On Clogging

Frogwing · Post by **Frogwing** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:47 am

I'm a beginner and have played very little yet, but I have an issue with clogging and I wonder if this is really common;

I was playing the Clarke original the other day. Before playing I warmed it up carrying it close to my body. When I started the whistle was warm enough to feel warm against my fingers. But after maybe 15 minutes of playing it, a note suddenly cut off, and it wasn't possible to play. I though a whistle with this wide windway wouldn't cause problems so fast. I try to never touch the whistle with the tongue.
I blew out the water, there came a few beads, but when I looked through the holes, the entire body of the whistle was filled with beads of water, like condensation. Do you think they caused the strangled note, or just the water in the windway?
Does this happen to you other players? There was no way to blow this out so I just quit playing and set it to dry.
Quite irritating when I wanted to practise.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:14 am

Hi Frogwing---I think you are saying that even after blowing the condensation out of the windway, you could not play, right? If you could play, then the condensation in the body wouldn't matter. I hope I am understanding this correctly and I'm sorry if I didn't.

It's hard to imagine the body being so full of liquid that no sound would come out---but then I wasn't there. I haven't seen anyone here have a problem with the whole body of the whistle containing so much water they couldn't play. Certainly, saliva clogging the mouthpiece is a very common problem.

Based on the instructions from the maker of my whistle, this is what I do:

I mixed up a pretty concentrated solution of liquid dishwashing detergent in a little squeeze bottle with a dropper on top---concentrated enough so that you can see the color of the detergent, but not to the point of being viscous. When I finish practing, I drip quite a few drops of that solution through the mouthpiece and into the "window" where the fipple is---I'm not using very good terms here probably. I turn my whistle all around so the solution gets everywhere in that area. Then I blow out hard through the mouthpiece to get the excess solution out. It runs down the whistle and gets on the outside a bit. I get the soapy solution off the outside by wiping it with a damp cloth and then a dry one. I set the whistle upright in a safe place and let the soap solution dry inside.

The soap solution is supposed to act as a surfactant. It prevents water from beading up and allows it to run down and out the whistle. I've also found that my mouthpiece stays perfectly clean when I do this so I never have to try to clean gunk out of it. I must say I don't know if my whistle would clog if I didn't do this because I have always done it.

In any case, the soap solution might prevent the beads of condensation from forming in the body of your whistle as well if that is where the problem is---it would help the water drain out of the whistle.

Are you sure there is no little blockage in the mouthpiece that you are overlooking? Some little particle or something? I suppose you looked very carefully.

Is the time you are describing the first time this very sudden cut off has happened? It sort of sounds like this was a new event. That would seem to indicate a particle blocking something somewhere more than clogging which it seems like would have happened from the first day you played it.

Oh, if your fipple is a wooden block, then I don't know if dripping soap solution in is a good idea. The block gets wet from saliva, so I suppose it wouldn't make any difference, but I just wouldn't want to give advice for that type of whistle because I don't have that kind.

I am sure this problem will be solved. Don't worry. I'm no expert and others will have advice too.

dDave · Post by **dDave** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:50 am

Howdy,

Someone suggested running waxed dental floss through the windway of your whistles. It's worked like a charm for me, even with my Hoover.

Best,

Dave

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:18 pm

I use a commercial anti-condensation liquid for wooden instruments made by the Mollenhauer company. It is basically a watery detergent but it works very very well and has never harmed my instruments. If you want to use washing up liquid on WOOD I would recommend watering it down first.

Wax dental floss works well on my metal instruments. That was a good tip I picked up on this site.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:44 pm

dDave wrote:Howdy,

Someone suggested running waxed dental floss through the windway of your whistles. It's worked like a charm for me, even with my Hoover.

Best,

Dave

This was the only way I could get my Burke WBB to quit clogging.

One treatment with waxed floss, it hasn't clogged since, even when played cold.

--James

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:49 pm

Wow, Flying Poison Dart Frogs, Cool!!!

Loren

Adrian · Post by **Adrian** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:09 pm

Loren wrote:Wow, Flying Poison Dart Frogs, Cool!!!

Loren

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:13 pm

Adrian wrote:
Loren wrote:Wow, Flying Poison Dart Frogs, Cool!!!

Loren

I think that must be what kind of frog is in Frogwing's avatar. Just a guess. Many frogs are quite poisonous---is that spelled right?

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:20 pm

Yup, just google poison dart frog - you'll be amazed at number of vivid colors they come in. Sans the wings, of course.

Loren

undone · Post by **undone** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:46 pm

Say, can someone explain in more detail how to use dental floss on a metal whistle? Do you run it back and forth through the entire whistle or just the mouthpiece, or both? Is the purpose to provide a coat of wax or to act as a kind of sandpaper?

Thanks.

As an aside, I just had to giggle when I saw the title of this thread: "On Clogging". Being the Christmas season, I immediately went to "On Clogging, on Dasher, on Dancer, on Comet, on Blitzen...."

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:53 pm

Just pulling the waxed dental floss through the windway lightly is all it takes. You're not sanding it down, just applying a very thin coat of wax that acts the same as detergent in preventing the condensation from building up. This has worked great on a couple of my whistles, including a narrow-bore brass Hoover.

Funny, I thought of "clogging" as in the dancing done to Appalachian mountain music. I don't remember a reindeer by that name, but I guess they've had a lot of turnover.

m31 · Post by **m31** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:47 pm

crookedtune wrote:Funny, I thought of "clogging" as in the dancing done to Appalachian mountain music...

Me too...

Taken from:
http://www.danwashburn.com/clogging.html

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 5:31 am

Yes, please dilute the detergent before using it to de-clog a wooden whistle (or any other). You don't need more than a couple of drops in an ounce of water: just enough to make bubbles when you shake the solution. The solution should basically look like clear water.

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:55 am

I've found that catching as many quick small breaths (within reason) as possible helps a lot too. The air you blow winds up being cooler.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:37 pm

Clogging:

http://www.fireonthemountaincloggers.co ... story3.jpg