Sections:
Regular cleaning and care of the baroque flute.
How to oil a baroque flute.
(Coming soon) How to break in a new flute, and related maintenance.
Questions and Answers.
After playing the instrument, make sure that all moisture in the flute is cleaned out with a cloth. Best to use a cleaning rod with a groove in the end, with a lintfree cloth inserted by one corner. Wrap the cloth around the end so it completely covers the end of the cleaning rod. This way you can get it all the way up by the cork in the headjoint. Then wipe out the rest of the flute pieces in similar fashion. Make sure any moisture that collected in the tenon sockets is wiped out completely.
Wipe the surface of the instrument, especially around the blowhole and finger holes.
With time, material can accumulate on the inside of the blowhole and finger joints. This doesn't seem to be a big problem, but every now and then I wrap some cloth around a thin rod and *gently* wipe off the sides.
Always store the flute in its case when not in use. This will prevent many an accident. Also, be careful not to store the instrument in sunlight or near a heating element, as excessive heat can cause the wood to crack.
Every so often, oil the flute. I've used cold pressed peanut oil and almond oil with good results. Some use linseed oil, but you have to be careful to wipe off the excess before it hardens.
Another nice writeup on flute care can be found here as part of Brad Hurley's Wooden Flute Page, mainly dealing with "celtic" style flutes (often 19th century style multi-key wooden instruments).
Prepare a towel to lay the flute pieces out on. The towel will absorb any excess oil that drips from the instrument.
Take the instrument out and lay out the pieces.
Take off the endcap and take out the cork from the headjoint. The cork should be snug, but you should be able to push it out with a wooden dowel. Take care to use a dowel of reasonably large diameter, as to not dent the cork. A diameter slightly less than that of the bore would be most appropriate. If your cork is not part of a screwcap assembly, make sure you know how far to put it in, when you reassemble the headjoint. Best method is to make a mark on your dowel, through the blowhole, when the dowel is inserted up the headjoint so it touches the cork.
Take the key off. Often the pin holding the key is flush against the wood, with no "end" to pull on to get it out. A straightened paperclip us usually the right diameter to push the pin out with.
(Aside: If you really don't want to take off the key, You should put something between the key's pad and the hole it covers, to avoid getting oil on the pad. When oiling in this fashion, try to avoid oil getting on the surface where the key's pad contacts the flute, or this might result in a sticky key since, with the key on, this surface is harder to clean properly.)
Oil the flute: completely soak the bore with your oil of choice, and also the outside surface. I use a small cleaning rod with some tissue or a small piece of cloth to swab the oil inside the bore, making sure all the surfaces are covered. Then, with my fingers I oil the outside of the flute, making sure oil gets into the finger holes, blowhole, the inside of the sockets, etc.
Let it sit and soak for a while. I often leave it soaking overnight. **Warning! If you use linseed oil, don't let it sit for too long, as it needs to be wiped off before it hardens.** This is not a problem with almond or peanut oil. Sometimes, after an hour or two, I look at the pieces and turn them so that oil that collected in the bottom or the piece flows around and covers the rest of the bore again. Alternately, just repeat the bore oiling procedure here.
When done soaking, wipe the outside with a cloth, and then wipe out the bore of the instrument as well. Don't leave excessive quantities of oil in the bore. Oil by the cork won't usually get wiped out during regular cleaning and can get rancid.
Reassemble the flute. Don't forget to put the cork back in. Make sure the surface around the keyhole is dry before putting the key back on, or the oil will cause annoying stickiness.
A first attempt at this, anyway. The questions are from an amateur flutist friend. Hope this is useful information. Some classic sources for baroque flute info are J.J. Quantz's 'On playing the Flute' and J.M. Hotteterre's 'Principles of the Flute, Recorder, and Oboe'.
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Q - Should I warm the oil, the joints, both or none when oiling? How to warm those if so desired? It's obvious that baking the wood near stoves and air vents is not a good idea. (Many years ago I damaged in that way an excellent alto recorder!)
A - Yikes! That sounds scary. Everyone I know just oils at room temprature.
Maybe soaking the bore at a slightly higher temprature increases penetration slightly, but is it worth the risk?! If you truly want to warm the instrument, I'd suggest using your body to do so (i.e. keeping the instrument under your sweater, etc., until it has achieved body temprature), as there is no risk of damaging the instrument that way. Do the same with the oil in that case, but remember that as soon as you let it sit to soak, it will immediately start to cool off again, so I'd question the usefulness of the procedure.
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Q - I know the theory, but how often do YOU oil your flutes?
A - Around the time I get that anxious feeling, or later if I'm busy playing. Realistically, my flutes are probably lucky if they get 4 oilings per year. Depends on how much I've been using a particular instrument. Also depends on if the instrument has any sort of coating in the bore. One of my multi-key flutes and one of the baroque flutes has some sort of Rod Cameron special superglue coating, which I imagine makes oiling the bore rather a useless exercise. Neither of those flutes has been oiled yet.. in about 2 years of owning them.
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Q - Do you use cork grease or something else to for the tenons of your flute? (Some say that after a certain time cork does not require any grease.
A - Only tenon I have with a cork is my modern piccolo, and I use cork grease on it regularly, as the fit is very tight and the grease comes off fast. I haven't noticed it not requiring grease yet. All my early flutes have string wrapped tenons, and for which I use Rod Cameron's nice paraffin/beeswax grease, or any normal solid cork grease I have handy. Chapstick also works in a pinch.
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Q - One of my flutes has Quanz's tuning plug, the other does not. I find that the usefulness of the plug is limited as long as the piece of cork serving as the plug is movable. (Besides, I am afraid that playing, i.e. tinkering, with the plug is asking for trouble.) When looking for a new flute, should I choose an instrument with Quanz's plug, which adds to the price, or should not I care?
A - First of all, if you have a screwcap, the cork should be movable.
Actually, any cork should be movable (take it out when you oil the flute).
Snug, but movable. See a qualified flute-repair person if the cork is stuck.
For each fluteplayer/flute/middle joint combination there is an ideal spot for
the cork. If you are a beginner, keep the cork where the Having a screwcap allows rapid movement of the cork without having to take the
cap off and push the cork around with a wooden dowel (or otherwise suitable
tool). It also provides the little "measuring stick" that comes out of the
middle, so there is no risk of the cork inadvertently changing position
without the flute player being aware of it. This *is* a small risk if your
flute doesn't have a screwcap. I've noticed all my corks shrinking over time,
needing a layer of thread around them to keep the seal (or a new cork made). A
loose cork could be accidentally moved while cleaning out the headjoint after
playing.
If price is an issue when buying a flute, then the screwcap (IMHO) is an
unnecessary expense, and living without one is no big deal. If you have the
money for it, the screwcap is a nice feature.
On my wooden dowel, I have made a mark, that when centered in the blowhole of
the flute, with the end against the cork, puts the cork at the proper spot.
Almost all modern flute cleaning rods come with this groove on the end of the
shaft, showing the proper alignment of the cork on the modern flute *************************************************************************
Q - What do you think about the flutes by recognized flute makers that have
replaceable middle joints to make them play at different pitch? (After all,
even in the Baroque era, the best makers produced such 'Swiss army pocket
knives.')
A - Well, there is always one joint that works the best. The farther you get
away from that one joint, the more difficult tuning becomes. For example, on a
flute tuned to work best at a415, the a430 joint will usually work fine, but
a440 joint will be more difficult.
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Q - Oiling the exterior gives the instrument nice shine and luster, but makes
my fingers slip. Any comments?
A - Wipe it off before playing. With sweaty hands, the flute will be slippery
enough on its own without the extra help of vegetable lubricant. :)
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Q - After some time, old oil becomes greasy and sticky and I can imagine
greasy plug may adversely affect the purity of the sound. Do you protect the
cork plug inside the head joint when oiling? How? (In recorders, the wooden
plug cannot be oiled at any rate. Dr. Moeck told me that he forms a little
paper ball and puts inside the bore during oiling to keep a distance between
the swab and the plug.)
A - (see section on oiling flute) Take the cork out while oiling. After oiling
session is done, wipe the bore reasonably well before putting the cork back
in. Any leftover oil soon gets absorbed into the wood or wiped out as you
clean the flute after each playing session.
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Q - Finger oil, acid (ester?) in the sweat, and oxidation make the silver key
matte. Any advice on how to keep it shiny? (Disassembling the key probably
should be spare.)
A - Ahh, yes... the tarnish problem. All of my keys only looked
super-spiffy-polished when they first came from the shop. Tarnish sets in fast
around here. There are nice cloths available at instrument shops that work
well at polishing silver keys. Wouldn't recommend silver polish, or any other
liquid agent, as it *will* get on the pad and cause the key to get sticky.
(Same goes for bore oil, by the way. It's best to remove the key when oiling).
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Q - My palms and fingers tend to sweat sometimes. (I suspect that nervousness
has something to do with that too.) If my memory serves, Quanz advocates - and
the quarrelsome Tromlitz ridicules - touching the peruke to put some hair
powder on the fingertips and below the lower lip (the lip plate has not been
invented then yet) in order to avoid a slippery flute. Well, I have not worn
my peruke for a while... I heard that a formalin solution can reduce palm
sweating when applied externally, but did not try that. How do musicians who
have the same problem - I am sure there must be such - handle the same
problem?
A - Personally, I keep a cloth in my pocket sometimes, and reach in to my
pocket to get the sweat of my hands. It's not a big enough problem for me to
have come up with any more exotic solutions. Sweat below the lip is an
interesting problem. Marten Root in Holland has a slick move by which he quickly wipes
the surface of the flute (by the blowhole) on his lapel during rests.
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Q - From my experience, and from what Baroque authors write, the flute
produces the best ('masculine, full of body, metallic') sound when the bore is
covered with a thin film of moist. Any ideas how to create moisture inside the
instrument quickly? I blow slowly into the embouchure hole -- the 'huh' breath
--- but am not sure if this is the right way.
A - Could you give me a reference to the author and the page of his book?
Seems to me like fussing with small details. As soon as you start blowing into
the flute, if the temprature is right, a small film of condensation will
appear in the bore. This may be absent on a hot, dry day.
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Q - I found that if the globules of moisture are large (often the case with
the extremely smooth bore of plastic flutes), the sound deteriorates. Do you
wipe the inside of the instrument between pieces or during an intermission?
A - Haven't noticed a problem with this myself. More annoying is that often
moisture gathered around a finger hole will come out and make things wet
there. When performing, I sometimes wipe out the instrument (or at least, the
headjoint) if there is a suitable pause.
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Q - I often have to play or practice early in the morning, without much time
to prepare the flute. In winter, a cold wooden instrument is a pain in the
neck, its pitch being wildly low and very hard to control. How do you warm
your flute in conditions like that? (Once I kept the had joint of my plastic
flute in the pocket of my trousers to warm it up to the body temperature - as
recommended by many people. It fell on the asphalt ground when I was getting
off my car! Need a better way.)
A - Be more careful with the trousers?! :)
Seriously though, I often take the flute apart and keep it in my inner jacket
next to my body if I'm playing in a cold place and just want to keep it warm.
I've tried the trouser pocket method, too, though it seems less safe than
the jacket pocket.
Usually, if it is cold, I'll assemble the flute and stick it inside my sweater
for a while to let my body warm it up, before blowing any air into it.
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Q - I often have to play both the flute and then, say, a soprano recorder, or
the other way around. How to keep the instrument that is not being played at
the moment warm?
A - Try the jacket pocket method. A 4-piece flute will usually fit, and
probably a soprano recorder will as well. Orchestral clarinet players have
this problem to deal with, as they are constantly switching from one clarinet
to another, and the one not being used gets cold in the meantime. I believe
that when they switch, if possible they sit and blow warm air through the
instrument to warm it up before actually playing on it.
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Q - I often see artists keep their flutes (also Bohem flutes) inclined down
and not quite parallel to their lips. How religious about aligning the flute
and the orifice between the lips were your teachers, and what do you yourself
think? In practice, do you keep you flute parallel to the floor for most of
the time?
A -In practice, my flute is usually angled down a little bit, and my head
angled along with it, but not quite as much as the flute. With my modern
flute, if my head was straight and facing perfectly forward, the end of the
flute might be an inch to an inch and a half lower than what would be the
perfectly horizontal position. Much more than this would be problematic for
producing a good tone. In theory, the flute should be aligned along the line
of the lips.
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Q - It is probably my poor control of the wind, but in some musical pieces I
have hard time getting C" sharp in tune in ascending passages, while I
encounter less problems when descending. Different fingering give different
results, but none in this situation seems to be perfect. Any similar
experiences?
A - Probably you are not adjusting the embouchure enough to play the high
notes while ascending. If the note sounds OK while descending from a higher
one, it probably means that you had the embouchure decently adjusted for the
higher notes, and that position worked well for the c# as well.
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Q - My wife adamantly maintains that the sonorous quality of the Baroque flute
voice makes it sound better and more singing in slow movements than in fast
ones. (According to her, recorders are more agile and better suited to fast
pieces.) Is this view only her personal preference or have you come across
similar opinions?
A - I'm sure others have voiced similar opinions, I mean, everyone has an
opinion. :)
As for *my* opinion, I'd say it depends on who is playing. There is really no
reason a recorder would be more agile than the traverso. Maybe she is reacting
to the slightly more piercing sound of the recorder giving her that
impression. I seem to remember reading about a debate during the 18th century
where someone maintained that the 'natural' sound of the flute was the soft
sweet sound, and that it should only be used for that sort of music. I think
that person was an amateur player, who probably found the technical, fast
pieces too difficult. (can anyone correct me on this if I'm mistaken?!)
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Q - General musicianship issue. When I play and a large group of people is
singing to the accompaniment, is the (spare) use of shakes, trills and other
embellishments acceptable? (Normally, one can read about cadenzas, but only in
solo pieces. I find that some graces, battements and short trills in some
musical context can be quite effective even when it is only accompaniment.)
A - In ensemble, unless you have the solo part, it is better to be
conservative with ornaments, though there are the usual obvious spots that
call for trills, etc. Use good taste!
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Q - Vibrato is said to come into use relatively late in the history of the
flute. Should vibrato be avoided entirely on the Baroque flute in Baroque
music or used with discretion for that genre, and used freely in more modern
pieces? (This is my approach, but, again, I am a self-taught player.) What
did they teach you at school about it and what do you do in practice?
A - For baroque music: In general, yes, breath vibrato should be avoided,
though 'flattement' should be used on longer notes, etc. See Quantz and
Hotteterre's books for specific info on this.
For modern music: Assuming you mean modern music on baroque flute, I'd say it
depends on the piece and what the composer wants. If you are just playing any
old 19th and 20th century music on it, use your judgement as to what sounds
right. In general, the baroque flute doesn't seem to respond as well to breath
vibrato as the modern flute, so probably use it sparingly, if at all.
Remember, modern clarinetists get by fine without the use of breath vibrato,
and I'd say the situation is similar for the baroque flute; it doesn't really
need it.
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Q - There is a slight difference between what Quanz and Tromlitz recommend as
the correct position of the right hand thumb. I guess, it may depend on the
proportions of one's hand and fingers, but could you possibly precisely
describe where you place that thumb on the one-keyed flute please?
A - Squarely under the flute, between the 4th and 5th finger hole.
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Q - Two guitarists I once played with wanted me to tune my flute to their
guitars. They used an electronic guitar tuner to accomplish that. They
attached the clip of the tuner to the key. We had a very hard time to tune
the flute even though we went through the entire range of my tuning plug. I
suspect that guitar tuners are not best suited to flutes. Are there any good
methods to tune the Baroque flute except for a good ear?
A - well, er.. first make sure the flute is in tune with itself, i.e. the cork
is in the right place. Then tune the middle D (2nd D on the flute). If you can
tune that note, all else should fall in line. Remember that the baroque flute
is not tuned 'equal tempered', so unless you have a tuner that can be set for
various tempraments (KORG's new tuners do that well), it can be a frustrating
experience trying to get all the notes 'in tune' on a tuner that demands equal
temprament.
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Q - There seem to be two schools on equalizing the tone in both registers. One
says that you should turn you flute in the low register, and turn it out in
the high one. The other one maintains that this method is impractical in fast
passage works and advocates appropriate lower jaw movements combined with
proper embouchure. Of course, a combination of both can be imagined. I am
interested to which school you and your teachers subscribe?
A - Equalizing the tone?! I assume you mean playing in the various registers
with a good, full tone - in tune. Find the good spot to place it on the lip
(not turned in too much, and not turned out too much. About halfway, or maybe
a little more open than that.), and adjust with the embouchure, using the
lower jaw movement. I've found that turning the head *up* a little for the low
notes often makes them speak clearer. Turning down could well muddy them and
make them flat.
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Q - Hotteterre, Mahaut, Corrette, Quanz and others give relatively simple
rules for tonguing and the use of syllables for note pronunciation. At the
same time, Tromlitz has an extremely complicated, or at least lengthy, system.
Honestly, were you able to memorize and put in practice Tromlitz's rules?
A - Nope. Haven't bothered. Learn one way and stick with it. Most all of them
work fine provided you have put in the practice time to use them well.
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Q - Out of curiosity. On some oriental flutes vibrato - often very pronounced
- is achieved by shaking the flute. (Sic.) Have they taught you anything like
that for western flutes when at school?
A - Hotteterre suggests doing flattements that way on low D and Eb, since it
can't be accomplished with a finger. (interestingly, he makes no mention of
the possibility of using breath vibrato. Hmmm.... )
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Q - Should the embouchure hole and the other holes be oiled? (For cleaning
them occasionally, I use an intradental brush one can get at any stand with
dental hygiene supplies. It works great.)
A - Sure... see the section on oiling the flute. I wouldn't say it is
absolutely necessary to oil it, but why not?
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Q - I do not remember who, but Tromlitz or one of the modern authors, mentions
that the prevailing opinion is that the one-keyed flute is not at home at
remote keys, which -- he says -- is not true, provided proper execution. It is
my impression that indeed the traverso -- not only mine :-) -- sounds best in
the most simple and common keys. What do you think about the issue?
A - The traverso is a musical instrument like any other, with its own
peculiarities and challenges. Provided you have a well tuned instrument to
start with, it can be played well in any of the keys, given a skilled player.
The different keys won't sound the same due to the various cross fingerings,
etc., but that is part of the beauty of the instrument. Look at Bach's works,
and the keys he wrote in; the Matthew and John passions, for example. F#
minor, F minor, Bb major are some examples. Surely he wouldn't have written
for the flute in those keys if they simply brought out the inadequacies of the
instrument.
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Q - Again, Tromlitz mentions that he has never heard Quanz playing above e'''
although he (Quanz) gives fingerings for notes higher than e'''. I am not an
expert, but I am not recalling such notes in Quanz's music either. Always
eager to criticize others, Tromlitz next goes to suggest that probably Quanz's
embouchure was not good enough or something. Actually, it took me a lot of
time and as much frustration to get f''' properly on the alto recorder, but I
have not mastered the note on the Baroque flute yet (even though I can play
some notes higher than f'''). I am ashamed, but this is how the matter stands.
Presumably, Frederic the Great knew what he was doing employing Quanz as his
private tutor. I am beginning to wonder if Quanz, who must have known the
flute like few of his contemporaries, was not right not risking f''' in
public. What is your experience and opinion on the suitability of the Baroque
flute for executing notes near the upper end of its compass? What, in your
opinion, is the PRACTICAL limit of this compass?
A - For baroque flute, the practical limit would be a g''', though you
occasionally find a g#''' (example anyone?) and a''' (Bach's a-minor partita).
F''' is *the* most difficult note on the instrument, and some flutes simply
don't have it in them to do it. The range above e''' is not the one most
commonly used, but it is not uncommon to play notes up there either. As far as
old 18th century gossip regarding Quantz's inabilities, who knows?