KJ Gordon on fri 25 feb 11
hello musical clay folks,
I have a class of 11 mostly 7 year olds next week and we are to make
whistles. I have made many many whistles in my time and so I thought to get
out the books and the clay and practice so I can be sure of my whistle
skills. With 11 7 year olds "crying" but mine does not work I will have to
work fast and well. BUT when I got out my equipment and all the books I
could only make about 3 whistles work and then the next ones I tried would
not sing. I mean I worked for an hour, reading the books going back and
trying again and again. Looking up directions on the internet and trying
again. My ability to make a whistle has gone silent. Does anyone out there
have some suggestions on how to get my tune back working before next
thursday? Perhaps the video from Moniot's whistle book? Thanks so much for
your help.
Kathleen
William & Susan Schran User on fri 25 feb 11
On 2/25/11 2:41 PM, "KJ Gordon" wrote:
> BUT when I got out my equipment and all the books I
> could only make about 3 whistles work and then the next ones I tried woul=
d
> not sing. I mean I worked for an hour, reading the books going back and
> trying again and again. Looking up directions on the internet and trying
> again. My ability to make a whistle has gone silent. Does anyone out ther=
e
> have some suggestions on how to get my tune back working before next
> thursday?
Kathleen,
There are several instructional online sites for making whistles that will
provide good tips for making whistles that work. I also had this issue of
not being able to make whistles that work until I discovered the secret tha=
t
worked for me - allowing the clay to stiffen quite a bit before cutting.
Trying to cut the clay while soft will not edges to be sharp which is
important to make it work.
Here are several instructional sites:
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/Files/whistle.htm
http://www.parakeets4peace.com/whistles/
http://www.claystation.com/technical/techniques/instruments.html - several
at this site
http://www.tashamck.com/Tashas_Art_Projects/Clay_Whistles_files/Fish_Whistl=
e
_Lesson_Easy_Download.pdf
Bill
--
William "Bill" Schran
wschran@cox.net
wschran@nvcc.edu
http://www.creativecreekartisans.com
RFSanterre on sat 26 feb 11
Hi Kathleen,
The trick to getting clay whistles to "whistle" is basically 2-fold.
The flow of air coming through the blowing tube needs to be straight and
generally unperturbed, ie., the blowing hole needs to be straight and
clean ... free of clay particles that can cause turbulence in the air
flow. My favorite tool for this is a wooden popsicle stick. That air
stream then needs to be directed such that it is essentially split by
the sharp, smooth, straight (at a right angle to the air stream) beveled
edge of the deflector ... that's what causes the sound, the deflector
splits the air stream and causes it to vibrate inside the hollow body of
the whistle. You have to "play" with the bevel/angle/slope of the
deflector and the direction of the air column to get the air column
hitting the deflector just right (and the cleaner these surfaces are the
better the whistle tone, hence Bill S. is correct when he says it works
better for him to wait for the clay to set up a bit ... easier to get a
clean sharp bevel). But it's not absolutely necessary to have the clay
really stiff. You just need to be a bit more careful with softer clay.
If you have the opportunity, it helps to inspect some of the cheap
little whistles sold at Walmart or some similar store with noise makers
for kids. These are very simple instruments and you can see exactly
what the relationship is between the air stream and the deflector. With
the little tin whistles you can "play" with the deflector a bit to see
what happens when it's altered.
The shape of the clay whistle body is totally immaterial (within
reasonable limits). Every whistle can be made to "whistle" by making
fine adjustments to the two parameters I've discussed above.
Generally, when working with small kids (6 and 7 yrs) I have them make
the body (a small pinch pot), then I help to get the blowing hole right,
I insert the popsicle stick and do the clean-up and I adjust the bevel
and get it whistling. Then they get it back and start adding stuff to
make faces, ears, whatever, etc. which they go at with much enthusiasm
making it their own.
To add finger holes to the whistle body I like to use steel drill bits
(usually 1/8" to 1/4"). Gives a nice clean hole of consistent size.
With practice you can "tune" the whistle to give a usable scale with
four holes.
Hope this helps. It's tough to describe with words only.
Bob
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of KJ Gordon
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 2:41 PM
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: whistles
hello musical clay folks,
I have a class of 11 mostly 7 year olds next week and we are to make
whistles. I have made many many whistles in my time and so I thought to
get
out the books and the clay and practice so I can be sure of my whistle
skills. With 11 7 year olds "crying" but mine does not work I will have
to
work fast and well. BUT when I got out my equipment and all the books I
could only make about 3 whistles work and then the next ones I tried
would
not sing. I mean I worked for an hour, reading the books going back and
trying again and again. Looking up directions on the internet and trying
again. My ability to make a whistle has gone silent. Does anyone out
there
have some suggestions on how to get my tune back working before next
thursday? Perhaps the video from Moniot's whistle book? Thanks so much
for
your help.
Kathleen
Bill Jones on mon 28 feb 11
Kathleen
In the Education section of Ceramic Arts Daily, you'll find complete detail=
s
for creating a whistle excerpted from Barry Hall's book "From Mud to Music.=
"
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/education/making-sounds-with-clay/
You'll also find the site filled with free downloads that are added monthly
specifically posted for educators at all grade levels.
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/education/
Barry Hall's book contains the most thorough information on ceramics and
music. It covers all the musical instrument types, clay instruments from
throughout history and many cultures, current ceramic musical instrument
makers and 5 how-to projects for creating whistles, flutes, drums etc. It
even includes a CD with 43 tracks of music played on ceramic instruments.
http://ceramicartsdaily.org/bookstore/best-sellers/from-mud-to-music/
Hope this helps
Bill Jones
Editor, Pottery Making Illustrated
Art Books Program Manager
hello musical clay folks,
I have a class of 11 mostly 7 year olds next week and we are to make
whistles. I have made many many whistles in my time and so I thought to
get
out the books and the clay and practice so I can be sure of my whistle
skills. With 11 7 year olds "crying" but mine does not work I will have
to
work fast and well. BUT when I got out my equipment and all the books I
could only make about 3 whistles work and then the next ones I tried
would
not sing. I mean I worked for an hour, reading the books going back and
trying again and again. Looking up directions on the internet and trying
again. My ability to make a whistle has gone silent. Does anyone out
there
have some suggestions on how to get my tune back working before next
thursday? Perhaps the video from Moniot's whistle book? Thanks so much
for
your help.
Kathleen
Kathleen Gordon on mon 28 feb 11
> I am so grateful to all who have taken the time to write and suggest =3D
help for my whistle making class. I really do appreciate it. I am sure =3D
that either during the class or afterwards I will make sure every =3D
whistle works. It may take some time, but with all the information I =3D
have gathered I have a much better understanding of how and why whistles =
=3D
work at all. I am glad to be back in the whistle making frame of mind. I =
=3D
am looking forward to udu drums,our last project. I played selected =3D
parts of Barry Hall's cd from his book Mud to Music last week. They =3D
loved the sounds of the udu and are looking forward to making some noise =
=3D
with them!
Thank you all so much for your wonderful suggestions and explanations!
> =3D20
>=3D20
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