I often point out that I like Susato whistles and have from time to time posted in their defense…but since I have gotten my Burkes, I don’t play my other whistles nearly as much as I used to.
Fact is, till yesterday evening it has been months since I’d played my Susato whistles, partly because of their volume, which in the past has proven to be effective spouse repellent.
Last night I was home alone, my neighbor was gone to work (we live in a duplex), and I figured there was nobody a louder whistle might bother, so I got the Susato and played it off and on for about an hour in between doing laundry.
I was pleasantly surprised–it was neither as loud nor as hard to control as I remembered it. The tone is pure and has just a bit of ring to it, very nice sound, and while the volume is louder than some whistles it’s still not in the same ballpark with a flute or even with the Cronnolly whistle. I didn’t find the upper register to be unbalanced or hard to control once the whistle warmed up, either.
Our two ferrets, whose cage is in our computer / music room, slept right through it. Didn’t bother 'em one bit–though usually flute wakes 'em up and sometimes makes them irritable.
I just thought I’d share this, as I have (re)discovered that they are really nice whistles and they are going to get more frequent play than they used to.
A couple of weekends ago I was mooching around the shops in Swindon town centre and decided I’d pop into one of the musical instrument emporiums for an Eb Generation. (I bought an F too…well, they had so many of them…).
Across the road from that particular boutique is a “second-hand shop”, kind of an up-market pawn shop I guess. Anyway, they often have second-hand instruments in there so I wombled in for a mooch around. A few Boehm flutes in ghastly condition, a knackered clarinet, and then to my complete astonishment…
A Susato “Kildare” tuneable in D, mint condition, in its original packaging et al. Trying to ignore the sudden rush of WhOA, I put on my best “bored and disinterested” voice (like you might do on discovering a genuine Van Gogh going for a quid at a car-boot sale) and inquired how much they wanted for that “recorder-thingy”. Mine for a fiver. Deep joy!
Got it home and gave it a good clean (just to be on the safe side!). The removeable fipple-block that just pops out for cleaning is brilliant.
Downside: I suffer from SNAS (Severe Neighbour-Awareness Syndrome). So I only managed a 30-minute noodle on the Susato before the folks next door got back from their shopping-trip.
I guess there are degrees of acceptable ‘loudness’… the neighbours can hear the second octave on my Alba Q1 - cuts through the party wall like a knife even with all the intervening doors closed. So sadly the Susato (like most of my other whistles) must remain in its container most of the time. It does sound nice though, when I get a chance to play it…
The rest of the time it’s practice with the Generations, with a girt big lump of blu-tak squidged on the blade to mute 'em down to a barely-audible hiss. Sigh.
Can’t help wondering about the Susato’s former owner though…In Swindon of all places… Not the kind of whistle you’d find “off the shelf” in a music shop 'round here, that’s for sure.
I really like my Susatos mainly for their volume but that’s because I’m trying to overcome a fiddle, guitar and piano. For solo practice, it can be somewhat loud. At times I can play fairly softly. But I find that while the first octave is fine, I do have trouble sometimes getting the second octave B to pop out (on my D whistle). So I blow harder and it’s a higher pitch and that ends playing softly (the peanut gallery begins). When the B is part of a eighth note run (e.g. G-A-B-A) in a reel, then I have to play all the notes a little louder. :roll: Slightly frustrating but in a session it doesn’t matter.
When someone mentions Susato whistles I straight away think of Seán Ryan the Tipperary whistle player. He is to my mind one of the very best whistle players around.
I attended a workshop he gave at the “Return to Camden Town” festival a few years ago. He turned up with a bag of mixed Susato’s all rattling around together. He pulled one out, gave it a quick blow, put it back and pulled out another. He did this a few times until he got one to his liking.
He makes these whistles sing with no hint of the ear bending volume that they can sometimes produce, just a pure clean tone.
It was a great workshop with Seán consuming quantities of amber nectar and Irish whiskey… the tunes were flowing too.
He’s made a couple of CD’s for anyone who’s interested and hasn’t heard him, they are “Minstrels Fancy” and “Take the Air”
I like Susatos as well. Mine don’t get played much anymore as I spend most of my time playing my Burke composite and Sweetheart laminate. IMHO, for the price, there’s nothing better. Especially if you want to be heard!
Ever since I got my aluminum Burke, my Susatos – my steadfast friends for almost 10 years – have languished in the closet. But two weeks ago we played for a Burns Night, and my Bb was just the ticket, esp. when played against Highland pipes. Seriously, there’s something about their timbre and sonority that’s just kinda nice. And the volume control is a player thing, anyway … anyway, I’m glad to hear there are a few of us Susato fans out here!
I took mine and put a little polyclay on each side of the windway, blocking about half of it. Cuts down on the volume a bit and makes it sound (I think) more like a whistle. Takes away some of that recordery sound. Makes it a little dryer sounding. I guess you could do it with blue tac too. I had to shape the bits of clay with a knife a little. The black polyclay matches the color too, so it isn’t noticable.
Ps, the bits of clay are formed into little matchstick shapes, covering not just windway, but down to the blade as well. The hole is more square than rectangle now.
Ya, I like Susatos too. I have 5… a high d, Low D, Medium bore A and Bb and a “regular” bore A. (same thickness as the high d). I am particularly impressed with the medium bore whistles. They have definately hit on a sweet spot with their Bb. Loud but not like the high d, very clear sounding but with some reediness and with no hint of the recorderesqe sound that many don’t like. A great solo instrument. Very well done. The thing I like about them is the designe features. Curved windway, conical bore, (a point that is often overlooked I think) not to mention those great little snap-on thumb rests. Great value for the cash I think.
I’m eager to hear if anyone else has tried the blade tweak with the guitar pick that was talked about here a few weeks ago in a couple of different threads, since my high d and “skinny” A both have identicle head pieces, I can pretty much try that with out too much fear of mistakes. The reason I ask, is to learn if any have measured the angle of the new blade or depth of file cut etc. What type of flie you used to get into a space that small etc.
I’ve tweaked several Susatos by cutting out the curved blade and replacing it with a guitar pic. I mark the edge of the curved blade on the sides of the windway before I cut out the curved blade. I bevel the guitar pic before I install it. I place a tiny amout of blue tack on the cut surfaces and then stick the replacement blade on. I experiment with moving it forward or backward, and with the angle. It’s not hard to find t he sweet spot. Once I have found it, I’ll let the whistle dry without disturbing anything and then fix the new blade in place with a generous amount of expoxy (so that I don’t have to remove it, apply glue, and put it back).
Works like a charm, esp. on SB heads. Haven’t tried anything bigger.
I’ve been tempted to try that. And on a sweetone too. It is a shame to fix something that isn’t broken. But I usually wind up breaking it one way or the other. Then I can fix it, and it won’t be a shame. I wound up killing 4 whistles right off the bat when I started tweaking. They are all in playing condition now though.
Duh… gee I don’ know. uh … it looks like they’re conical. Let’s put a caliper to it and find out.
Here are the measurements listing the whistle first, the bore at the tennon, the bore at the foot, and if it is conical or not.
Low D 0.695" 0.650" uh… yup
SB A 0.480" 0.460" yup, yup
SB d 0.475" 0.455" uh huh, shore is
MB A 0.585" 0.555" yup that one too
MB Bb 0.580" 0.565" Garsh! They all are! :roll:
Ya, I’m sure. Some are more subtle than others but all narrow toward the bell.
Here are the measurements listing the whistle first, the bore at the tennon, the bore at the foot, and if it is conical or not.
Low D 0.695" 0.650" uh… yup
SB A 0.480" 0.460" yup, yup
SB d 0.475" 0.455" uh huh, shore is
MB A 0.585" 0.555" yup that one too
MB Bb 0.580" 0.565" Garsh! They all are!
Sorry Scott! I don’t mean to be argumentative (at least not in a bad way). Is that a significant (for tuning purposes) conical bore? I’ve just never heard anyone mention this as a quality of Susatos and it really suprises me. I know they have a reputation of being more in tune than many whistles…maybe this accounts for that.
So, do you bevel the blade to a sharp edge or is it blunted a little?.
When you say you epoxy it in place, how do you get the glue under the new blade without removing it and putting it back… or do you just overcoat the blade with the epoxy? What do you cut the curved blade with? What is your favorite color? What is the airspeed of an unlaiden swallow?
No offense taken, I was actually surprised that the differences were that small. There is definately a bit of an optical illusion when looking at the bell bore with the added foot material making it appear smaller. As for the impact on tuning, I bet it has some influence, noticable over a cylindrical bore. It certainly would be easier to mill the molds these pop out of if they were cylindrical. Somewhere a judgement was made that the benefits outweighed the costs so it probably helps somehow.
