Burke Tuning Slide Question

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:18 pm

I still say you should look for spiders.

keithsandra · Post by **keithsandra** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:50 pm

I'm confused.

My Burke DCS 09/2007 came with printed instructions that say Do Not twist or pull on Head!" It illustrates where to grasp the tube (on the bulging slide housing and on the tune holes) and "twist gently, then push in or out to move tuning slide." It also shows an arrow pointing at the lower end of the bulging slide housing with a caption that says, "Movement is at this joint".

Further down it give "Important Notes Regarding Your O'ring tuning slide ..." This seems to identify the bulging slide housing as where the tuning slide is. Doesn't it?

I've been greasing this brass slide as per instructions ever since I got it, too. Now Michael seems to be saying to leave it alone.

Did I get out of date printed instructions?

I've very tentatively checked twisting and pulling the whistle head as per what Michael now appears to be telling us. This moves and definitely tunes, quite emphatically in fact. But I've put it back where it was and would appreciate clarification before I do anything that might harm my preshusssssssssss ...

Help ...

'Best

Keith.

pancelticpiper · Post by **pancelticpiper** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:08 am

My Burkes in high D and C, and mid A, G, and F seem to be fixed (not moveable) where the barrel joint meets the body (part with the fingerholes). The only adjustable place is at the top of the barrel joint, where the barrel meets the headjoint.

My Burke low D is different, as the body is removable from the barrel.
The O-rings at the body-to-barrel joining have a stiffer fit than the O-rings at the head-to-barrel joining, so that the headjoint can be smoothly moved up and down to tune without disturbing the body fit.

keithsandra · Post by **keithsandra** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:32 pm

[quote="pancelticpiper"]My Burkes in high D and C, and mid A, G, and F seem to be fixed (not moveable) where the barrel joint meets the body (part with the fingerholes). The only adjustable place is at the top of the barrel joint, where the barrel meets the headjoint.

Presumably yours are older models? Mine's an 09/2007.

A friend of mine got a similar Burke to mine this week. He reports this morning that unlike mine, his whistle head wont move at all. Mine turns and moves out. Also, like mine, and unlike yours, the brass slide on his is below the barrel.

Hopefully Mike will clarify what he means about how to tune a High D Burke.

Thanks for your information Pancelticpiper.

K

Thomaston · Post by **Thomaston** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:41 pm

Well, I'm confused. My Burke DAN is dated 9/07 and the barrel and body are also fixed.

keithsandra · Post by **keithsandra** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:28 pm

http://Burke whistle instructions for DCS 090008

Sorry. I was trying to send a picture of the printed instructions that came with my Burke. Couldn't do it.

K

MTGuru · Post by **MTGuru** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:39 pm

Do it like this, Keith:

Code: Select all

[img]http://somethingsomething/imagefile.jpg[/img]

I'd love to see the instruction sheet.

keithsandra · Post by **keithsandra** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:16 pm

MTGuru wrote:Do it like this, Keith:
Code: Select all
[img]http://somethingsomething/imagefile.jpg[/img]
I'd love to see the instruction sheet.

Thanks MT.

I thought I'd done just wat you indicate! Obviously I'm still doing something wrong. So what I'll do, hoping you don't mind, is send it to you by email. Perhaps you could post it here?

Stand by.

Keith.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:30 pm

Make sure that if you manually type in the img tags, that you don't use the img button in the posting options or you'll double up on them.

Michael Burke · Post by **Michael Burke** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:28 pm

Hi,
Just a quick post here to explain a couple of things. Glad the customer found out that his whistle was ok and his ear needed a tuneup. This is not uncommon and it is nothing to be ashamed of, but one of the things that I have learned is that most everyone of us learns a particular version of what is "in tune". Our ears can be trained to be in "tune" with the standard A440 equally tempered world, or something near that, or they can be "tuned" to like certain notes to be flat or sharp in a particular music scale.
Once we imprint on this scale, it is alien to us to hear the "correct" scale. I put in the quotes wittingly, because it is very arbitrary, but as a maker, I have to make a choice and the tuners rule the world I live in, so my whistles will serve them. I personally like just intonation because it allows drones to be played within a scale and the harmonies are magic. like in a nice set of Uilleann pipes, but most people want what the tuner say is right and that is our most common standard. But back to my tuning slides, the real reason I post tonight:
the Composite D whistles and many of the smaller and mid sized composites will have bottom slides. Never twist on the head of these whistles, because the sliding joint is below the slide unit.
On all metal whistles made in the last 5 years and some going back to 2000, the slide joint is a top slide and therefore you have to grasp the head to move the slide, but the bond to the metal heads is very strong and seldom ever comes loose, so don't worry about it.
Thirdly, about the beginning of 2007, I started lining all my slides with Delrin to make them smoother and less likely to stick, but then, I also started making the joint at the bottom of the slide to be a breakdown joint instead of being bonded like they have been for 7+ years. Many of my smaller whistles still have a bonded lower joint that cannot be taken apart, but gradually, I am replacing them with breakdown joints where it can be done. Now my Brass Session Ds and D aluminum session whistles have breakdown joints and therefore get a different set of instructions than the customers that get the other kind. I have three kinds of instructions, then for each kind of slide design. If you read the instructions you got with the whistle or write me, you will be fine and do the right thing. Human nature is not to read instructions or ask directions, though and confusion often reigns until they write me or I post an answer like this.
Bottom line is you are all right about *your* particular whistle. Do not change what you know about it, because it is what I put in your instructions for that model. If you are confused, then write me and I will send you a new instruction sheet. Pan Celtic is right, the Viper and most of my metal low whistles have had the breakdown joint for a long time. It makes repairs cheaper and you can make them really short to put in your pocket if you wish too, at least the Ds, not the Viper

Hope this helps and if the fellow that thought his whistle was out of tune still thinks so, send it to me
All the best
Mike
PS: Going to see Joanie and the other Ladies tomorrow night in St. Louis.
If you live close, don't miss them!MB

keithsandra · Post by **keithsandra** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:21 pm

Thanks Mike! So my DCS 9/07 whistle head should not be moved, as per the printed instruction I got with it.

Pity, because I did twist and pull the whistle head as I thought I was being told I could do. Tnen I put it back in a hurry when I heard the shrieks on doing a test blow. The whistle now seems louder, more responsive. I hope this isn't because I felt rather than heard a dull crack when putting the head back? Did I break a baffle, or what? Still, it seems OK. It's still in tune and the tone is great, perhaps even better than ever.

Now on the matter of Mike's mention of tone, he implies there's some non subjective way of assessing this. Am I reading you right Mike? Can you share that thought. Or can I be directed to a reference I can read for myself? I'm interested because I'm compiling a list of factors for myself in assessing whistles. Tone is a crucial factor of course. Its so subjective though. I thought nothing could be pinned down about it other than making a comparison with other whistles. Can assessment of tone be made more objective?

Thanks for your continued and freely offered help, Mike - much appreciated.

Keith.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:34 pm

Hi Mira,
It's funny, I figured out a few years ago that I had mis-trained my ear by using cheap whistles. Beginners do themselves a disservice by using these toys. The only one that comes close IMHO is the Feadog.
Tom.