I just ordered a Sindt D yesterday…after a little digging around I discovered that I won’t be able to C nat the way I normally do. Now this kinda scares me…I’m sure I could retrain my fingers or just get off my lazy butt and practice half-holing, but I’m a little nervous about laying out the cash for something that might not work for me. On the other hand I keep reading how everyone loves their Sindts and how favorably they compare to Burkes and Copelands.
So can someone set my mind at ease or should I just hit ‘EJECT’?
I too find that C natural played oxx ooo is way sharp on a Sindt. Even forked fingering (oxx xox) plays a bit sharp. It is surprising to see that Brent plays the two finger C natural with no complaints. I have tried a few different Sindt Ds and they all have shown the same response on this note. The tone, however is brilliant. It think that at some point when I have the time I’ll try to make a new D body for it that better fits my fingering style.
David
P.S. Uh oh! I just posted some x’s and o’s! I wonder if that will get me in trouble with the “techno crap” police!
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2002-01-09 18:03 ]
I recently added myself to the Sindt waiting list (again). I had one a couple of years ago and sold it after deciding half-holing the Cnat wasn’t for me.
I decided to get another and see if I could fit the head/fipple on another body that plays the Cnat more in tune with oxxooo fingering.
Has anyone checked to see what bodies the Sindt head might fit on? It would be great if it would fit on an Oak body as they tend to be pretty in tune. Might not be very pretty to mix the brass and nickle though…
A few years ago, I spoke to John on the phone concerning his D whistle. I had heard nothing but praise for his instruments and his business practices. To this day, that last statement stands…On the phone, he brought up the ‘c natural’ situation. I appreciated his honesty. I finally made the decision not to purchase, as I simply was not interested in re-learning fingering, and having to think which instrument I was playing at a given time.
I went to Mike Burke. His whistles were a bit more expensive, but with his use of the delrin windway, I thought I would give it a try. I am glad I did. My Burkes are in use, daily, and I find I can depend on them, and on him, when needed.
It seems that when it comes to Sindt or Burke, you simply cannot go wrong.
Cheers
Byll
On 2002-01-09 17:33, MarkB wrote:
Well don’t be scared, you can play your C naturel just fine on any other D whistle, regardless of it’s cost.
Mark
Well now Mark,
That is just not true. There are a variety of whistles that will not play an in-tune Cnat with that fingering.
John Sindt makes it clear that he designed the whistle in such a way that it will not play an in tune cross fingered C natural. Do you have a Sindt D Mark? Mine certainly doesn’t play Cnat in tune unless I half hole, which is why I hardly play it.
Brent,
You may be playing a cross fingered Cnat on your Sindt, but I seriously doubt it’s in tune…have you checked it on a tuner?
P.S. Mark, after re-reading your post, I’m wondering if you meant he could buy any whistle other than a Sindt and be able to play that Cnat. It that’s what you meant…I still disagree!
Dave,
If it’s really important to you to be able to play cross fingered C natural notes, skip the Sindt - They are great whistles, but cross fingerers like you and me need not apply.
If it’s really important to you to be able to play cross fingered C natural notes, skip the Sindt - They are great whistles, but cross fingerers like you and me need not apply.
Too late, Loren. I have a D, C, and A
Oops! I see you were addressing Whistlin Dave on that one. Just call me “Mr. Observant” )
The first few years I played whistle I used the forked fingering for the C nat. Then was eventually introduced to the two finger C nat as well as some whistles that actually played it in tune. I have gotten quite used to it and don’t aim to change my ways any time soon. I don’t find it difficult to revert to forked fingering on slower tunes if need be but as far as halfholing the C nat I just ain’t gonna go there.
Cheers,
David
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2002-01-09 20:28 ]
On 2002-01-09 19:42, Loren wrote:
John Sindt makes it clear that he designed the whistle in such a way that it will not play an in tune cross fingered C natural.
The culprit is the second tone hole (the F# hole). On a Sindt it is considerably bigger than it is on a Generation. This, as far as I can see, has two effects:
The F# is closer to equal temperament on the Sindt than on the Generation, which is close to “just” tuning for the D major scale.
The forked C-natural is indeed too sharp.
I suggest that it be put to John that he consider, perhaps on request, drilling this hole smaller. In the meantime, owners could consider taping the bottom edge of the hole, or some more radical/permanent fix (any suggestions as to how this might be done?).
You would then get an in-tune C-nat (requiring {apologies to Bob} [|oxx-xox] à la Generation), and a slightly flatter F# (no bad thing, in my estimation). I don’t know whether there would be other side-effects. I guess I should try it and see.
Thanks for the comments all. For now, I’m going to ask John to cancel my order…I’ll find another whistle to go with for the time being and practice half-holing. If I get comfy with that technique, I’ll put in an order for a Sindt at that time.
To everybody,
You know…The thought had never crossed my mind that the C natural wouldn’t be in tune…As I stated before I play it oxx|ooo I will have check it with a tuner now…Oh well, I like the Sindt anyways and you’ll have to wrench it from my cold, dead, red, blue, white, orange, green, rat-bitten hands to get it!!
I believe John Sindt says in
his interview with the Undisputed
that if one is going to cross finger
his whistle, play oxxooo and
underblow. Well when you do
that, either it sounds alright
to you or it doesn’t. Playing
fast it hardly matters, slower
it’s a bit off–to my ear.
The C is better crossfingered,as
mentioned earlier in this thread,
and the A and Bb are better still.
I suppose one might count the
possibility in buying a D
that one won’t like the C
nat cross fingered,
as a fair number of people don’t.
I played it cross fingered
for a long while while I learned
to half hole. The D Sindt
is certainly a very good whistle.
One can underblow and get almost to Cnat but then you’ve got a really weak/low volume note that sounds out of place with the rest of what you’re playing or, because the Sindt is so quiet anyway, that note can’t be heard at all if you’re playing with others. Who wants to do that when you can buy a Burke, an Overton, an Abell, or a Thin/Water Weasel and crack a deadly accurate cross fingered C nat everytime?
I’m not saying one shouldn’t buy a Sindt, I’ve got a full set and I love them, I’m just saying for the person who wants to cross finger, no sense messing with the Sindt.
Half holing is certainly the way to go with the D. You can scrape by cross fingering on the C Sindt whistle and the A/Bb are not a real problem. I still don’t get why John does that…
The culprit is the second tone hole (the F# hole).
How lovely that somebody has done some homework on this. Thanks Brother Steve!!! I had tried taping the bottom half of the top hole. This brings it close to pitch with the two finger method, but the tone is softened quite a bit. Your method is much better. Thanks a bunch for your techno crap…er…um…great idea.
All the best,
David
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2002-01-09 23:57 ]
Uh oh! I just posted some x’s and o’s! I wonder if that will get me in trouble with the “techno crap” police! 
