Chiff and Fipple Forums

Two Quick Questions: Does anyone have any tricks for dropping notes so you can breath during a really fast song. I have been trying and failing. Also, how many times a week should you oil a wooden flute. I play mine about every day for at least 15 mintutes. Would oiling it everyday hurting my flute in anyway?

Thanks for your help on my bamboo question.
As far as dropping notes in order to breathe (a sometimes anoying but necessary function!)
a good rule of thumb is: you ususally drop the 2nd eighth note of a set. Eg) in jigs where you have 3 eighth notes per beat, drop the 2nd or middle one and grab a breath where the note used to be. In reels, drop the 2nd eighth note of a group of 4. Of course, this is not always the case. As with ornaments, it is sometimes a good idea to not do the same thing over & over in a piece. Maybe put the breaths in different places, add different ornaments, change the melody a bit....on repeats. Hope this helps a bit. Do a lot of listening to good recordings too! Good Luck!
Sue

A good schedule for oiling the flute is once a week for the first month, then once a month after that. Be sure to wipe out all of the excess oil each time or you will end up with a sticky build-up.

I know this may have been discussed before, pls. forgive my asking one more time. What would be a good oil? I can't find almond oil over here, so what would be a good substitute? Could you use baby oil? Thanks

Tots

Everyone seems to have their own opinion on what kind of oil is best for woodwind bores. Unscented mineral oil appears to work as well as any, and is cheap. You can get it in the "laxative" section of the pharmacy. If you don't mind spending more money, you can buy woodwind bore oil from most music shops. If you use natural oils such as almond oil, it helps to add some vitamin E to prevent the oil from oxidizing and turning rancid.

I'm lucky enough to live in the same city as Terry Mcgee. His advice was something like the post above from memory, ie, once a week for the first month, once a month for the first year, then once or twice a year after that. But he also said that as far as he knew nobody has damaged a flute by oiling it too much.

He also advised bore oil (any music shop) for the inside, and pretty much anything that's edible for the outside - or nothing on the outside if you prefer since the oil on the outside is purely cosmetic. I use almond oil with a half tablet of crushed vitamin mixed in for the outside (any health food shop). The vitamin E acts a preservative helping the oil to last longer without going rancid. If you do buy Almond oil, get the smallest bottle you can - you use so little that despite the vitamin E it will probably be past it's use by by the time it's all used.