I told Bill he’d get his little review over my spring break when I could sit and play my beautiful new whistle without being bugged by the dorm-mates, but I decided that the rest of the idiots on my dorm hall can kiss my arse, I’m going to play anyhow.
disclaimer: I am a novice, this is my first experience with a hand-made whistle, so if you don’t think my review is legitimate because of that, well don’t read it. All flames will be used to roast my marshmallows.
Appearance/construction: Beautiful Polished copper w/brass fipple. If you don’t believe me, look at the “copper whistle” picture on Serpent’s website. That is my whistle in fact, the identical same one that is sitting in my lap right now. The first difference you notice between this whistle and cheapos is the weight. If I cared to, I could smack someone over the head with this thing relatively hard with no damage to the whistle and a good bit to their skull. I wouldn’t recommend throwing it out a window or running over it with your SUV (get a molybdenum steel one if you want to do that), but it’s not going to dent and ding every time you look at it funny. The engraving is obviously hand-done but it is quite attractive.
Playability. The air requirement is higher than what I am used to(I am used to playing an Oak D, okay kids???), but it isn’t unmanageable at all like some people seem to think about Serpie-Pie’s whistles. The air requirement for second octave G and up is actually less than some whistles, and has none of that earache-inducing shrillness that chases off all the dogs in the neighborhood (as well as me). The tone is quite pure, particularly in the upper octave, sort of simlilar to an Oak (minus the buzz that some people claim they have, though I have not experienced it) crossed with a good brass generation with a touch of the warmth of a sweetone. It’s medium-loud: you could perform in public with it with no problems, but you aren’t going to wake up the neighborhood either. I can’t say anything about the crossfingerings as I don’t use them (they confuse my poor fingers). You can half-hole a Cnat easily, at any rate.
My only major complaint is the rather strong bitter taste the brass fipple leaves on your lips, but I’m hoping that will fade with time.
I would not recommend this whistle to an absolute beginner. The breath control is a bit touchy and it takes a little getting used to, but for someone with either patience or experience, go for it…
Happy now, serpie-pie?
edited for crappy grammar
and for a couple last minute smarty-mouth comments
and for clarification
Serpie-pie seemed confused about my comment about air requirements. Let me put it this way: it takes a little more than in the 1st octave, but less in the 2nd octave than you’d expect. It’s not a bad tradeoff in my opinion, even if Bill’s skeptical coughparanoidcough…
Okay, I’m going to make this as clear as I possibly can.
Air requirements:
my Oak < my Generation F < my Serpent = my Meg < my Generation D < my crappy 2pc Clare D
brain explodesbreaks into tears
[ This Message was edited by: TelegramSam on 2003-01-22 16:33 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TelegramSam on 2003-01-22 20:28 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TelegramSam on 2003-01-22 20:58 ]
ps. Bill, for future reference, ditch the laquer. It scratches off too easily (seriously, I accidently scratched a bit off near one of the finer holes with my fingernail ___)…
Is the lacquer similar to the clear-coating Sandy Jasper uses on the Elfsongs? I haven’t found that to be terribly fragile. I’d think you’d want some type of coating on there…otherwise a copper whistle is likely to turn green fairly quickly!
depends on what you mean by “fairly”. I made a copper whistle over 18 months ago (don’t remember the exact date–but it WAS when chiffboard was on the old system), and haven’t polished it since, and it’s not green yet, though it is obviously tarnished.
On 2003-01-22 17:55, Wandering_Whistler wrote:
depends on what you mean by “fairly”. I made a copper whistle over 18 months ago (don’t remember the exact date–but it WAS when chiffboard was on the old system), and haven’t polished it since, and it’s not green yet, though it is obviously tarnished.
Greg’s right, copper isn’t going to turn green unless it’s exposed to moisture for a prolonged period.
It will tarnish fairly quickly, but only turn brown.
I’ve experimented with copper whistle designs for a couple of years now, and haven’t had a single one show any signs of green even though none were ever lacquered.
Thanks, Sam, for the very nice review! The lovely taste is the copper and brass together, and the best way to get rid of it is to clearcoat it, which evidently didn’t work well in your case. Ya got a good sense of taste! After testing and tuning, I clean the entire whistle head, first with soap and water, then a fine wood pick to remove any polish and soap residue or metal remains, then a scrub out with alcohol on a coarse pipe cleaner. That beak and airway ought to be pretty pristine by then, so the metal taste has to be that native to the materials, about like sucking on a penny. And since there is no lacquer inside the end of it, save some tiny bit of overspray, that’s probably where any remaining taste is coming from.
The lacquer is just that, pure clear lacquer from Rust-Oleum, put onto cleaned metal and dried under heat. I’m surprised that you got a flake that easily, but it sounds like I’m in good company, if the Elfsong clearcoat has similar problems. There is a “no lacquer” option on the ordering page (no charge).
Since I don’t lacquer the brass whistles as a matter of course, perhaps I should do the same with the copper, and set the button up to be a positive request. Hey, I’ve got materials that have sat for months in the shop with no sign of green oxidation, though they do tarnish to a pretty copper-brown patina, not unattractive in itself.
Anyhow, thanks again for taking the time to give me your impressions. I hope you get many happy years of play and enjoyment!
Best wishes,
Bill Whedon, Serpent Music
~*~ Serpie-Pie
The laquer isn’t that big of a problem. If it continues to flake too much, I can always take a solvent to it and get rid of it, but first I’m going to try to be more careful with it. I don’t mind a bit of tarnishing, actually.
As far as it turning green goes, don’t expect it any time too soon. The reason the statue of liberty, for example, turned so fast is because of the salt in the water and air, and as I’m no where near the ocean, it should be many years before I have a green whistle (which wouldn’t be a disaster–it is a serpent whistle after all )
oh, and the taste is already starting to fade a bit. I washed it with plain ole ivory soap and water and that seemed to take the edge off it anyhow…
[ This Message was edited by: TelegramSam on 2003-01-22 20:05 ]
The clearcoat on your whistle will come off easily with a dunk in lacquer thinner, followed by a wipe-down with a paper towel or two. You needn’t worry about harming it - the fipple is the only “part”, and it’s held in with silver-bearing solder that won’t be touched by the lacquer thinner. Just do wash it out with soapy water again before you stick it in your mouth. Lacquer thinner isn’t the most tasty stuff in the world! If you feel uncomfortable in any way about doing that, send it back and I’ll clean the clearcoat off for you, no charge.
Cheers,
serpent
Polyurethane Clear spray by Minwax works well with copper. Also, Parks brass protetor or Parks Shellac spray.
But the Polyurethane hardens with age, then you walk on the whistle if you want!
On 2003-01-22 21:49, Daniel_Bingamon wrote:
Polyurethane Clear spray by Minwax works well with copper. Also, Parks brass protetor or Parks Shellac spray.
But the Polyurethane hardens with age, then you walk on the whistle if you want!
Actually, I went to the lacquer for a couple reasons - first, because I had severe problems with flaking and chipping using the polyurethane products (after about a month of normal handling), and secondly, because way back when I was repairing band instruments, we used lacquer on all the brass with good results. The stuff we used was specifically formulated for musical instrument use, however, and I’ve not been able to locate such an animal of late. I’m no longer coating unless someone really, really wants it.
So, tell me what’cha want, what ya really, really want!
serp
~*~ Serpie-Pie
On 2003-01-24 22:17, TelegramSam wrote:
you’ll all be happy to know that the funky taste is fading fast, I’m quite sure it will be gone completely within a week. >
I think as the metal oxidizes a bit, the taste will lessen. I don’t think it’ll ever totally disappear - neither brass nor copper ever completely lose their scent unless totally coated - but I’d think that the surface volatiles that cause the smell and flavour do diminish over time. You just might be more sensitive to it than others. Maybe next whistle you need to check out should be sterling silver, or PVC, or even wood.
Again, thanks for doing such a nice review!
serpent
