a flute player, it's a habit for me to clean my flute before and after I play. I'm very finicky about this, and I'm wondering if I should do this with my tinwhistle as well? Or does it not really matter unless the whistle starts to clog?

lyrick · Post by **lyrick** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 11:42 pm

Stine, most people clean the windway of their whistle every so often as needed, using water and/or sticking a piece of a credit card or such into the windway to get at any gunk in there. Unless you're playing with chunks of food in your mouth, it's probably not necessary to clean it every time you play, just shake or blow out the condensation. When you clean it just don't use anything that could scratch the windway, like a twist tie. I like to stick a long, thin, rolled up dry piece of cloth or paper towel through the windway, then I wet it and floss the windway. Most people here have recommended the bit of credit card, though.

Most of my clogging issues have been solved. Warming the whistle before I play helps, Jet Dry has helped me more than soap, but I think the main thing is that I'm not as shy about playing loud as I used to be, and it seems just getting enough volume of air through the whistle by not underblowing is enough to get the condensation cleared out.

BEC · Post by **BEC** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:39 pm

Warming the head/keeping it warm is the key. As a long time recorder player just coming to the whistle I have had this problem for years and warming before playing is really the biggest help. When I am playing at church you will almost always see me with a recorder under each arm keeping the heads warm in preparation for the next bit to be played.

I, too, am reluctant to use the soap solution (or the stuff sold by some recorder dealers for this problem called Duponol) on my good rosewood Kung recorders, but I have done it once on each of them.

If the instrument is clogging as you play one thing you can do is suck the clog out at a breath or break in the music (if any!).

The most effective way (and safest for the sound-producting blade in the windway) to clear a clog is to take the head off, cover the open end with your hand and blow in through the window. This is kinda hard to do with a one-piece whistle, unfortunately.....

greenspiderweb · Post by **greenspiderweb** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:49 pm

...or just cover the window with a finger, and blow. This clears the clog quickly.

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:19 pm

The distance that you stick the whistles beak into your mouth can affect clogging. If you stick the whistle in really deep, it can trigger your salivary glands because an item is in your mouth.

Some people play the whistle just barely against the lips and experience less clogging.

I've seen recorder player do this also, and they swear up and down that it works.

BEC · Post by **BEC** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:12 am

Interesting idea - I'll have to try that on both whistles and recorders.....

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 10:36 pm

The wonderful Dale Wisely had posted something about jetdry. I was having clogging problems on my Chieftain Brass whistles, but I bought some jetdry and applied it with a thin strip of paper and let it dry. It works! I have to recoat from time to time. But jetdry has solved my problem.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:04 pm

I don't have clogging issues, but that is because I don't, actually, dance. There is a clogging team from this county. They were clogging out front of Wal-Mart one time, several years ago.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 10:59 am

Walden wrote:I don't have clogging issues, but that is because I don't, actually, dance. There is a clogging team from this county. They were clogging out front of Wal-Mart one time, several years ago.

Trust Walden to dance all around the real issue.

I should try the soap-in-the-windway thing, I suppose. But I find if I prewarm my whistles, and clean the windway out before serious playing, I don't have too many problems.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:06 pm

DCrom wrote:I should try the soap-in-the-windway thing, I suppose. But I find if I prewarm my whistles, and clean the windway out before serious playing, I don't have too many problems.

With a Hoover narrow-bore, the soap-and-water trick is deinitely worth while, even if said precautions are taken.