Care
Your whistle should be cleaned regularly. The windway is especially important in this respect, as a dirty windway can easily affect tone and playability. A small piece of paper folded a few times, or some thin cardboard cut into a narrow strip and slipped in and out of the windway works well. Never use anything metallic as you could damage the windway or the blade irreparably. The bore can be cleaned by first separating the head from the body and using a thin wooden dowel to push, or a string to pull, a small piece of cloth soaked in any good brass cleaner, back and forth through the bore. Make sure to thoroughly wash the residue out and dry with a clean piece of cloth. The exterior of the whistle can be cleaned with brass cleaner as well. Just be sure and keep it out of the windway and tuning slide and wash it out if it gets in either. The satin exterior finish can be reconditioned *occasionally* with white or green ScotchBrite® pads by rotating the whistle wrapped inside one . Be sure not to touch any interior area of the tuning slide. The entire whistle can be washed in hot water provided it is not too hot to put your hands in. If this is done however, you will need to separate the tuning slide to dry it and re-lubricate.
The tuning slide should be checked often to make sure it moves freely. Should it need lubrication, please use only Vaseline®, Chapstick® or white grease. The tuning slide may be gently cleaned with commercial brass cleaner if necessary, but make sure to wash off all residue. Make sure both halves are absolutely clean and dry, then apply lubricant sparingly and mostly to the body half of the slide or a ridge of lubricant may be created inside the bore which may affect tone and playability.
Playing
These whistles are tuned to equal temperament with A=440. There is a "dimple" on the back of the body at the tuning slide to facilitate finding this easily. Simply lining the dimple up with the notch on the back of the head, will bring you very close once the instrument is warmed up. Warm up the whistle in your hands immediately before playing if possible. One hand on the head with the windway facing the palm, and the other hand on the body, works best. It is surprising how much of a difference 20 - 30 seconds of pre-warming makes. A cold whistle may play flat, out of tune with itself, and respond sluggishly not to mention be more prone to clogging with condensation.
As with other wind instruments, the whistle requires proper breath control to play in tune through the first and second octaves. Familiarity with a particular instrument is necessary as every design has different playing characteristics.
Your whistle should be cleaned regularly. The windway is especially important in this respect, as a dirty windway can easily affect tone and playability. A small piece of paper folded a few times, or some thin cardboard cut into a narrow strip and slipped in and out of the windway works well. Never use anything metallic as you could damage the windway or the blade irreparably. The bore can be cleaned by first separating the head from the body and using a thin wooden dowel to push, or a string to pull, a small piece of cloth soaked in any good brass cleaner, back and forth through the bore. Make sure to thoroughly wash the residue out and dry with a clean piece of cloth. The exterior of the whistle can be cleaned with brass cleaner as well. Just be sure and keep it out of the windway and tuning slide and wash it out if it gets in either. The satin exterior finish can be reconditioned *occasionally* with white or green ScotchBrite® pads by rotating the whistle wrapped inside one . Be sure not to touch any interior area of the tuning slide. The entire whistle can be washed in hot water provided it is not too hot to put your hands in. If this is done however, you will need to separate the tuning slide to dry it and re-lubricate.
The tuning slide should be checked often to make sure it moves freely. Should it need lubrication, please use only Vaseline®, Chapstick® or white grease. The tuning slide may be gently cleaned with commercial brass cleaner if necessary, but make sure to wash off all residue. Make sure both halves are absolutely clean and dry, then apply lubricant sparingly and mostly to the body half of the slide or a ridge of lubricant may be created inside the bore which may affect tone and playability.
Playing
These whistles are tuned to equal temperament with A=440. There is a "dimple" on the back of the body at the tuning slide to facilitate finding this easily. Simply lining the dimple up with the notch on the back of the head, will bring you very close once the instrument is warmed up. Warm up the whistle in your hands immediately before playing if possible. One hand on the head with the windway facing the palm, and the other hand on the body, works best. It is surprising how much of a difference 20 - 30 seconds of pre-warming makes. A cold whistle may play flat, out of tune with itself, and respond sluggishly not to mention be more prone to clogging with condensation.
As with other wind instruments, the whistle requires proper breath control to play in tune through the first and second octaves. Familiarity with a particular instrument is necessary as every design has different playing characteristics.
Hudson Winds
Handcrafted brass tinwhistles
Handcrafted brass tinwhistles
