My new SYN whistles arrived!

Whistle
1

I ordered a C/D set of SYN whistles and they arrived yesterday.

They sure do look nice!

I am a new player of about a month, I have a couple of Susato whistles and a generation D, and a Clarke Sweetone.
I found that the SYN is much quieter than the Susato whistles and it has a mellower tone. After playing the Suato whistles I had to adapt to using less air, but after doing so I found that I could get both octaves closer in volume than I can on the Susato whistles.

The SYN is also quieter than the Susato whistles, so I might get away with playing inside the house with these.

-Max

2

I thought Syns were supposed to be loud whistles. How does the D compare in volume with the Generation, then? And does it have resistance to blowing or is it fairly free-blowing?

3



As Mr. Einstein might observe, it’s all relative.

The Syn, IMO, is not as loud as a S bore Susato. It is certainly not a quiet whistle either. They are noticeably louder than a Generation. I think they have good volume, plenty for most playing situations. I never thought of them as a quiet in-the-house whistle. But if they work for maxnew40 in that manner it’s great! Nice whistles with a nice voice, as are the other whistles made by Erle Bartlett.

I would not describe the Syn as free-blowing. I also wouldn’t say they are hard-blowers either. I find them to have some resistance. But again it is all relative. They don’t blow as free and open as Burkes do, as an example. They can/should be pushed a bit which some players will like very much.

Just my opinions mind you.

Feadoggie

4

Thanks Feadoggie. That’s very helpful.

Mike

5

Quieter than the other whistles I play which are both Susato S bore. So I guess it is all relative. I only really have the Susatos to compare against since I am a new player with a small whislte collection (I have a Clarke Sweetone that I don’t play).

-Max

6

I got a C/D Syn set a few weeks ago too. I can compare to a Susato C (don’t know which bore size), and a Feadog D. I’ve been playing whistles for about 15 years, so I have a reasonable amount of experience playing, but not a lot of exposure to a variety of whistles. (I still have my Clarke Sweet-tone that I started with, and I pull it out when I’m feeling sentimental.)

I find that the Syn’s have a more rounded, fuller sound, like the Susato does when compared to my Feadog. I would have put the air requirements at about even with the Susato, and less than the Feadog. The Syns are not as breathy or ethereal as the Feadog is in the higher octave. I am quite liking the sound of the Syns - a bit more meaty. It should ‘cut-through’ in a session.

I do find that the Syns are a bit more demanding of breath control then my other two, and you can’t leave any lazy fingers down on some notes, whereas you can get away with it on the others.

I had a lot of problems with moisture build-up with the Syns, which I’ve never had with any other whistle. The tooth-paste polish trick has sorted that out now though.

I did have a few tooling marks on the chrome finish of both my Syns - but it’s incidental to the sound they make - and probably no worse than what they’d get after a few years of use anyway. I didn’t care enough to raise it as an issue with the maker.

Overall, happy with the Syns. You could do a lot worse for $100 bucks.

7

I do find that the Syns are a bit more demanding of breath control then my other two, and you can’t leave any lazy fingers down on some notes, whereas you can get away with it on the others.

By breath control, I assume you mean it needs some pushing. It has some backpressure. The lazy finger thing may break it for me. I often play B and Csharp with the bottom finger down and even three fingers down in the second octave.

8

By breath control I meant that it has a small window of optimum performance for some notes when compared to the other whistles I have. I like the level of back pressure it has compared to the others. The lazy finger thing is only a noticable in the upper octave on slower movements. If your fingers are flying for a fast piece than it doesn’t matter.

9

Paragon, can you tell me about this toothpaste trick?

I have noticed that these whistles really need to be warmed up before playing. The metal gets cold easily and then your breath will just condense inside the whistle.

-Max

10

Check this thread…

https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/goldie-overton-clogging-problem-and-solution/85653/1

Best wishes.

Steve

11

This has been covered elsewhere on the board, but my condensed version.

One theory: Moisture builds up, particularly in metal whistles, because of condensation, and the theory is that the seed that causes the condensation to start is small imperfections on the surface inside the wind-way. So if you polish the wind-way smooth there is less issue with clogging. You could use metal polishes, but that’s not an appealing thought to something you put in your mouth. So tooth-paste, many of which are mildly abrasive, is an ideal candidate for the job, and your whistle tastes minty-fresh.

The other theory is that toothpaste contains a surfactant that helps to disperse the moisture straight out of the wind-way, stopping it from clogging it up, and your whistle tastes minty-fresh.

Either way, it works. I applied a small amount of toothpaste (not a gel type, that could be important) to the inside of the wind-way by cutting a strip of soft-ish cardboard from a drinks coaster, and sliding in in/out of the whistle wind-way. The drinks coaster is just absorbent enough, and just stiff enough, to handle the job without too much fuss. A few minutes of that, and I cleaned up the excess paste that oozed out, and it’s good to go. The card came out with the blackened sheen that you often get when polishing metal, and a visual inspection of the wind-way indicated that it was a lot smoother.

And I haven’t had the damn thing clog once since I did it. So, whatever the reason it works, it works!

12

Well that’s good, and I was going to say …

Lazy fingering is pretty common among better players, especially as the speed increases. A whistle that forces one to modify reflexive finger habits that work on other whistles can be a problem. But it sounds like you’re talking being careful about finger-down interactions at the top of the 2nd octave, and that’s normal - though it should be possible to keep the B1 or B3 finger down on the high A and B.

13

I have nothing but praise for SYN Whistles,
I live in a climate with both heat extremes hot in summer and freezing winter
sure enough the aluminum does get cold in the winter i easily overcome this by wearing a vest with a deep inside pocket, perfect to keep the whistle warm when not playing,
I rarely have condensation issues except after eating or drinking (Warm Drinks) on the rare occasion it does happen a rinse in soapy water works just fine.
The loudness of syn whistles is more than sufficient to be heard in a session and is awesome to be able to hear yourself play when you have a banjo on one side and a box on the other :slight_smile:

A syn whistle is not one for you if you are a timid blower, it can take a push, I especially love the tonal qualities, while not as pure as a Burke it has its own awesome voice, Erle Bartlett does a awesome job on these
Below is a clip I posted some years back on clips and snips a self composition entitled fishing for Craybobs

http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/03-08/FishingforCraybobsDavidD.mp3

Cheers
David

14

It really depends on which key you are talking about, since there are so many bodies for that one head. I’d say that the lower keys are suited for one who is a soft blower.

I got a set of Syn whistles on monday, with bodies for D, C, B, and Bb. I liked the C and B the best, but I thought all were fantastic. Yes, the D does require some push to switch octaves, but the Bb takes a very light breath, with very easy octave transitions.

I was surprised by how good these were, and I wish I knew about them a long time ago. They sound very nice, are responsive, and just play very well.

Something to keep in mind though, is that if you have a very specific type of playability you like (hard/easy), that these whistles span a pretty large range of playability, as they are made from soprano Eb, all the way to alto A on the same head!

I am ordering the Eb and A now, just to see if those are beyond the boundaries for that bore size, or not. The D was perfectly playable, but yes, requires a push. The Bb did have a bit touchy of a low end and requires a lighter breath, but I’ve played touchier whistles, and actually I like the way the Bb plays. I don’t consider this a good or bad thing, it’s just how it plays.

C and B were right in the sweet spot in the middle, but I found all of the keys I recieved to be very good! I’d recommend them!

And yes, they sound fantastic! Can’t really say anything bad about them. But- If you are strongly opposed to whistles that must be blown lightly, or strongly opposd to whistles which need a hard push, I’d recommend keeping this in mind when you decide which keys to buy.

15

Hi Sirchronique

I have the full set of Syn bodies, A to E, and agree with you as to the variability of blowing pressures required.

If you order the A body, you will find that the breath control you need to play it in the first octave will improve all your whistle playing (if you smile at it it will go into the second octave).

The B body is the one that gives the nicest sound, all my whistle playing friends love the sound of it.

As a suggestion, add the Db body to your order, it doubles as C#, and next to B is the best sounding body in my Syn set.

David

16

A lovely tune beautifully played David.
Tell me, are you using a Syn D?

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Indeed it is a syn D, my favourite of about 40 whistles lol
Thank you for your kind comments
David