Flute Making in the Time of Coronavirus

[Casey Burns]

Hello Everyone,

Am wondering if any of the Flute Makers are being affected in this time of Coronavirus.

Certainly the economic impact is being felt. Actually I think my clients and potential clients have been sensing that the economy has been on the edge for sometime. Folk Flute orders were almost nil in February. I did pick up some higher end orders and there is something exciting about my low G flute design.

I get a few items from China for the workshop and usually keep myself well stocked with these so no disruptions there. Paper towels are still available. Most of what I use is made or already here in the US. So no impact there.

One direct result will be the cost of silver for rings and slides. Its been soaring. I will have to get some soon and will wait until it dips.

Anyone else feeling any effects?

Casey

[Terry McGee]

Anyone else feeling any effects?
Casey

Woah, we're still processing the bushfires! What a great start to the new decade it has been.

I wondered if flute players might start to notice concerns from other players at sessions? We do tend to spray a lot of air around...

And I imagine we might be more prone to acquire air-borne maladies, given we probably process twice as much air as other musicians?

And will the time-honoured ceremony of trying out other people's flutes take a back seat for a while?

[jim stone]

Casey, will you say something more about the G flute in the works? Most interesting.

[Casey Burns]

I have figured out a way of bringing toneholes on these monster flutes much closer together while maintaining their acoustical distances. Uses String Theory, bending of Spacetime and Wormholes. I will say more when the prototyping process is done.

It was supposed to be done by last night so I could give the prototype to Kevin Crawford but recovering from knee replacement surgery took some wind out of my sails this winter and I will be getting around to this project finally in April and May. I would have seen Kevin at the Lunasa concert at the Triple Door in Seattle last night except that Seattle is apparently the new Wuhan and they are telling folks over 60 to avoid any type of venue full of people, and to get no closer than a few meters to anyone. I suspect the entire town might end up on quarantine status before long (seriously). I turned in my ticket for credit to some future concert. Today I am turning away a client who lives and works as a school teacher really close to the epicenter in Kirkland. We will meet via Skype instead. I will be dropping my car off at the dealer for an oil change and minor repair (some rodent moved in behind the hood insulation) and even that is freaking me out some as I have caught colds there. Given Seattle's epicenter status this is not worth dismissing.

See https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/03/was ... lysis-says

[PB+J]

It surely must be active here in the Wash DC area. We have so many international folks passing though. Where I teach there are tens of thousands of international students. We have a family trip scheduled for April, to the Netherlands but I'm skeptical it will happen.

O read a very good piece by a virologist who was in China for the outbreak. The gist of his argument was that China's response was highly highly effective, and that no other country would likely be able to pull it off

[Mr.Gumby]

We have a family trip scheduled for April, to the Netherlands but I'm skeptical it will happen

My wife is due to go there on a work related trip in April, for now things seem to be more or less in hand there, although confirmed infections more than doubled overnight from 38 to 82 (see here).

It's a rapidly developing situation though, a cluster related to travel to Italy opened up last night in West Clare with a lot of first hand contacts that need testing and self quarantine with several schools etc closed.

[Steampacket]

At the Sunday session here in Lund a flute player and guitarist announced they had spent a week skiing in Northern Italy. They seemed healthy enough, no coughs, sneezes, or sniffles. However a 25 year old student who was recently in Italy, living in student housing here in town, has been diagnosed with Covid-19 two days ago. So far 5th of March there are 60 people infected, all in quarantine, all have travelled from Northern Italy or Iran, no deaths.

Otherwise common sense dictates that you ought to wash your hands for at least 30 seconds when you get home, especially if you've used public transport, been to the pub, been to the shops, touched door handles, used keypads to give your PIN-code etc., and don't touch your face, mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands.

[an seanduine]

Now we are being told by Chinese researchers there a two (currently) identified strains to the COVID-19 virus; the ¨L-type¨ and the ¨S-type¨. The L-type is the more aggressive form, more commonly seen early on in Wuhan, with a frequency of causing 70% of the infections. This strain appears to have a higher mortality rate. The number of new infections of L-type COVID-19 appears to be falling, perhaps showing some success of their draconian cordon sanitaire. This means the core strain of COVID-19 is highly mutable. More mutated strains are likely to be discovered. This makes finding effective vaccines more difficult. Yikes!

Bob

[Squeeky Elf]

Ah well, the humans had a good run, probably time to turn it over to the dolphins anyway...

[Casey Burns]

Today I turned away a client who lives a mile from the epicenter of the outbreak in the Seattle area (Kirkland). We'll be meeting by Skype instead. She needs help reaching the G# key better and its something she can show me using this tool. It will be a few weeks or months before I can make those modifications queue-wise. One advantage is that I didn;t have to clean up my workshop or make the inside of my house presentable. Currently remodeling a bathroom and we haven't fully unpacked from the weekend.

[an seanduine]

A little good news may be in order. After being wrong-footed in their initial response to the SARS-2 (causes Covid-19 illness) the Chinese are fast tracking a number of treatments in clinical trials. These involve minuscule samples but show some progress. . .and they are freely communicating with the West now. Remdesivir, currently being tested in Nebraska show some promise. Remdesivir is a second generation broad spectrum anti-viral drug. Kaletra, a drug cocktail of three drugs used to treat HIV, has had success in treatment of Covid-19. Tiny size study in Shanghai with 18 patients treated. Done in mid-February. All survived. One had to be intubated. Some side effects. Perhaps the most hopeful study involved an antimalarial drug, Chloroquine Phosphate, involving 100 patients. All recovered. This drug has been confirmed effective according to Xinhuanet. Best of all, the drug has been deployed against malaria for 70 years and has wide clinical examination. The Sars-2 (Covid-19) patients showed no side effects.

Bob

[Sedi]

That sounds indeed like good news .

[Casey Burns]

They are also testing Chloroquine Phosphate for use as a Bore Oil.

[an seanduine]

Not just to be pedantic, but that would be ´boor oil´

Bob

[Holmes]

We could encourage customers to continue their purchases and have them learn a newer version of B McGlinchey's "Splendid Self-Isolation" and play it with a face mask on?
H