The Syn whistle has been in my hands now for about two weeks, and a very interesting couple of weeks it has been. My initial reaction was one of surprise. I had read a few comments from others who received their whistles earlier, and my first impressions differed from theirs in several respects.
First of all, I should say that like another recipient, I was dismayed by the way the whistle was packed. The tube was open at both ends, save for a thin piece of tape that didn’t even completely cover the openings. I don’t know whether someone inspecting packages from overseas did this while the whistle was in transit, or if Mr. Syn shipped it that way. In either case, it’s practically a miracle that the whistle didn’t fall out of the package. On the plus side, I didn’t need to fish out a pen knife or go home for a scissor to get the whistle out and start playing it. I did that right down by the mailboxes. (I live in a Rural Delivery area, and pick my mail up at the community mailboxes at the end of my street).
So as I walked back up to the house with the mail tucked under my arm, I gave the Syn its first try. Loud was my first thought. The sound really carries. Carries like a fife, I thought (and I’m a fifer). I play outside quite a bit, often taking a whistle out of my pocket when I walk my dog late at night. The neighbors sleep right through it (I take a Dixon or a Clarke). I won’t be trying that with the Syn. Someone described this whistle as quiet, but at that point in time, I had to disagree.
Coming in the house, I put the whistle aside and sat down to open the rest of the mail. I noticed that I was leaving black fingerprints all over the place. I had just come from the shower when I went out for the mail (well, I got dressed first) so I couldn’t figure out where the black gunk on my fingertips came from, until I looked more closely at the whistle. Black gunk, kind of greasy, was in the nooks and crannies of the whistle. Nothing that a little WindexTM and a rag couldn’t take care of (who saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding?), but gunky nonetheless.
The appearance of the whistle has already been discussed, and mine was along the lines of the others described, with superficial scratches (and some more than that) on the surface of the whistle, oddly out-of-round toneholes and a burr at the foot opening. There’s a little brass pin that holds the layers of the mouthpiece together, as there is on many whistles, but on this whistle the head of the pin is not quite seated flush with the mouthpiece. I can slide my fingernail under mine. Then there is the tuning slide. The whistle body is aluminum, and the slide is brass. It makes for a nice bit of contrasting colored metal when the slide is open a bit. The end of my slide, though, is rough looking. It looks like the brass has been hammered in just a bit at the end, possibly to ease the fit into the foot joint when the two pieces are put together. None of this was too distressing, but I think it bears mention.
Speaking of the slide, there is a distinct wobble to mine. Even when it is pushed all the way closed, it wobbles just a bit. As it is opened up, the wobble gets progressively worse. Open more than 3/8”, the whistle can’t really be played because of the instability. That’s too bad, because the slide is a full 3/4” long, and if all of it was usable, the whistle could be adjusted by nearly a semitone.
The mouthpiece of the whistle seems to be Sindt derived, though it does also have a certain similarity to the Grinter mouthpiece. (And NO, Michael Grinter is NOT Mr. Syn) It is essentially an aluminum sandwich, with delrin as the bread. The whole thing is a little thicker and wider than the Sindt mouthpiece, and is also a little more rounded out around the edges. It is not quite as precisely machined and shaped as the Sindt. As far as finish of the mouthpiece, the rough edges are smoothed out, but the shape isn’t exactly regular and there are some scratches in the delrin. It is still very comfortable in the mouth, though.
My original thought on the volume of the whistle has changed upon more careful evaluation. I played it both in the car and in the bathroom, and didn’t find it much louder than a Dixon. I think it is the purity of tone that this whistle possesses that initially made me think it was so loud. It is not a quiet whistle, and the volume is somewhat unbalanced between octaves, with the second octave louder than the first, but it is really not exceptionally loud. It’s above average in volume, but not in Susato territory. As far as this balance goes, it is fairly good from low G to high G. The bottom three notes are somewhat quieter, and the top two louder. The high B is even louder than the high A. I certainly don’t think the Syn would be overpowering in a session, but it certainly would help make you better able to hear yourself.
Tuning is very good. With the slide pulled out about 5/32” it is excellent from the bottom D all the way up to high A. High B is a little off. The cross-fingered C natural using oxxooo is dead on, and pretty strong, too. I have a feeling that the oddly shaped toneholes are that way because Mr. Syn fine-tuned the whistle by filing the tone holes. The tuning is that good.
Playability is unbalanced between octaves, in terms of airstream support required. It takes a moderate blow in the first octave, but the second octave has nearly as much backpressure as an Overton. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but those who don’t like a stiff blowing whistle might be unhappy with this one. Octave jumps require a bit of a push, which I think is a good thing. Don’t confuse airstream support required with amount of air required. I didn’t think the air requirements were high at all. Next to no air goes to waste. The Syn is a very responsive whistle, and can be played quite fast if octave jumps are well thought out. The fingers seem to fly over the toneholes.
As I mentioned earlier, this whistle has a very pure tone – pure both in the sense that there are next to no overtones and in that there is next to no breathiness. I could hear a tiny hiss of air while I played the whistle, but it could not be discerned on a recording made with my cheap Radio Shack portable cassette recorder. With chiff defined as the “ch” sound at the attack point of a note, the Syn has very little chiff. This purity is what initially made me think the whistle was so loud. The pure tone gives it a very focused, penetrating sound.
It’s so hard to describe sounds with words, but there really is no other choice, so I guess I’ll give it a go. The Syn has a very full, fat sound. It is a rich sound, but not a complex one. I would not describe its tone as sweet. Strident would be a more appropriate term. It definitely has a bite, and can be pushed into the area of shrill, if that’s what you’re looking for. It can also be made to sound reedy. It certainly is a unique sounding whistle.
I’ll admit that my personal preference is for a whistle with a less pure, more complex sound, and quite a bit more chiff. So on that front, the Syn didn’t really do much for me. Still, I’m planning to keep it handy for those occasions suited by a cleaner sound, or for those where the penetrating tone of the Syn is needed.
A comment I read on the board was that this is the best $30 whistle you can buy. I’m not convinced of that. I think that comment might have been made without recollection of the other whistles you can buy for $30. In D, there is at least the Dixon, the Larson Tweaked Clarke Original and the O’Briain Improved Feadog. I admit that I’m very partial to the Dixon. Still, the Syn is a very good $30 whistle. It holds its own in the price range, and definitely exceeds the cheapies in many respects. It is not a substitute for a Burke or a Sindt (let alone a Copeland or an Abell), though, and it is not a whistle for a beginner. I think the next step here will be to gather several whistles in this price range and have a comparative evaluation. Look for this in an upcoming message.
Most of the cosmetic issues I have with the Syn I could fix at home fairly easily. A good whack with a mallet would probably seat the fipple pin, and some steel wool and elbow grease would eliminate the scratches. Careful application of a reamer to the slide could stabilize the wobble, or the old teflon tape trick could be employed.
A couple of times I’ve bought unfinished furniture. With sandpaper and varnish, and the investment of my time, I’ve saved myself a bit of money and come up with some pieces that I’m rather proud of. I’m looking at this whistle in a similar fashion. If you have the time and inclination to take the last few steps yourself, you could potentially have quite a nice whistle for just a small layout. Once the comparison to other whistles in the price range is done, I’m going to begin experimenting with making home improvements to the Syn. I will certainly keep you all apprised.
Syn Whistle in D
Construction: Two-piece aluminum, with brass tuning slide and delrin fipple
Bore Configuration: Cylindrical
Bore diameter: 0.5”
Bore length: 10.5”
Ratio: 22 to 1 (mid-wide bore)
Maker: ???
