And for some reason I was afraid this would be a dull serious thread... gee - thanks guys!

:-)

Metal whistles just seem to condense more moisture - since Mr Anonymous most likely isn't an experienced whistle player - or he would have identified himself - there in no real evidence that he knows what he is talking about. The whistle is not necessarily at room temperature: depends on where you store it, how you carry it, and the relative weather/temperature of the air outside the room (which is where it was before) you are trying to play in.

Plastic instruments seem better if when they start off, they are about as warm as the instrument gets after playing for a while. If they have been in a cool area for some time and then you bring them into a warm area, they will act up too, and they seem to take longer to settle, because the rate of heat transmission through the material is lower.

I have a couple of all metal instruments that need to be prewarmed (especially around the fipple area) under a hot water tap in winter, or they will take about half an hour to play easily: they choke up, sputter, and generally throw a tantrum unless I do that. Sometimes I want the tone they produce, and if I am swapping whistles in mid bracket, those have to be held with the mouthpiece under the armpit or they will cool down and start to act up again.

"I also noticed that if I play for a longer time, the effect gets less and less"

Yup!

The detergent trick ameliorates the 'muffling' effect of large accumulations of moisture, which can severely affect the tone and sound production capabilities of the whistle.

You don't HAVE to hold the whistle out in front of you - and a surreptitious flick (while holding on tightly to the instrument!) can clear the moisture, depositing it with a surprising degree of accuracy wherever desired. Of course, if you lose your grip, you could probably take up a secondary career as a 'reasonably accurate knife thrower'... now let's see who knows the song :-)

And for Jeanie, yes, whistle players can drool into the mouthpiece... :-)

Robin


Robin