The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #6089   Message #35270
Posted By: Dan Mulligan
18-Aug-98 - 05:57 PM
Thread Name: Tinwhistle Preferences
Subject: RE: Tinwhistle Preferences
Some of you have mentioned that you don't like your Clarke original style whistles because they are excessively breathy or "sound like a whisper." It occured to me that I automatically adjust my Clarkes as soon as I get them.

ALL Clarkes when they come out of the box need to have the tone lip straightened out. When they are manufactured the lip is just pushed down in a "v" shape. You need to straighten it out by prying up on the center of the lip with a small jewelers screwdriver and push the sides down until the lip is as straight as possible and just slightly higher than the top of the fipple.

when this adjustment is made properly the sound of the whistle is dramatically improved, and much louder. In fact I rather like using them for tunes that are played. primarily in the lower octave, especially slower and lower tunes like "Clay of cill creagain," or "Bonny Portmore." Dan Mulligan