New member saying hello + two questions (big hands & Sindts)

[Nuppu]

Hello all!

I've lately been spending more and more time reading this great forum, so I thought It'd be time to say hi. This is really a great place for a beginning whistle player! Thanks all. This forum has been and I'll bet will be a great inspiration (I also found a fine indeed whistle teacher from Finland, which I was afraid wouldn't happen - I was luckily wrong!).


Also had the questions:

1. I really really like the Sindt sound (Enda Seery's youtube clip for example, and all the Clips & Snips played with Sindt whistles). I already tried to email mr. Sindt couple of weeks ago with no luck (=no answer yet). Does anyone know if his still in the business? Or is there a better way to contact him than email?

2. Could anyone suggest a high D with a wide hole spacing? I have quite large hands and now mostly play my Generation Bb (a lovely whistle and key), but when the autumn comes I'll hopely be attending nearby towns sessions, so I'd need a comfortable high D. I currently own a Generation and Freeman Blackbird - does anyone know any more-large-handed-suitables?


Oh, that was quite a lot of text for a first post. Sorry - and sorry if my English is a little bit rusty. I don't get to use it much.

Best wishes,
-Juha

[Feadoggie]

Hi and welcome to C&F and the world of whistles.

Does anyone know if his still in the business? Or is there a better way to contact him than email?

John Sindt is still making whistles AFAIK. He makes a good whistle! It is vacation, festival and workshop season so he may be busy or out of town (that's just a guess on my part). Email should work. There is a snail-mail address and telephone number for him over on the main C&F website.

Could anyone suggest a high D with a wide hole spacing?

Is the issue an overall spacing issue or are there particular holes that cause the problem? Would a whistle with a larger bore tube be more comfortable? In my experience, hole spacing is largely a function of physics and the holes on most well-designed whistles will generally be similarly sized and spaced. Staying within good design practice and adjusting hole sizes to widen the spacing would only achieve millimeters in difference on a high D whistle I am afraid. I have no immediate suggestions for you other than to try larger and lower pitched whistles, sorry. Maybe others here with large hands will have a suggestion.

Feadoggie

[brewerpaul]

I agree-- with minor differences, physics determines the spacing of a D whistle's holes. I'd say buy the Sindt (terrific whistle) and work on it bit by bit. Maybe a C whistle would be a good interim size in going from Bb to D. I've seen plenty of whistle players with very beefy hands playing D whistles successfully.
I remember when I picked up the mandolin, having been a guitar player. I couldn't imagine how anyone could squeeze their fingers onto that tiny fingerboard, but now I play it easily.

[maki]

Check your PM(private messages).
I'm sending you the email address I've used to contact them recently.

[JTC111]

I've got beefy hands ...hands that have no business touching a whistle ...but i can play my Sindt Eb without any real issues. It really is just a matter of getting used to the instrument.

[kkrell]

No real problems with big hands and a Sindt D. A wide-bore Burke might be a little easier, or one of the wood whistles (Abell, Busman).

[DrPhill]

I agree-- with minor differences, physics determines the spacing of a D whistle's holes

I am only a beginner-maker but I am not sure that this is entirely correct. Making the holes larger diameter will move the holes further from the mouth and increase their spacing. My (admittedly limited) experience making a bass-A whistle indicated that the volume and sound improve as the holes move further south and get bigger. There are, of course, limits. A 13mm diameter hole in a 12mm diameter tube, for example, is an unstable solution. TWJCalc will show you a diagram of the hole placings as you change the sizes.

And my theory does not explain why so many whistle makers arrive at very similar solutions, if there are acceptable solutions outside the normal range.

However, I would subscribe to the 'buy the Sindt and persevere' school of thought. You could be perverse and use an A whistle to play D tunes on - though you may need to be inventive with folding. You could even try a G whistle for the G tunes - but I may get an told off for suggesting that. And, of course, you may be trying to talk yourself into a low D.........

[ecohawk]

I have huge hands, size 13 ring, xl gloves etc. I play the Sindt D comfortably. Don't get trapped into thinking that large bore whistles necessarily have bigger holes or wider spacing. That's simply not the case. For example, I own Burke D's in both brass and composite and in both narrow and wide (session) bodies. The narrow bodies have wider spacing between the holes. In fact I sold my Burke Session Aluminum because the spacing was too tight for my hands. And sometimes the problem is that the holes are not necessarily closer together, measured center to center, but they are bigger and therefore harder to cover so they require more precise finger placement and there is less distance between the edges so they seem closer together. What I'm trying to make clear and may not have done very well is that it is a design issue and is maker dependent.

The Sindt will be fine for you. So will a Mellow Dog. Or a Burke narrow bore. And several others.

Good luck.

ecohawk

[Nuppu]

Thanks everyone, for the encouragement and suggestions!

And thanks Maki - that was actually the very same address I used, and I'm now happily on the waiting list. Mr. Sindt told me his about year behing on orders, so..

.. I'll wait.


And thank you brewerpaul - the advice about going from Bb to C to D seems very sensible. Makes me wonder why I didn't come to think that myself. But I guess this is what the forum about - sharing. I also had the same experience with guitar to mandolin transition (though I've sadly quit the mando since). It took a few months, but after that the mandolin was quite OK.

(Waiting for my Freeman Mellow Dog D/C set to arrive, btw. I guess they'll make great 'transition whistles' )

[mutepointe]

I have somewhat big man hands, so please take my question respectfully. What is going on with your hands that you have problems playing a D whistle? There is a high G Generation whistle at our local music store and I can't cover all the holes with my fingers all at once. I can't imagine how big your fingers must be to have this same problem with a D whistle. Am I not understanding?

[jim stone]

I assure you that nearly everybody thinks, at some point toward the beginning, that
something is the matter with THEIR hands. Just keep playing. The Sindt D is a lovely whistle.

[Nuppu]

Feadoggie, you had a good point there, asking if it's particular holes causing the trouble. And yes indeed, that's the case. I'm playing right handed (right hand at the bottom), and it's especially right hand middle and index fingers and left hand ring finger that are tensing up the most. I guess that's got something to do with them touching each other.

I guess I'll just have to try to work with hand positioning. I've also practiced just really trying to keep those fingers relaxed (this is the kind of thing I've also been doing a bit with guitar, my main instrument. It has helped a lot with guitar, I think).


I'm sorry mutepointe, but I didn't quite undertand your question (or more specifically, the example about the G whistle). But tension is the main problem, and tension prevents free and accurate (&fast&independent) movement of the fingers. I guess it's also a matter of playing the Bb more and then having this feeling of 'squeezing' my fingers to a D spacing.


But I'll get it, sooner or later. Thanks again for the encouragement.

[mutepointe]

Here's a picture to illustrate the comparative size of High G Generation Whistle.

This is a set of Bb, C, D, Eb, F, & G. The G is the teeny, tiny little one. The holes are too close together on this whistle for me (and a whole lot of other adults) to play, not that a whole lot of people would want us to play this whistle. So there.

Keep at it, whistling is fun. Keep one in your car but don't play while you're driving.