{"id":155,"date":"2019-11-28T11:35:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T17:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/?p=155"},"modified":"2019-12-03T11:49:12","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T17:49:12","slug":"ways-to-make-your-tin-whistle-quieter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/ways-to-make-your-tin-whistle-quieter\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Ways to Make Your Tin Whistle Quieter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The tin whistle is a beautiful instrument, but perhaps you don’t want it to be quite so prominent in the song, or, maybe you are trying not to drive your roommates crazy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Believe it or not, it is possible to make the tin whistle play quieter! I’ve experimented and found 15 ways to make this possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a side note, a recorder could use these methods with the same results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The easiest and most effective way to change the volume is to cover the mouthpiece hole(not the one you blow into, but where the whistle sound comes from). From now on, I’ll call this hole the ramp.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I did some measurements and found the volume differences between covering vs. not covering the ramp<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did testing with 1\/8 and 7\/8 covering the ramp, but I found that the results were very similar to the 1\/4 and 3\/4 measurements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, partially covering the ramp is very effective at quieting the tin whistle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One disadvantage to any method that obstructs the ramp <\/strong>is that it will slightly change the way you have to play the whistle. This could lead to bad habits over time–so use caution in trying these methods on a permanent basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A popular brand of mounting putty is called “Blu-Tack”. Scotch sells a version simply called Mounting Putty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mounting putty is used for mounting lightweight objects to the wall and is useful when you don’t want to or simply can’t drive a nail into the wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mounting putty is also malleable and doesn’t leave behind a residue making it a great option as a tin whistle cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experimenting with my D Clarke whistle, I put a small piece of tape obscuring the mouthpiece hole, and found that tape is an effective way to quiet the tin whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are dozens of types of tapes. With only a little experimenting just a little, I’ve already determined that you want a tape that isn’t very sticky. That rules out duct or scotch tapes. If you have it, use a paper tape, such as masking tape or painter’s tape. <\/strong>Your local pharmacy also sells a paper tape that doesn’t leave very much residue that would also work well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tape is easy to use and easy to find, making it a simple and easy choice for quieting your whistle. <\/p>\n\n\n\nPortion of Mouthpiece Ramp Covered<\/td> Percentage of Full Sound<\/td><\/tr> 3\/4<\/td> 18%<\/td><\/tr> 1\/2<\/td> 50%<\/td><\/tr> 1\/4<\/td> 60%<\/td><\/tr> Open<\/td> 100%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n 1. Mounting Putty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How To Use Mounting Putty for the Tin Whistle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Disadvantages to Mounting Putty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Tape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How To Use Tape for the Tin Whistle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n