I’d forgotten I ordered it (!) so the postman gave me a pleasant surprise!
A beautifully made whistle and lovely to look at. The fipple design is identical to the Grinter design (though using brass and delrin, not wood), it’s a heavy fipple (I like that) and a wonderful snug fit with the body. It’s exactly in tune right up all 3 octaves (great work John).
The sound is medium and chiffy, requiring reasonable breath pressure. Unfortunately that’s the sort of sound I’m not so keen on as I like a pure responsive tone - so after much soul-searching I’ve decided to return it to John. If anyone fancies a world class Sindt Bb, John will have one for immediate sale.
So - can anyone recommend a metal Bb that has very little chiff and has a pure responsive tone?
For pure tone, my fave high end whistle is a Burke, although I don’t have the Bb. If his Bb is anything like the brass D I have, that’s what you’re looking for.
[ This Message was edited by: blackhawk on 2002-09-05 10:32 ]
I played a Burke AlPro Bb a while back. I think that’s what you are looking for. Beautiful whistle. Matter of fact, I have to drop my order in the mail today for the brass version.
You said it has a three octave range. Are you sure it plays that high? You’re talking four Bb’s. Most whistles will do two and a half octaves. If it’s true, then I would like to know the fingering for the last four notes.
Thanks,
JP
[ This Message was edited by: JohnPalmer on 2002-09-06 02:11 ]
By 3 octaves I mean I get 3 x Bb, 3 x A, etc. Just blow really hard and you get there - you never use it, but it’s a good test for a new high end whistle, they should all hit octave 3 in tune if they’re well made. This Sindt and my Rose D are spot on through all 3 octaves.
( second try posting a reply-- any ideas why it sometimes does not work?)
Have you check with John Sindt about that chiffiness? I have a Sindt C, and it’s a VERY clean sounding whistle. Maybe it just needs a little maker’s tweak
Sindts, like most whistles, respond to your embouchure, tongue position, shape of your mouth, amount of air put into them, etc. You should be able to play that whistle with or without the chiff. My guess is that the chiff might be the result of a loose embouchure and too much air.
My two cents worth…
Chris
Loren,
Chiff, ya know, that nice sugary peanut butter that goes so nicely with marshmellow fluff. I really like whistles with a lot of it… just take off the mouthpiece and push a bit of it into the cavity behind the fipple. If you have trouble getting it to stay in there then mix it with a little marshmellow fluff and put it in the oven on low for a couple minutes. The two should congeal and create a permenant bond with the whistle. My McHaffie whistles used to sound like crap, but now that I put a little Chiff in them they sound great… they also have a really plesent aroma.
Best,
Chris
…I also largely disagree with Chris: An O’Riordan is an O’Riordan is an O’Riordan. A better player will most certainly sound better playing one than a lousy player, however no amount of oral gymnastics will make an O’Riordan sound like Shaw.
Ditto with a breathy, chiffy, or whatever you want to call it Sindt. Sure you can affect some minor tonal changes, but without seriously over or underdriving the thing to the point of lousy intonation, it’s always going to sound like a Sindt.
Loren is actually quite right here, a Sindt is a Sindt, an Overton is an Overton, etc… whistles sound very different from one another no matter how you play them.
Still, I can play my Overton to sound a lot of different ways… it’ll always still sound like an Overton, but it might sound like a chiffy Overton, a purer Overton, a really full-bodied Overton, etc… depending on how I play it.
My comments were based on my experience with John Sindts whistles. I have a complete set, including the Bb and I find that they, even more than most other whistles, can be played extremely purely or with a lot of chiff. I really don’t disagree with Loren (though I’d like to, just to piss him off)about whistles being different from one another, I’m just saying that a large tonal range is possible in almost every whistle, and even more so on the really good whistles.
Chris
Loren wrote:
I’m starting to wonder if everyone here means the same thing when they say "Chiff’…
Loren… you might be on to something. Different levels of ‘chiffability’ need to be recorded on a sound file for comparison. This way, everyone can listen to the same set of standards.
There will be variances on equipment in both playback and recording but it will be easier to explain with examples.
Well then we really do agree, certainly there is a range of what you can do with each whistle, and obviously a pretty hard ceiling on what you can’t change in terms of tone and dynamics.
Some whistles are more flexible, others not so.
Certainly Mr. Sindt makes fabulous whistles, (now if he’d only offer tubes a good cross fingered friggin’ Cnat..), no arguments there. Guess they just aren’t Nick’s bag.