Posts made by wwoodard8

@Peter-Ostry Copper mod on page 60...

@Peter-Ostry manual can be found here: https://downloads.aodyo.com/sylphyo/?C=M;O=D

@wwoodard8 Forgot to mention - it works great with absorbing water. No burbling sounds, dripping etc...

@Clint Nice. I am a "wet player" too :)
In the video you seem to imply you just leave the insert in all the time. Do you ever have to pull it out to dry?

I've also been playing with this idea and am using this stuff from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZHZS1W6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The box is much cheaper than your alternative ($14). My wife, the nurse, showed me this - normally used for wound dressing (!) But each insert gets soaked, so I change once per day.

I cut off a piece, twist into a tube and insert.

(It's amazing how this thing in the mouthpiece makes no appreciable effect on the wind resistance. Can't do that so easily with regular wind instruments! It's fun to ignore the laws of physics... :)

Wow, Clint, you are reading my mind!

What exactly are your symptoms? In other words, what problems are being caused?

For my part, I'll notice a bubbling sensation. It's weird, but it doesn't seem to affect the tone in any way. Because of that I suspect the problem is happening at the bottom tube plug - water gathers and fills the little hole of the plug.

What I've done in this case is to always have two plugs and two mouthpieces and swap them out when one gets too wet. But I'm panicked that I'll drop the tube plug and it will get lost on a dark stage!

I mean, this kind of thing has always been a problem with wind players (as I'm sure you know), Usually, people don't mind taking a break while someone swabs out their instrument.

Would also be worried about blowing the thing down the tube, but "nary a drop" sounds really good :)

Search "hydrophilic" on Amazon and you get something else that might work - here

For those of you who have come to the Sylphyo from other wind instruments, what do you find are the differences in the way you provide breath support?

Is it as generally important on the Sylphyo as it is on "real" wind instruments? In what ways is it different? Do you have any wind synth specific breath support exercises you do?

Thanks!

@Gromit Ah, well, interesting. I would really like a bite controller :)

Wait, what? What is this interesting "dynamic mouthpiece" of which you speak? :)

@Clint Ah, now this is good info! I'll try the velocity as 1. (BTW, why 1? My assumption is that synths built especially for wind synths will just totally ignore velocity...)

@Clint Well, looks like the "re-pair" repaired my problem :) Everything is flowing smoothly now!

@Clint Thanks again, Clint! I'll go through this and let you know...

@Clint Yes, dynamic.

Looking into this further, it seems like there are no double notes if I am connected with the cable. Maybe my Link is not connecting securely? I'll try to reset it and see what that does.

Thanks for the reply!

I have noticed recently that every so often I get a repeated note. I don't think I have somehow stopped blowing, moved my fingers, etc. Here's a midi dump of what happens -

Notice the A#3 plays, stops, then plays again.

This only happens intermittently, but is irritating. I've worked with all the settings I can think of, but none seem to make this go away.

Has anyone else seen this behavior? Any idea of how to avoid it?

Thanks!

@Clint Haha!

@Clint I'm thinking of taking the Sylphyo to my proctologist - he would have the right equipment! :)

And I think we need the wind instrument equivalent of the iFixit guys to tear one of these things down and show us what's inside.

The main Sylphyo screen on the website does have this bit of information:

@Clint I've looked down my Sylphyo and see something almost exactly the same as what you label as "Addition caulking oozing out of the junction". But no dangling strand.

(And how did you take that photo? I couldn't contort the light and camera enough to replicate :)

@Clint Well, the reset worked. Back to normal now. Whew... Thanks for the advice!

My Sylphyo is having a problem.

I want to save the base settings when I change them.

I notice the base key is set to Db3.

I want to change it to C3. I'll hold the "AYO" button, to go to quick settings.

I'll touch the top octave to open the "Base key" screen and touch the "-" settings key to change the base key.

I'll release the "AYO" button and see the message "SAVED!" at the bottom of the screen.

But when I turn the Sylphyo off and back on, the base key has not been changed. It is back to Db3.

How can I fix this problem?

@Clint to Aodyo: my hope is that this problem gets resolved quickly in a reasonable, responsible manner. If it becomes evident that you after sale service is less than excellent, it makes it harder to decide to continue to purchase your products.

I really enjoy my Sylphyo! And I hope that when things need repair I can continue to enjoy it. Otherwise I will be forced to look for alternatives…

@Paul-Flute Cool! Modifying the Sylphyo is a lot of fun :)

This just points out one of the fantastic benefits of breath synth instruments.

With acoustic flutes the holes have to be in a very specific position, therefore your fingers have to conform to the dictates of physics.

With a breath synth instrument however, you can put the sensors for the finger anywhere you want, in any configuration. You can make the instrument conform to your fingers' best natural positions, making articulating over the instrument much easier. (Copper tape helps in this!)

I had been looking for a decent case for my Sylphyo for some time and couldn't find anything available specifically for the instrument.

So I broadened my search and came up with this:

I just got it delivered and the Sylphyo fits it perfectly! Nice pattern on the outside, quilted fabric inside. I purchased it from a store called Lark in the Morning - here's the link:
https://larkinthemorning.com/search?type=product&q=cotton+flute+bag

This bag was meant originally for Native American Flutes, but the Medium size fits the Sylphyo perfectly.

(I have no affiliation to the company, etc... :)

@Clint Here's where I got the tape - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VX1Y5BC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

They have many different widths, but this 1/2" size seemed the best - just a little narrower than the indentations...

One more post - the last lower octave tape position I posted doesn't activate the lower octave consistently. Not sure why - maybe the tape didn't cover the indentation enough?

Anyway, I reverted back to Paul Flute's suggested position and it seems to work consistently now...

Aaaand, one more time. Hopefully last... :)

One more addition (thanks, Paul!)

Ok, so after a bit of work I came up with this setup -

My thumb is horizontal across the bottom indentation, making for the most comfortable position for my front three fingers.

Then in position two and three, I naturally hinge up from my thumb joint, keeping the front three fingers in the same position, no matter where the thumb is. This makes for a standard position for the front three fingers.

I added the copper tape on the top indentation since my thumb in that position eneded precariously perched on the left edge of the indentation - just a little insurance :)

I think its working well!

As both of you have suggested, I'm trying to think of what I could add to the indentations to make finding them easier. I'm going to try the tape and felt and cork - they all sound like great ideas!

Playing around more this afternoon, I've come to the conclusion that I don't want the movement of my thumb to ever modify the positions of my front three fingers - no matter what octave I'm in, I'm going to keep the position in front the same. That way I can be confident of my front fingers in any octave since they will always be the same. So it seems I'll be forced to move the thumb in an arc across the three dents. They will all feel different to my thumb, but maybe I'm hoping they will start to feel natural after some more time.

I've been working on learning my left thumb positions on the octave indentations.

It looks to me like the three indentations are set up in a semi-circle, making the assumption that the thumb will naturally rest horizontally on the middle one.

With this assumption, the three indentations each feel the same to the thumb, as they are arranged in a slight semi-circle.

However, what I've noticed is that my natural hand position lands the thumb horizontal to the lower indentation.

Because of this, each indentation feels different and makes it a bit harder to gauge if I've securely landed on them.

My question - does anyone else notice that this gives them trouble finding the octave indentations? I'll be interested in hearing where other folk's thumbs land naturally.

And also, what kind of work have you done to learn the positions of the indentations? Any particular exercises, etc.

Thanks!

@Clint That's good to hear!

I've just noticed on the Aodyo site that the Sylphyo has gone on sale until Oct 31.

I have to wonder why? Does this portend a new version? Could they be dropping support soon?

I'm just speculating... But does anyone have any solid info on the future of the Sylphyo?

Thanks!

BTW - if anyone is interested, I asked Aodyo support what kind of charger would work. And this is the reply I received.

Dear Will,

Thank you for your email.
Sorry for the confusion with the power adapter.
You should have had a US adapter.

Yes, a 5W type iPhone adapter should work.

I remain available if you have any other questions.

Best regards.

Matthias.

So there you go!

@Clint Thanks Clint. That helps a lot. I seem to closely match the "Battery fully charged" line so I must have a defective unit. I'll go ahead and ask Thomann to send a replacement.

I appreciate your efforts in this. Thanks a lot!

@reidid789 I think you're right. I've done everything humanly possible...

@reidid789 Well, after 48 hours charging, screen is still dead. Will try again with a different charger. After that it is going back to store.

I just noticed a small hole on the back the my Sylphyo. Looks like a reset button hole, but I don't see any description of it in the manual.

Anybody know what this is?

@Clint Thanks for the reply! (BTW, I'm a longtime fan of your Native American Flute YouTube series and have a couple of flutes myself. I really love playing them. :)

I did see the thread you have elsewhere in this site about the current meter, and purchased one myself. My Sylphyo draws around .015A when the switch is off and 0.152 when the switch is on. Does match with your findings?

My current problem is that when I turn on the Sylphyo the screen is blank. Did you perform your 48hr recharge from a deep discharge state (battery totally dead)? If you did a recharge from a deep discharge state, were you able to see any info on the screen?

Other entries in the community forums seem to imply that the instrument goes dark until the 48hr charge is up. I'm getting close to 48hrs and the screen is still dark so I'm getting concerned that maybe the unit is defective.

As far as I can tell, when the Sylphyo is in this deep discharge state, there is no visible indication about how close to fully charged it is. Do you know of any way to tell the current amount of the battery charge?

(BTW - I didn't use the charger that came with the Sylphyo - I bought the unit from Thomann in Germany and it came with a Euro style plug that I couldn't use in the US.)

Thanks again for replying. I really appreciate your help!

I've read in other posts about the deep discharge state a Sylphyo battery can get in if it gets low on charge. I have a couple of clarifying questions :)

1. I read it has to charge slowly over a period of 48 hours. Does that time have to be uninterrupted? In other words, could I charge for, say, 24 hours, not charge for whatever reason for 1 hour, then charge for 24 more hours? Would that still result in getting out of the deep discharge state?
2. Must I use the 5v 2 amp charger that came with Sylphyo or would a normal phone charge work as well?
3. Does the Sylphyo, when in deep discharge state come to life before the 48 hours is up?

Thanks so much for your reply. I think a clarification of this process would really be of benefit to many of us!

@reidid789 I was pursuing that option, but then saw this post:
https://community.aodyo.com/topic/1429/sylphyo-problem-of-battery

This is exactly what is happening to me. So let's see if recharging for 48 hours will fix the problem...

@wwoodard8 Just checked and the unit with the blank screen attaches to Sylphyo bench and all the sensors seem to be working. Also the sounds come out fine. I am also able to blindly follow the steps to change a sound (hold Aodyo key, touch middle button, swipe on lower area) to get the sounds to change.
Would you agree all this seems to point to a defective unit that should be returned?

I am having trouble with the Sylphyo screen.
I just purchased a Sylphyo and it was working fine. At one point, I turned it on and the screen froze. I would touch the Aodyo button and nothing would change on the screen. Now the screen does not come on at all.
However, it connects to the Link, and sends MIDI out in response to breath. In other words, everything is working except the screen.
Do you believe this unit is defective? I am recharging now in case it is a battery issue.
Thanks for any replies!