Flute Maintenance- Wood Vs. Plastic

[I.D.10-t]

My flute is a Jon C. flute that he restored. I think that the barrel was cracked and he made a new one. It was interesting to watch how that section slowly darkened to the same color of the flute. I wish I would have taken pictures, as it is just the most vague memory now.

[sbhikes]

Rosewood smells funny.

[eilam]

Diane - first instrument i got from Rose-wood was a used recorder, and i really did not like the smell, like some smell that one would encounter in an estate sale or thrift shop............
later - i stared making instruments, and working with exotic woods such as Rosewood....
i learned to really like the wood, even the smell.
I have a Bb Olwell and keyed Copeland that are both made of Rosewood, they are so light, the Copeland is lighter then any Keyless i have held, and it has a fully lined head.
both are so much fun to play.

however, Mopane smells the best to me.

[Gobae]

Sand a flute just to keep the color?!?!?

Well, as long as you stayed away from the holes you should be able to do whatever you want with the rest of wood right? I mean you could paint it, stain it, burn knotwork or curvilinear designs in it and such. It shouldn't affect how it plays.

And if I've just uttered heresy you can chalk it up to me being a noob

[tin tin]

however, Mopane smells the best to me.

Not after a session in a smokey pub! ...oh that all were as enlightened as California (and some select other states).

I've owned two mopane flutes and have been well pleased with the wood--dense like blackwood, colored a bit like rosewood (it's very attractive in good light...in the aforementioned dark and smokey pub it just looks dark brown), and it's very stable.

[sbhikes]

I have a brand new rosewood fife. It doesn't smell like a thift shop, which I would take to mean that it doesn't smell like mildew. I can't describe it well, but it is slightly unpleasant and can get to you if you let it.

Does blackwood or boxwood have a smell?

[Jon C.]

I have a brand new rosewood fife. It doesn't smell like a thift shop, which I would take to mean that it doesn't smell like mildew. I can't describe it well, but it is slightly unpleasant and can get to you if you let it.

Does blackwood or boxwood have a smell?

Hi,
Blackwood has kind of a licorice smell, Boxwood has none. The best Roswood smell is Madagascar Rosewood, very sweet smelling wood, the wood is a bright purple color when turned, then darkens with age..

[chas]

What does the fife smell like? Most rosewoods smell like roses, which is how the family got its name. They usually just smell when they're being turned or are recently turned. When it's being turned, boxwood smells like buttered popcorn. The first time I turned some, I went upstairs to get some of the popcorn I thought my wife had just made.

I wonder if what you're smelling is the oil the maker used on the fife. I got a new cocobolo flute and the maker asked if it still smelled like roses. It smelled like linseed oil.

[CranberryDog]

I have a brand new rosewood fife. It doesn't smell like a thift shop, which I would take to mean that it doesn't smell like mildew. I can't describe it well, but it is slightly unpleasant and can get to you if you let it.

Does blackwood or boxwood have a smell?

Hi,
Blackwood has kind of a licorice smell, Boxwood has none. The best Roswood smell is Madagascar Rosewood, very sweet smelling wood, the wood is a bright purple color when turned, then darkens with age..

Interesting, the turns this thread has taken. I present one more; my best smelling instrument is my Conde Hermanos Flamenco guitar which is Brazillian rosewood and German Spruce. It smells like a garden in the Alhambra. My National tricone steel guitar smells like the back seat of a '55 Chevy. My blackwood flute smells like a bog in the Highlands. Cheers, Cyril.

[Coffee]

Here's a question that's semi-related: when the first blocks of blackwood started arriving in Europe, back when most flutes were made out of whatever woods were locally availible, was there similar discussion about oak or maple versus these new-fangled foreign woods or did musicians and flute makers simply accept them as a new, and better, material?

As a side note (no pun intended) I think I recall someone making a perfectly acceptable shakuhachi out of a fish roll. It only took a few seconds too. So if even sausage works, what's all the fuss about?

[CranberryDog]

Coming from Doc Jones to my mail box next week will be a Copley blackwood flute AND a Copley Delrin flute. My German Shepherd Dog and I will make empirically subjective observations. I believe Bonzo has perfect pitch, plus his olfactory sensory neurons are peerless.

[Jon C.]

Here's a question that's semi-related: when the first blocks of blackwood started arriving in Europe, back when most flutes were made out of whatever woods were locally availible, was there similar discussion about oak or maple versus these new-fangled foreign woods or did musicians and flute makers simply accept them as a new, and better, material?

As a side note (no pun intended) I think I recall someone making a perfectly acceptable shakuhachi out of a fish roll. It only took a few seconds too. So if even sausage works, what's all the fuss about?

I think Blackwood didn't come to England for some time, the imported wood of choice was Cocuswood, the local wood, Boxwood. I have only run across a couple of Blackwood flutes, and they were German made. Most of the "Blackwood" was actually Ebony, and it is a real problematic wood, cracking easily, and subject to humidity changes more then the nice oily Blackwood (Grenadille).

[Cork]

...What are the consequences of not swabbing out a plastic flute? Will it grow microbes and begin to smell funny?

Space aliens will invade your neighborhood.

The sun will fail to rise in the East.

Hell will freeze.

[RudallRose]

Boy, cocus.....this thread has taken a turn!

first off.....to answer a question posed here: what does a fife smell like? As a fifer of ... ahem....41 years (wow.....now i'm frightened!).....every fife i've ever played smelled like a stale beer. didn't matter what it was made of or its age.

Today's delrin and yesterday's ebonite are very different materials, but with basically the same properties for a flute.

Jem had it right that Rockstro went on and on about how perfect ebonite was for a flute. His point, though, was not that it should be better than wood. Nope. His point is that it did not react as wood does to changes in heat, humidity and isn't as nearly destructible. That's why he thought it perfect. It didn't require swabbing, didn't require retuning or boring, didn't require anything but a buff now and then.
Of course, it was some time before he saw that ebonite turned green or shades thereof! (Sort of like ivory.....which was the rage for a bit....until the flutes naturally cracked in time.)

I own two ebonite flutes now: an 8key vintage Hawkes in D....and an 8key vintage Boosey in Eb. Both are only practice flutes that are never taken apart. I've tried both at sessions and while I adore the feel of my Hawkes and the key structure, it is not a "players" flute to me. This though is more symptomatic of the embouchure cut. Put an Olwell head or Rudall head on it and it plays great, but the aesthetic of a wooden head on an ebonite body is....well, hardly pleasing as you'd figure.

I have owned or played just about every delrin flute available today, from the very earliest M&E and Seerys, Dixon, Forbes new version, Paddy's Ward's first few and any other variety in between (I even tried Madden's delrin olwell when I sessioned with him last year .... and still want it, TOM!).

The difference in tone and feel is striking from Delrin to wood. There is no comparison. None. They are very very different instruments, even from the same maker (of which I have original Prattens in cocus and ebonite).

now, I can say one thing of Delrin/ebonite that is not true of wood: Delrin/ebonite feels greasy. If you're perspiring when you play (hot weather or nervousness), the flute slips in my left hand terribly. I have no control. (ergo, i believe, the invention of the flute crutch).
A bandana at the handy will cure this issue....as will rosen, just ask a fiddler for some.

I'm amazed that Delrin costs so much less than wood flutes....probably because there is no seasoning period and the like. but turning Delrin, for the maker, is like boring concrete. It tears up the reamers and is hardly worth it for the money.

so....my 2cents....or half-buck......or two.

[jim stone]

'Of course, it was some time before he saw that ebonite turned green or shades thereof! (Sort of like ivory.....which was the rage for a bit....until the flutes naturally cracked in time.) '

Green is good!