my syn whistles. and a regular ol' whistle question.

Whistle
1

[edit:
i played them some more today. me and my syns are on the way to being friends now. i was just very surprised by the way they were behaving when they were cold. they’d get clogged after just minutes of playing, they were hissy, and the D tube was quite flat. they were just hard to play!
but today we spent some quality time, and i do what i’m getting out of them a lot more.
still, the D is just a bit too flat overall to be at all versatile, and (of course) the fipple is still kinda funky-looking. and the B-flat (on the C whistle) is awfully horribly sharp unless i cross-finger it like this:
OXX OXX
which normally, would not be a problem. but it’s different for the D and the C, and i’d kinda prefer for whistles in the same set to have consistent fingering.

but i MUST say:
i received a little PM this morning from “syn whistles” offering to look at my whistle and send me another one in the meantime! talk about customer service! :thumbsup:]

so i got a syn D/C set in the mail today.

the first thing i noticed was how messily-made the fipple part looked. it’s completely crooked. looking at the front of the whistle from straight-on, the right side of the delrin piece extends a few millimeters past the left. and in the back, the fipple part looks really messed up. for those of you familiar with syns, the aluminum part is cut really unevenly, and the delrin was not-too-gingerly slapped on around it. so along the back of the fipple, the delrin/aluminum is not even, and it’s very obvious when i’m playing.
also, the D (tube) is very flat! even pushed in all the way, it’s just barely okay.
but the C is much better as far as intonation.

and another thing i noticed was how filthy and disgusting and black my hands were after playing for five minutes. gross! i thought i got a cursed syn or something after all this. but after reading around about people’s syn experiences, i found that the dirtiness was normal, so i gave it a good wash and now that’s dandy.
but…

i came to this whistle from a dainty little plastic dixon. i like that whistle a lot, but it’s just too quiet for some things and it just can’t handle what i want to give it sometimes! it squeaks like a sad puppy if i play it too hard in the first octave (which i think is much too quiet…)
so anyway. going from just barely whispering into my dixon to this beast of a whistle with its crazy resistance was a little unsettling… i just wasn’t expecting it. i’d like a little more backpressure than is in the dixon, but not so much that i feel like i’m pumping my guts into this thing to make it sound good!

so. anyone have any thoughts? advice?


(also, here’s a general whistle question. on a C whistle, is there any such thing as an in-tune B-flat? i’ve only played three C whistles before, but they’ve all had ridiculously sharp B-flats. that’s using every cross-fingering i’ve seen. i don’t know what’s up.)

2

I think every whistle I’ve ever played has more backpressure than my dixon. You’re probably looking for backpressure in the area of a Burke, though, from what I can gather.

And don’t discount that Syn’s backpressure just yet. As time goes on, you may just come to enjoy that backpressure. I know I did. In fact, I play mostly my Abells now, which have even more backpressure than the Syn.

As far as the Syn being out of tune, was it warm when you tested it? If you’re sure it was fully up-to-temperature, then you might contact Erle about a replacement tube. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to oblige.

I’ll agree that Syns aren’t the most beautiful-looking whistles out there, but mine is nowhere near as bad as yours apparently is. Hm.

3

Oh, sure there’s C whistles with an in-tune Bb. My Abell has an in-tune Bb, and my Syn and Susato both have a fairly close Bb. All of these with the oxxooo fingering.

4

:astonished:
oh man. i didn’t actually think this was common, since so many people are crazy about 'em.
what’s wrong with yours?

5

hmm. what i think i reeeeally don’t like about it is that it just feels like it goes hand-in-hand with that weird hissy buzzing. like i’m blowing more air thinking i’m going to get a nice, full, big whistley sound, and it just hisses at me, the spiteful little turd.

6

Oh, well, that’s not to say it’s a poorly made instrument! It’s just… well.. it’s not the most pristine piece of work. Much like my M&E flute. They both play like a dream, but remain slightly lackluster in the aesthetics.

7

I don’t feel like the Syns I’ve played have that much backpressure, but then I used to play french horn. I don’t like the “buzzy” sound of Syns either, but besides that, they’re pretty good. Although the tubes below C with the D head were a little squirrely, and the intonation wasn’t as good. The fit and finish of my Syns was OK, they didn’t make my fingers black either.

8

Erle has been fantastic about fixing my Syn whistles when I told him about intonation problems. While I was waiting for a replacement, I used a file to make it so I could push farther in, to bring up the pitch.

Others have complained about a little manufacturing oil left on the whistles. Just clean it off, and you won’t keep on having dirty-hand problems.

The Syns have good medium back pressure and will make themselves heard, IMO.

Oreo Phil

9

Here’s where Erle Bartlett, maker of the Syn whistles, was talking about the Syn model:

My apologies folks. I have come to hate polishing aluminium, and while I do what I can before they leave the workshop, its really that final polish-up in the hands of the owners that gets rid of the final traces. If I decide to discontinue the syns it will probably be for OH&S reasons to do with aluminium, I have heard lately that it may be a contributing factor to Alzheimers disease and friends of mine who work with aluminium have been diagnosed with Al accumulations in their bodies. Polishing the stuff leaves a residue all around the work station and workshop, and even wearing gloves doesn’t seem to keep my hands from being ingrained with the powder that results. I hope you don’t mind too much giving your whistles a light polish away from the workshop just to give them the final touch.
Cheers, Syn.

So your black powder is polish.

I’ve washed my whistles with soap and water–it doesn’t hurt them.

–James

10

Hi

I’ve received my Syn Eb, D, C set today and I like it. Haven’t noticed any of the problems that you mention, well, just a little black dust.

11

HI jaime! ,

Where did you get the syn? After reading your note I went and checked the 15 or so I have here, none have anything like the defects you’re describing. Of most concern is the playing characteristic “hissing”. This is not typical of syns. They will clog when they are cold which can cause the note to cut out - before I play mine I always puff a full breath into the mouthpiece and one into the top tone-hole which usually does the trick.

It would be best to contact Erle, he is very helpful - perhaps the instrument has been damaged.

12

I agree, it almost sounds as though something is stuck in the windway or perhaps the whistle was actually damaged before it made it to you.

A Syn can take very aggressive play, even on the lowest notes. The tone is very pure, no hiss, with just a bit of a ring.

Here’s what mine sounds like:

http://www.flutesite.com/samples/jig_slurs_syn.mp3

I think you should contact Erle Bartlett.

–James

13

I just got my Syn set on Monday. It’s going to take some getting used to, but I think I will eventually like it. I’ve read posts of several people complaining about the buzz, but I haven’t noticed it on mine, at least not when I get the right breath pressure. If I get it wrong, it sounds awful. I think Syns just take more “adjusting to” than some other whistles, like Burkes (which you can just pick up and play).

Mine had black stuff on it too, but that wasn’t a surprise to me.

The fipple on mine is a little uneven on the back, but not enough to bother me when I’m playing it.