For whatever reason, the pictures outside show the whistle a little lighter brown than it is in person, but they show the wood grain nicely. The picture inside (on the magazine) gives a better idea of the color.
These have been resized so they display a little better. If anyone needs the full-resolution JPGs, just let me know.
Mr. Syn or whoever, feel free to copy the pictures to your own server. I can’t guarantee they will be hosted in this server forever. “Share and Enjoy!”
Disclaimer: Sorry about the quality. I know these are not professional quality pictures, but since they may be the only pictures available on the Web of this whistle, i thought i’d share them.
Available is a relative term I couldn’t get the picture… if you send it to me, Glauber, I’ll host it for a while. (the whistle, I mean ok, I mean the picture)
‘Enders, break out that checkbook and pick yourself up a lancewood whistle (or move up to the big boys’ instrument and learn flute ); a number of Australian makers, in particular, use your namesake wood to fashion their instruments.
Check out page 4 of the following thread to see a gorgeous red lancewood Bb flute by Michael Grinter (photo courtesy of sturob):
These are reduced a little bit more than the ones in the server above (i can’t control that), but hopefully they should work for the people who can’t access the server?
Thanks for reposting Glaub. First link just never loaded so it was a white screen. At least from a distance, the design is similar to that one Jessie was showing recently, with the recorder shaped head. It seems funny that anyone would return to that look after early Sweets. Unless I missed it, tell us about that pin if you know…
Wow…my own wood! And Herbi, you know dang well what my checkbook is good for these days but never mind.
I didn’t like the “beak”; it felt too fat and too short to me. Actually this was one of my few complaints about the whistle, but when i told Mr Syn, he said he’s already changed the design to something longer and more whistle-like.
My other complaint is that it seems to have a “break” in terms of the air pressure required to keep a note sounding, between the high A and high B. But other people haven’t been concerned with that. If you apply more pressure to the whole second octave, the problem goes away.
The pin i think is a Syn thing. I think it holds the block in place.
Lancewood is very dense wood, very nicely figured, sometimes used in expensive furniture. I think there’s red and brown lancewood. This whistle is with the brown variety. Called “lance” wood because it was used to make weapons. Got a reputation for being poisonous, but that’s not true.
The whistle had a very spicy smell when new, made me think of oregano (pizza!). Very nice looking whistle. The sound was great too. I have a couple of sound files posted in Clips&Snips: one in jigs (Christmas in Kinsale) and the other in slow airs (Parting of Friends). I think i posted a reel (Salamanca) too.
I don’t have the whistle anymore. I was the first one in a “tour”. It’s moved on to the next person in the list.
Got the first group of pics and they were just fine. I see he stuck with the single exposed pin in the head (of the whistle). I also learned that there are other lancewoods; I have a bunch of red lancewood Grinter whistles which really are almost red in color and certainly a lighter more eye-catching hue than those in the pics; or is it the same wood, but only a different batch accounting for the different hue? Wood experts where are you…Dr. Paul? Is there or are there lancewoods other than red?
What is it with makers slapping golf balls on the end of whistles nowdays??? I swaer almost every wooden whistle you see could double as a recorder at three feet distance! I think if I wanted a recorder with a big bulbous tumor thing for a mouthpiece I’d just go but a recorder. I don’t care how cool they might sound, but that design will never coax me into buying one of these things.
Second issue with the Syn in particular…any idea why he insists on leaving the big pin on the one side? I’ve got one of the early metal designs with the same thing. Yuck says me. Either hide the thing beneath the widway, or at least center it or duplicate it on both sides. The placement seems to make the one I have look even cheaper.
Playability is fair at best, but again, i think this was one of the earlier designs. (I was given it as a gift btw) Who knows…
Just a couple of minor explanations here if I may?
The shape of the head is based on a traditional flageolet design. Now whistles and recorders have both sprung from that origin, and while recorders have not necessarily changed much, there has been considerable variation in whistle head design, so my dipping back to use tradition is just that, not at all an emulation of a r******r.
As to the brass pin. Trisha has labelled this as a nose piercing! Perhaps these are whistles with attitude?
Cheers, Syn.
I have some whistles Mr. Syn made to prototype a different kind of wood he was trying out. They have the same head design as the one in Glauber’s pictures.
Two points:
The shape of the mouthpiece is a matter of form following function. The increased thickness at the base of the tulip shape provides more strength and stability to the outer part, which is a hollow sleeve of wood. Some whistles with a similar design have a metal sleeve instead of wood, for which there’s no need for a thicker base. I realize that a wooden mouthpiece can be made without the thicker base, but this is just to point out that there’s a practical reason for it.
I think that pin is about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. You can carefully draw out the pin, and the mouthpiece comes apart into three amazingly precisely fitted pieces. Although you might never take one apart, I like the idea that it could be dismantled at a later time for cleaning, repair or adjustment.
I’m particularly fond of this mouthpiece design. To me, the feel of wood on my lips is the most pleasant of any material I’ve tried. Mr. Syn’s wooden whistles have both a wooden fipple plug and a wooden outside sleeve. I would also mention that the prototypes I have here have no tendency whatsoever to clog, which I believe to be another advantage of the all-wood mouthpiece design.
I agree. No clogging. I played this thing until it was dripping wet, but no clogging. I think the pin is cool too. I didn’t like the beak because i never felt there was enough of it inside my mouth. But that’s because i’m used to more conventional whistle mouthpieces.
Don’t worry: the “purty recorder” is an ongoing joke between Glauber and me, like he’ll say the same of my favourite whistles, which include Sweet’s and Yvon Le Coant’s.
This “tulip shaped” head is to me the way to go. I prefer much more their contact with the lip than from those who favor a slimmer design, but at the expense of a metal sleeve around the head.
However, since the bell of your tube is not flared, it may seem odd there’s no ferrule of sorts .
I didn’t even suspect that there was already a trend known as Trishattitude
Now if this protruding pin is to make the block (of the whistle, not Trisha’s) removable, please keep it (the pin)!
I’m not convinced this is true. Anytime you combine dissimilar materials, there is potential for failure. The rings at the tuning slide are necessary because there’s already metal on the inside, and the wood there is very thin and in need of reinforcement. However, I would be inclined to avoid putting metal with wood whenever it can be avoided. The wood will shrink and swell with the seasonal heating/cooling moisture cycle, whereas the metal will not.
Whether in practice there’s ever a tendency for wood to crack when it’s captured inside a metal ferrule, I don’t know. I do know there’s a tendency for wood to crack around a tuning slide.
In one case (the ferrule), the metal is outside the wood; in the other (the tuning slide), the metal is inside the wood, so it will depend on whether the wood is going to swell any after the whistle’s been made. I think it’s more likely the wood will shrink and the ferrule will just fall off, in which case, the wood has been compromised by having been turned thinner to accept the ferrule. This might not happen soon, but twenty or fifty years from now, it’s a definite concern.
Mr. Syn’s whistle barrels are pretty thick, so I didn’t worry about the wood at the end. If any change in design is to be made, I would be inclined to favor a belling out of the outside of the all-wood barrel end, rather than fitting a metal ferrule. But then would people who dislike any resemblance to recorders be offended?
I couldn’t get the picture… if you send it to me, Glauber, I’ll host it for a while. (the whistle, I mean 
ok, I mean the picture)
