Syn D in aluminum
(Review written May 2005)
Preface
Erle Bartlett, of Australia, has quietly entered the tinwhistle maker scene. He doesn't have a website, and mostly relies on word of mouth to get the word out about his whistles. That means that they're not very well known. I was lucky enough to try his Lancewood wooden whistle on a whistle tour, and now am pleased to be reviewing his standard aluminum D.
At a Glance
Whistle Reviewed: Syn D in aluminum
Models Available: Several keys in aluminum or wood. With the alumnium version, Erle can supply bodies from E to A for the same head.
Construction: Aluminum with delrin fipple and brass tuning slide.
Price at time of review: $41.00 US dollars for a D or C, $48 for a D/C combo. These prices are from Gaelic Crossings. I know that you can get new bodies on the cheap from Erle. He appears to have the same philosophy I do about whistles: bodies are easier to make than heads..so he charges a lot less for the bodies. You can pick up a whole set of whistle body keys for less than $100!
Available From: Gaelic Crossings and
Erle himself at synwhistles@ yahoo. com. au (Remove the spaces to make this email address work. Erle doesn't have a website.)
How Acquired: Product sample from Erle Bartlett
Bottom Line: Has been called "a poor man's Burke". Well made, strong toned, pure, and sweet.
Appearance/Construction
This is a good looking instrument. Erle tells me I've come to it third hand, as it was originally bought by a youth at a fair who later traded it back in for a pre-made set (rather than waiting for Erle to make more bodies for the head he already had). So, it's got a little wear and some scratches. Discounting that, it looks nice, and it's got a number of interesting and unique features that I'll be covering.
Here's a shot of the full whistle. It looks clean and sleek. Immediatley, you should notice Erle's signature features, such as the pin in the mouthpiece and the etched D. We'll focus on those things and more below.
Here's a closeup of the mouthpiece. You can see the pin that holds the head together. That pin is unique to Syn whistles as far as I know. Removing it allows you to disassemble the mouthpiece for cleaning, which Erle told me he did also before sending it to me (thanks Erle!). The labium ramp is well pressed, with no deformity around it.
Here's another angle on the mouthpiece, showing the fipple area. I've read that the Syn mouthpiece and fipple are similar to a Sindt whistle, but I don't have one to compare to.
The holes on the Syn are mostly round. They do show some signs of having been worked a little, I assume as part of the voicing process, but nothing too rough. Here you see the D E and F# holes. The E and F# holes are a little too close for some people's comfort.
The backside of the body has the word 'Syn' etched in it using a copper sulfate displacement process. From what I've read, this is a much safer process than acid etching, and probably a lot cheaper than some kind of laser etching!
The front of the whistle body has the Key etched in (D in this case). It's a neat and professional look.You can also see here the tuning slide. It's a brass-on-brass affair--there's a little bit of brass tube inside the whistle body as well. It works well, not too tight, not too lose. You can easily set it and the not worry about it moving on you.
Playing Characteristics
Pure and sweet, with good volume and fast action, with a little complexity and chiff in the 2nd octave. As I wrote above, I've seen this called "a poor man's Burke". This whistle does share some characteristics of Burkes: Pure in tone, not much chiff (though again, more chiffy in the 2nd octave), steady intonation, 2nd octave A and B easy on the ears. But it has it's differences too: a little backpressure, a little more push to keep in the 2nd octave. It's surely quite a whistle for the price!
Sound clips of the whistle:
Spoot O' Skerry
Volume: A louder than average, and carries well. This is probably due to the tone purity. I've noticed that sometimes more complex-sounding instruments can get washed out in crowd and session noise. The purer ones tend to cut through better, even if they're relatively the same volume. I judge the first octave to be quieter than my Copeland D, but the 2nd octave to be louder. This whistle could be easily heard at the rowdy Friday session in the 2nd ocatve, but not so easily in the first.
Responsiveness: Plenty responsive. I never had any trouble with it.
C-Natural: OXXOOO produces a C-natural that's on the money, but can be pushed around 15 cents or so either side of true. It doesn't just hit C-natural and hang there, though--you definitely need to pay attention to your breathing so as not to push it out.
Tuning: This whistle is in tune, when blown with the proper breath control. The D tends to need a bit less air than the rest of the whistle, as does the G. The A requires a bit more push. In a hot bar (80's temp-wise..I think their air was out) I had trouble playing this in tune due to the breath gymnastics. The fact that I'm still getting over a lung infection probably didn't help matters any. But it wasn't as easy breath-control-wise as a Burke or my Copeland. It requires a bit more care and attention, which I just couldn't give it Friday.
Hole Size and placement: As I mentioned above, the holes are mostly round, and show some signs of being worked, and the E and F# holes are a little close together. I've had some people tell me that they thought they were too close, but by way of comparison, they're about the same distance apart as on a Feadog Pro. I personally didn't find it to be an issue. To my naked eye, the E hole appears a little off center, but only barely. The holes are medium-sized and there is no problem sealing any of them.
Air volume requirements: Pretty average. I don't find myself running out of breath especially soon with this whistle.
Air pressure pressure requirements: As I said earlier, this whistle has a little back pressure. It also likes little push in the second octave. Nothing like a Shaw, mind you. Just enough for you to know it's there. I find it very satisfying. The second octave A and B don't require too much more push than the rest of the whistle--I mention this because some whistles really ramp up the pressure as you move up the scale, and this one doesn't. This one takes a bit less pressure to play than the Lancewood Syn I reviewed a while back.
Clogging: This instrument has average wetness, but never completely clogged. After 15-20 minutes, it would sound a little gurgly, and I'd blow it out and keep chugging along.
Wind reistance: I've taken to mentioning this factor in nearly every review I do, so it's time it has it's own category, since people who play outside will find it of importance. Unfortunately, the Syn isn't very wind resistant. Even a moderate breeze across the windway cuts it out, making this not necessarily the ideal whistle for playing outdoors in windy environs unless you want to do the "wind shuffle" keeping the wind at your back.
Summary
You get a whole lotta whistle for a little bit of money with this whistle. Definitely a bargain! Especially considering that ordering multiple bodies is really cheap! This alone got my credit-card finger itchy when Syns first came out, but I hadn't heard enough about them to take the gamble. Now that I've played one, I'll definitely be considering a C body in the future. I consider it a solid performer with great tone, as long as you pay attention to your breath control.
Now, I usually judge if a whistle is good for a beginner, and it's hard to say with this one. It does take some breath control, which you probably won't have as a beginner. But as long as you're not playing with other people, you'll probably still sound good on it while you learn the proper breath, and the 2nd octave is relatively easy to hit. So tentatively, I give this a thumbs-up as a beginner's instrument.
