Always time to whistle: improving your whistle, the Bluetac Tweak
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Surprisingly I could find no videos on this well known tweak for Tin Whistles...so I made one :) Improves the playability of many factory made whistles.
You are such an adorable man.
Great video! I did this tweak to my D sharp Generation but I used bee's wax instead. It is healthier and the result is the same. It is wise to avoid glues and chemicals in the mouthpiece. Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Great advice!
Great tip! I did this on my Walton High D and it definitely improved the "chiffing" on the higher notes!
Got a Walton high D as well. I was successful and Now the whistle sounds 100% improved. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us!
Great! Thank you for sharing this information! Playing a better whistle here in Brazil now! :)
Eu também!
Você achou blu tack no Brasil?
Ordered a Generation Bb to see how I like that key. Very airy and hard for me to get a dependable low note. Used this fix (did not take the head off, just did it through the opening with wooden BBQ stick) and it worked! I’m sure it’s not Freeman good, but it’s better! THank you for the video.
I just received a Bb nickel Generation and I’m having the same issue with the finicky low note. I’ll try this this weekend!
Saw your video and have just tried this on my Clarke Sweetone. I have to say I think the difference is quite significant in a positive direction! Thank you very much!
You can do it without breaking?
And then I did my old Feadog high D. It’s actually playable now! Thanks again. I think I’ll stop before I ruin a good whistle.
Thank you for the video Stephen! Very useful for my Walton's.
This happens to be the exact whistle I just got in the mail. Been fun playing with it. I'm definitely going to try this little trick. Thanks for posting it!
Hi Stephen, thanks so much for this tip. I can confirm that the tweaking suggested here has definitely improved my ancient Generation C whistle. Now if only it could help my fingers go to the right holes! Best of luck with your channel- keep those videos coming!
Excellent tip, thanks for posting!
Thank you!!
Friends! Maybe someone has already done this) Found a good way to remove plastic whistles from whistles. This method is suitable when it is impossible to remove the whistle at all by holding it in hot water and twisting with your hands. Sometimes twisting can break the whistle. I had the whistle glued firmly and nothing helped...I just took two bearings...One is slightly larger than the diameter of the whistle tube and the second one is bigger and heavier...I put a soft cloth between the plastic of the whistle and the bearing so as not to scratch and began to throw off the large bearing by force down towards the whistle...And voila, he easily took off...It is better to do it on a soft litter...It is also better to heat the whistle in hot water )
I don't understand your instructions. How do you force a bearing that is "slightly larger than the diameter of the whistle tube...down towards the whistle"?
Ill have to try it on my Feadóg. I also have a C Generation but no matter how long I soaked it the head would not budge
I didn't have any blue tack but I had some Play-Doh and the end of a qtip for the end of the Play-Doh...
You are my hero!
You're right about those 'some'.
The handmade whistle shown at 3:10 appears to be a Becker Whistle. I have nine whistles from Mr. Becker and very much like them. The tweak seems one approach to fixing a dubious whistle. But purchasing a good handmade whistle, like a Becker Whistle, seems to be the more efficient and pragmatic way.
Thanks
Poster putty does work wonders on these whistles
After filling the cone-shaped cavity on my plastic Dixon, it definitely sounded worse. I would not recommend this tweak on the ABS plastic Dixons. ymmv. It was a great tweak to my General Bb though.
The Dixons are much more accurate than the Generations and it's best to leave them as they are.
deep thanks from 🇧🇷
Am I missing something here? Why do you adjust the putty by going through the opening at the blade rather than the large area were the head fits over the tube?
Provided you have the right tool...a small wooden dowel with a flat end works well...you can do your final finish on the putty through the open end of the mouthpiece with just some final touch up (with a toothpick instead of the screwdriver I used in the video...wood is less likely to nick the blade). Whatever works for you really. Once you understand the principals feel free to experiment and improve what I have offered here. I am sure there are better ways. On my Dixon low D, I only used enough putty around the very edge to hold a plastic cover in place over the cavity...and that worked best of all...it would be very finicky to get it the right size and in through the voicing window on a low D though. :)
Feadog is pronounced fad-ogue (where "fad" rhymes with "lad" and "ogue" rhymes with "rogue")
Yes my Irish is a bit rusty... I will have to practice that. :) I did put a disclaimer in my first video saying I did know I was mispronouncing it...but did not know how to say it properly. Now I do.
@@StephenIngraham I know. I watched your first video. :)
Here's how to pronounce it in the main dialects: www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/fead%C3%B3g
I would go with the Munster one. I'm Irish and I can't even pronounce the Connact one!
Chris Corbett Well I feel better now. I certainly was not saying it correctly, but evidently no one in Ireland knows how it is “really” said either...or at least they can’t agree on a pronunciation. :) I am not sure I would know it was the same word if I heard it in different parts of the isle. Of course there are English words in the US that a non-native would have trouble with if they heard them in, say, Boston, and Atlanta, and maybe Wisconsin.
@@StephenIngraham I presume that was an attempt at a joke.
Chris Corbett Perhaps a poor attempt, but an attempt, yes, at a joke. Sorry if I offended. That was not my intention.
my clarke sweetone cracked too. Just leave the head as is.
It is possible to pack the head by dropping small pellets of putty through the voicing window and using a long dowel to tap them down and smooth them. :)
@@StephenIngraham I may try that. I am having a very hard time getting the head off my Feadog. Interestingly - newer generation heads come off easily but my vintage generation wont budge at all. Seems there is nothing much to do about it but use the dowel approach ... but actually I'd still like to be able to get the head off for tuning purposes and to be able to straighten out some dings near the head. Don't know if that's possible at all though I've tried the hot water approach a few times ...
@@whynottalklikeapirat A trick I have used, but I take no responsibility if your head breaks :) is to put the whistle in the freezer for a few moments so the metal contracts away from the plastic. The plastic may get brittle though so be careful. It depends on whether getting the head off is worth breaking the whistle.
@@StephenIngraham I've heard people talk about this.
If my head breaks I won't be there to regret it.
If my whistlehead breaks I'll live
Would you heat it first and then cool?
@@whynottalklikeapirat I would try just cold first. Then, if that does not work cold to shrink the metal, followed by a quick immersion in hot, not boiling, but just hot, water, to break the glue...then a twist. Again. If you are willing to risk the whistle.
I bought the Loctite poster putty because of this video. Blew it out and before it did come out, I saw no difference in stability. Perhaps just the ones this gentleman was experimenting with worked but it's not a universal fix.
not good
??