Flute Disaster!

emmdee · Post by **emmdee** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:45 pm

I was playing my flute in front of a mirror today (good for practice, not due to narcissism) when I noticed I had a crack in the back of the barrel. It starts at the headjoint end and runs about 80% down the length of the barrel. I phoned the maker who told me to put headjoint and barrel in the post and he'd replace the barrel. He doesn't repair them, he said, it's easier to just replace them. Fair enough, I said. So I took the flute apart to pack the headjoint etc and give the body a clean out prior to putting it away. Upon cleaning the body I noticed that there are no fewer than FOUR cracks in the upper tenon. Disaster! I phoned again and was told to send the whole lot over.

Firstly, I can't understand how this has happened. I always lather the joints in grease, don't leave it without swabbing or at least blowing out the condensation, and have never dropped it. The flute is 3 and a half years old and is well played in. I oil it a couple of times a year. I'm in Scotland, where the climate is pretty flute friendly - no great changes (it's always bloody raining!).

Secondly, I have no idea how easy a repair will be, given that it has a one piece body and the tenon is badly cracked, and I have no idea how much it'll cost. I recently took up music full-time and so don't have pots of cash to throw at a broken flute.

Thirdly, I'm going to be recording 2 albums in the next 3 months and now I don't have a flute to use. Triple whammy!!

I'd appreciate any helpful advice, or even a sympathetic word or two!
m.d.

azw · Post by **azw** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:20 pm

I'm sorry to hear of this. It sounds pretty serious. Please let us know if you learn what caused it.

This story will be stimulating nightmares for all of us tonight!

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:25 pm

Wow. Yeah, definitely sympathy. Bad luck and bad timing combined.

Any wooden instrument can crack. That's one of the sad truths about playing wooden flutes...no matter how well the wood is aged, no matter how carefully the maker selects it or works it, there is always the real chance that there may be a flaw in the wood that the eye cannot see or that even has no visible evidence.

The only way to know such a flaw is there is by the crack that it eventually forms.

It sounds like you take reasonable care of your flute, so I really think you encountered some really bad luck.

With luck, one of the makers on the board like Terry McGee or Casey Burns will chime in with some specific info about that sort of crack repair.

Best wishes for a speedy recovering for (and of) your flute!

--James

jemtheflute · Post by **jemtheflute** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:29 pm

Commiserations indeed! Best of luck with a speedy repair, and/or with finding a loan flute (talk to your maker/repairer?) in time to acclimatise yourself to it pre-studio!

Cubitt · Post by **Cubitt** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:44 pm

Any possibility that the maker has a flute to swap? If so, it solves your problem and gets an instrument in your hands quickly.

Otherwise, I wonder if you have a neighbor that frequents this site. . .

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:47 pm

Man, that really hurts...
I wasn't surprised about the barrel - that happens to the best flute - but the tenon cracks - it's unlikely there were simply flaws in the wood that appeared simultaneously on two connecting/connected parts... something clearly happened between them that caused both female and male ends to split. It will be interesting to hear what your maker says, and others here that have probably seen this before...

G1 · Post by G1 » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:40 pm

OMG! I feel your pain.

I once opened my 12 string guitar case after being unloaded from the equipment truck to find the top caved in (the case sprang back - but not the wooden top). On another occasion the roadies dropped my hand-wired '71 Marshall amp from a loading dock... splinters and glass. While on stage performing with my Gemeinhardt, the bass player got a sudden burst of energy and decided to test his skill at dancing and playing... and in a single stumbling swift blow with the headstock of his Fender Precision, converted the flute in my hands to a pretzel on the floor. It still bears ghost lines on the headjoint from that event.

While your event doesn't have the same catalysts - it is none the less a major disaster for a performing artist. May your flute get well soon!

azw · Post by **azw** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:50 pm

Is there any possibility that someone who shares your living space may have sat on it or torqued the joint by accident?

There was a thread on the whistle page a year or so ago in which a guy was missing his favorite whistle. It turned out that his son had been playing it and it was hidden in the couch cushions. Oh, boy, that'd be a bad way to "store" a flute.

emmdee · Post by **emmdee** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:52 pm

It's no slight on the maker if I name him here. After all, the flute is 3 and a half years old so it's obviously nothing to do with the workmanship. It's an Eamonn Cotter 4 keyed. I'm just hoping that a) he can fix it and b) it won't cost a packet to do so. I could probably borrow a flute for the recordings; not having it for those is the least of my worries. I'm totally foxed as to how and when it happened. I've played it every day since last Sunday and only noticed the barrel today. It's very upsetting as I actually feel like I'm getting to know the instrument now.
m.d.

Aanvil · Post by **Aanvil** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:32 pm

emmdee wrote: I've played it every day since last Sunday and only noticed the barrel today.
m.d.

Hmm... There you go...

...and how much did you play it before that?

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:04 pm

good catch! slept through that, I did.

Guinness · Post by **Guinness** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:08 pm

If both the barrel and the first tenon were cracked at the same time, then there was just too much pressure at that point. Swelling?

daiv · Post by **daiv** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:37 pm

emmdee wrote:It's no slight on the maker if I name him here. After all, the flute is 3 and a half years old so it's obviously nothing to do with the workmanship. It's an Eamonn Cotter 4 keyed. I'm just hoping that a) he can fix it and b) it won't cost a packet to do so. I could probably borrow a flute for the recordings; not having it for those is the least of my worries. I'm totally foxed as to how and when it happened. I've played it every day since last Sunday and only noticed the barrel today. It's very upsetting as I actually feel like I'm getting to know the instrument now.
m.d.

i'm sure no one will hold it against a maker for the flute cracking.

do you keep the flute humidified in its case?

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:32 am

emmdee wrote:It's no slight on the maker if I name him here. After all, the flute is 3 and a half years old so it's obviously nothing to do with the workmanship. It's an Eamonn Cotter 4 keyed. I'm just hoping that a) he can fix it and b) it won't cost a packet to do so. I could probably borrow a flute for the recordings; not having it for those is the least of my worries. I'm totally foxed as to how and when it happened. I've played it every day since last Sunday and only noticed the barrel today. It's very upsetting as I actually feel like I'm getting to know the instrument now.
m.d.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of wood is it made from? Shrinkage happens over time, and stresses the wood, until it cracks. Every time the wood cycles from humid to dry, the cells collapse, and the wood shrinks. Now if the wood happens to be lined with metal, where is the wood to go, but crack? That is why I like the Terry Mcgee version of tuning slides, that use a cork lapping to give some movement to the wood. The socket probably expanded, when it absorbed moisture, and I bet it has cork tenons.
Well good luck, I am sure the maker will make it "right as rain".

emmdee · Post by **emmdee** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:02 am

A good observation, aanvil, but when I say I played it every day since sunday, I mean I didn't play it on the saturday due to being away from home all day. I pretty much play the flute every day, being a keen practicer. Also, it's at an age and condition now where I felt it was well played in.

Jon, it's blackwood. The head and barrel are both fully lined. Eamonn doesn't make unlined heads, or didn't when I got mine. Cracked barrels are one thing, but the cracked body is a real puzzle. You're right - it does have cork wrapped tenons. As for good luck - I ain't had much of that lately. A trans-atlantic airline broke one of the keyblocks last August, and now this!

m.d.