Whistle Silencer ?
- Tim
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Whistle Silencer ?
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum (and in a way new again to the world of whistle-playing, having given it up 10 years ago when I met my wife-to-be, a definite non-whistle player and whistle non-appreciator, non-plussed by whistle nonsense.)
Some friends of mine from years back invited us to stay with them a couple of weeks ago as there was a beer festival in the their town, and the offer seemed too good to miss.... but when we got there it turned out to be a folk festival with beer in it. I was happy .... my wife less so, but now I'm back home I haven't been able to forget those jigs and reels. They've been haunting me, dragging me back into the world (and the new world wide web) of traditional music.
All well and good, but to be honest, the only way I'm going to feel comfortable actually playing whistle around the house again will be if I manage to find or create a REALLY QUIET whistle, so that my wife and I carry on in married bliss.
Does such a thing exist ? (a quiet whistle that is)
The absolute ideal would be a whistle with headphones !
Hope you can help,
Tim
I'm new to this forum (and in a way new again to the world of whistle-playing, having given it up 10 years ago when I met my wife-to-be, a definite non-whistle player and whistle non-appreciator, non-plussed by whistle nonsense.)
Some friends of mine from years back invited us to stay with them a couple of weeks ago as there was a beer festival in the their town, and the offer seemed too good to miss.... but when we got there it turned out to be a folk festival with beer in it. I was happy .... my wife less so, but now I'm back home I haven't been able to forget those jigs and reels. They've been haunting me, dragging me back into the world (and the new world wide web) of traditional music.
All well and good, but to be honest, the only way I'm going to feel comfortable actually playing whistle around the house again will be if I manage to find or create a REALLY QUIET whistle, so that my wife and I carry on in married bliss.
Does such a thing exist ? (a quiet whistle that is)
The absolute ideal would be a whistle with headphones !
Hope you can help,
Tim
- raindog1970
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This works quite well:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=5494
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=5494
Regards,
Gary Humphrey
♪♣♫Humphrey Whistles♫♣♪
[Raindogs] The ones you see wanderin' around after a rain. Ones that can't find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants. – Tom Waits
Gary Humphrey
♪♣♫Humphrey Whistles♫♣♪
[Raindogs] The ones you see wanderin' around after a rain. Ones that can't find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants. – Tom Waits
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I'd never seen that until now, but I am going to try it.
What I've been doing until now is using play doh on my Mellow D. You roll it up into a little ball and then flatten it some and put it over the windway. You use a piece of something straight (I use cardboard cut out) and make the new edge perfectly straight. It changes the volume DRASTICALLY if you do it right. I do it because the upper notes hurt my ears if they're not extremely quiet, and with this they are.
I suppose you could mabey let the play doh dry, and it would be permanent or semi-permanent, but I like playing with play doh so I do it over and over and over. It gets sloppy because I don't let it dry (LOL, that sounds so bad) but I don't care.
What I've been doing until now is using play doh on my Mellow D. You roll it up into a little ball and then flatten it some and put it over the windway. You use a piece of something straight (I use cardboard cut out) and make the new edge perfectly straight. It changes the volume DRASTICALLY if you do it right. I do it because the upper notes hurt my ears if they're not extremely quiet, and with this they are.
I suppose you could mabey let the play doh dry, and it would be permanent or semi-permanent, but I like playing with play doh so I do it over and over and over. It gets sloppy because I don't let it dry (LOL, that sounds so bad) but I don't care.
Okay...silencing a whistle is FAR EASIER than I'd ever imagined. I've done the fancy schmancy, but this past week, staying in B&B's where people sincerely might not have wanted to listen to my practicing but being utterly without anything I thought I could use, I devised the ULTIMATE easy mute for the whistle.
I took a piece of gum, chewed it, and wadded a piece of that onto the blade of a Gen.
The next day I did it without chewing, just folding up a piece of gum, tearing off the end and pressing it in place.
I took a piece of gum, chewed it, and wadded a piece of that onto the blade of a Gen.
The next day I did it without chewing, just folding up a piece of gum, tearing off the end and pressing it in place.
Remember, you didn't get the tiger so it would do what you wanted. You got the tiger to see what it wanted to do. -- Colin McEnroe
- Flyingcursor
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- Martin Milner
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Guys, guys, guys. Tut.
Forgive me, but I think you've completely missed the point. What Tim wants is not a whistle quietener, but a quieter whistle. i.e. he is an incipient victim of WhOA, though he may not yet realise it.
We Chiffers need to offer him the wealth of our knowledge about whistles that spouses cannot object to, and will positively encourage our their other halves to spend hard earned cash on.
Soon Tim will have a flood of quiet whistles arriving in Fed Ex packaging, and all will be sweetness and light in the Tim household.
Tim (welcome to the board by the way),
Mack Hoover makes a lovely range of quiet whistles, I believe. The Noah Herbison Laughing whistle (folding model) is also very quiet.
Several makers have a special narrow bore model (e.g. Susato make a VSB or very small bore) which is designed to be quieter than their regular whistles.
Another possibility is to get a whistle in a lower key, I would suggest you try a Dixon low A or G. These lower tones will have less wall penetration than a high D, or at least be less offensive to the ears while in the hands of a re-beginner.
These are my offerings, but I know there are quiet whistle specialists out there who can do better.
BTW, there is such a thing as an electronic chanter, that is, a practise pipe for pipers which is silent & has headphones, but we could not find an electronic practise whistle in the same style.
Forgive me, but I think you've completely missed the point. What Tim wants is not a whistle quietener, but a quieter whistle. i.e. he is an incipient victim of WhOA, though he may not yet realise it.
We Chiffers need to offer him the wealth of our knowledge about whistles that spouses cannot object to, and will positively encourage our their other halves to spend hard earned cash on.
Soon Tim will have a flood of quiet whistles arriving in Fed Ex packaging, and all will be sweetness and light in the Tim household.
Tim (welcome to the board by the way),
Mack Hoover makes a lovely range of quiet whistles, I believe. The Noah Herbison Laughing whistle (folding model) is also very quiet.
Several makers have a special narrow bore model (e.g. Susato make a VSB or very small bore) which is designed to be quieter than their regular whistles.
Another possibility is to get a whistle in a lower key, I would suggest you try a Dixon low A or G. These lower tones will have less wall penetration than a high D, or at least be less offensive to the ears while in the hands of a re-beginner.
These are my offerings, but I know there are quiet whistle specialists out there who can do better.
BTW, there is such a thing as an electronic chanter, that is, a practise pipe for pipers which is silent & has headphones, but we could not find an electronic practise whistle in the same style.
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that schwing
- glauber
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Noah Herbison's "laughing" whistle, telescopic model is what i use most of the time when i want to be quiet. It was quite a job getting this whistle, though; i'm not sure he even makes them anymore. I heard many good things about the Hoovers too, in the quiet whistle department.
Or, if you have children in your home, just take a normal whistle, and make a little "wall" of play dough right in front of the slot, right in front of the airstream. This makes any whistle very quiet without changing the sound or the way it feels. Works for flutes too.
So much for silencers... what i really need is a LOUDENER!
Or, if you have children in your home, just take a normal whistle, and make a little "wall" of play dough right in front of the slot, right in front of the airstream. This makes any whistle very quiet without changing the sound or the way it feels. Works for flutes too.
So much for silencers... what i really need is a LOUDENER!
On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog!
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--Wellsprings--
- Byll
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The quietest whistle I own is a Hoover narrow bore - and it is truly, truly quiet...It takes very little air, and quiet conversation can drown it out...I don't think Mack's order back-log is large... Possibly now would be the time to order...
Best.
Byll
Best.
Byll
'Everything Matters...'
Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979
Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979
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I just got an Elfsong wide bore E, and I have to say...I love it.
It's not what I'd term 'quiet', but it is very mellow and agreeable, even to be a high E, and the upper notes don't pierce my ears AT ALL, and don't have that sheer blow you away-volume, the way they do on all of my D whistles. I love this whistle. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
It's not what I'd term 'quiet', but it is very mellow and agreeable, even to be a high E, and the upper notes don't pierce my ears AT ALL, and don't have that sheer blow you away-volume, the way they do on all of my D whistles. I love this whistle. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
- Martin Milner
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Cranny, my young ray of sunshine, what made you ask for an E? A whim, the need for a different key, or just a moment of Cranniness?Cranberry wrote:I just got an Elfsong wide bore E, and I have to say...I love it.
It's not what I'd term 'quiet', but it is very mellow and agreeable, even to be a high E, and the upper notes don't pierce my ears AT ALL, and don't have that sheer blow you away-volume, the way they do on all of my D whistles. I love this whistle. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that schwing
- Bloomfield
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- Martin Milner
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Ys. No, not rally, it's just an odd ky. Not on that's offrd all that oftn.Cranberry wrote:It was a gift from another very kind and generous and lovely board member, believe it or not. And one of the best gifts ever!Cranny, my young ray of sunshine, what made you ask for an E? A whim, the need for a different key, or just a moment of Cranniness?
Do you have something against Es, Martin?
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I'm prtty sur thr was an ntir book writtn lik that.Martin Milner wrote:Ys. No, not rally, it's just an odd ky. Not on that's offrd all that oftn.Cranberry wrote:It was a gift from another very kind and generous and lovely board member, believe it or not. And one of the best gifts ever!Cranny, my young ray of sunshine, what made you ask for an E? A whim, the need for a different key, or just a moment of Cranniness?
Do you have something against Es, Martin?
- michael_coleman
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