Let him who is Synless cast the first stone!

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alespa
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Let him who is Synless cast the first stone!

Post by alespa »

In case any of you thought that I might not be a synner, look again!

Image

http://img10.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img10&image=teakset.jpg

Behold the recent arrival of the Nigerian Teak Syn . . . Introducing from left to right, we have the D head on D body, C body, Bb body, then the Lone Ranger D, that CAN be sharpened (pull out an 1/8" to tune). You may notice the D head for the multiple set is a little shorter and fatter, which optimizes for use on multiple length bodies.

Erle is something else I think! He took a fairly porous wood that I sent him, and fashioned this awesome set of beauties. The sound matures every day as they get broken in.

I wish I could get a better picture, but I can tell you the real deal is not as red or yellow as it might look on your monitor. They have a nice roasted color to them. What do you think?

matt
Last edited by alespa on Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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scottielvr
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Re: Let him who is Synless cast the first stone!

Post by scottielvr »

I'm without Syn; so I'll just get it out of the way... <chucks a tiny pebble, unenthusiastically >
alespa wrote:Behold the recent arrival of the Nigerian Teak Syn . . . I wish I could get a better picture, but I can tell you the real deal is not as red or yellow as it might look on your monitor. They have a nice roasted color to them. What do you think?matt
"Isn't it good/Nigerian wood..." The color looks well-balanced between reddish and yellowish on my monitor...so they do appear sort of "roasted." Lovely.
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alespa
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Post by alespa »

by the way, can you only see the thumbnail image? That's all I get when I check it out. I want to make sure I copied the right link.
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scottielvr
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Post by scottielvr »

It's thumbnail size....85 x 165 px, it says.
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alespa
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Post by alespa »

Does that extra URL link work?
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scottielvr
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Post by scottielvr »

Ooh, yes. We can see the grain now. Marvelous.
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NZ_Chris
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Post by NZ_Chris »

Oooh but they are lovely ...

I must confess that I am no longer Synless ... for my own brand new Syn D arrived in the mail just last night .... Upon hearing of its arrival, I rushed home all eager. Unwrapping it from its packaging I was delighted with its shiny finish and nice solid weight. Carrying it outside I sat me down in a nice sunny spot and proceeded to play ... oh how it sang! how it swooped and soared ...

Actually, that is vastly overstating my ability to play the whistle. Truth is I stuttered and stumbled my way through tunes as I often do. But I am enormously impressed with my new Syn .... It is much more positive feeling than my other whistles (2 Gens and a Feadog) even though it took a while to get used to the extra air I had to blow to get it going ...

Just love it ...
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alespa
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Post by alespa »

Hey Chris, I too noticed the extra little bump of air you need to jump octaves, but I am finding I like it. It requires me to learn better breath control, which is always good. Plus I find that even the third octave, though the volume is louder, does not pierce my ears like my other whistles do. In fact, only one of my dogs leaves the room as I start to whistle . . . but he does that anyway . . . that's why I call him "princess".
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Post by IDAwHOa »

I'm a Synner as well. (some would say a sinner as well, but THAT would be OT)

appologies for this being posted in multiple spots, but Matt did it first :P

Since Matt's whistles are custom jobbies I thought I would post my Lancewood whistles here as well. (don't want to be out done, you see) I have been working on a more detailed "review" but Matt forced my hand.

Image

These whistles have a very pleasing sound. The head on the D gives a bit of a breathy sound, the head on the C is quite pure with a hint of breath to it. On the sweetness scale (1 being sour and 10 being sweet) I would give them an 8.

Ok, what does sweet mean to me? Well, the biggest thing we look for in "sweet" is no shrillness and no to minimal breathiness. We have three whistles that we classify and being really sweet. An O'Riordan d/c traveler set, a Weston D and the Syns (d and c). The Weston has a full and round sound. The O'Riordan's sound, while being sweet, is a more focussed sound, extremely pure to the point of being a laser beam of sound. The Syn's are just behind these two. Whilst being sweet sounding, there is just a bit more air to the tone and the notes are just slightly less focussed especially on the attack.

I hope my descriptions have been adequate and fair. It is sooooo difficult to describe things that have such a personal impression.

(OK Glauber, your turn :D )
Steven - IDAwHOa - Wood Rocks

"If you keep asking questions.... You keep getting answers." - Miss Frizzle - The Magic School Bus
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Post by amar »

NorCalMusician wrote:I'm a Synner as well. (some would say a sinner as well, but THAT would be OT)

appologies for this being posted in multiple spots, but Matt did it first :P

Since Matt's whistles are custom jobbies I thought I would post my Lancewood whistles here as well. (don't want to be out done, you see) I have been working on a more detailed "review" but Matt forced my hand.

Image

These whistles have a very pleasing sound. The head on the D gives a bit of a breathy sound, the head on the C is quite pure with a hint of breath to it. On the sweetness scale (1 being sour and 10 being sweet) I would give them an 8.

Ok, what does sweet mean to me? Well, the biggest thing we look for in "sweet" is no shrillness and no to minimal breathiness. We have three whistles that we classify and being really sweet. An O'Riordan d/c traveler set, a Weston D and the Syns (d and c). The Weston has a full and round sound. The O'Riordan's sound, while being sweet, is a more focussed sound, extremely pure to the point of being a laser beam of sound. The Syn's are just behind these two. Whilst being sweet sounding, there is just a bit more air to the tone and the notes are just slightly less focussed especially on the attack.

I hope my descriptions have been adequate and fair. It is sooooo difficult to describe things that have such a personal impression.

(OK Glauber, your turn :D )
steven, don't use the word "jobbies"...there are british people around here...well, it's actually a scots word for: turds.
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CHIFF FIPPLE
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Post by CHIFF FIPPLE »

True, but we also a Bigjobbies and weejobbies :lol: :lol:
I'm am not without syn as I still have one that Glauber kindly gin me a wee shotie of.
ImageStacey has the most bodacious fipples! & Message board
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IDAwHOa
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Tell us something.: I play whistles. I sell whistles. This seems just a BIT excessive to the cause. A sentence or two is WAY less than 100 characters.

Post by IDAwHOa »

Here is another picture that was provided by Erle:

Image

These are such nice looking and sounding instruments. Very classy.
Steven - IDAwHOa - Wood Rocks

"If you keep asking questions.... You keep getting answers." - Miss Frizzle - The Magic School Bus
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Wombat
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Post by Wombat »

Actually, I have original Syn.

In more ways than one, too. I have an aluminium prototype high D from before he went into commercial production. I also have an even earlier brass low D from before Erle discovered and embraced syn.
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Post by Dana »

:cry: I am without syn...
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Post by Darwin »

I have an aluminum Syn--secondhand. It's relatively sweet/pure, with just a hint of complexity. Easy to play, moderate backpressure, doesn't get too loud until the second-octave C#.

Being heavy-gauge aluminum tubing, it seems pretty robust, too. I'm pretty sure I could stand on the main tube without damaging it.
Mike Wright

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