Dry Time of the Year - Avoid the Crack

[Cathy Wilde]

OH CATHY! The mighty banana is a beast of high character and unique charm! While I imagine how frustrating the radio gig was under those circumstances, it sure makes a good tale.

It's too bad you didn't have your Forbes with you. Does it warm up quickly? The M&E is so thick that unless I thoroughly warm it prior to playing in winter it's a condensation factory...

Eric

Thank you for the kind thoughts, Eric! I've become very fond of the little thing, so when it hurts I do too. But it's rebounded spectacularly, as it always does ... what do they make boomerangs out of, just for curiosity?

You know, the Forbes is quite thin and light (which is what I like about it), so it does seem to warm up quickly. Although it also cools quickly .... and since Delrin doesn't absorb anything, condensation seems part of the package.

But it doesn't seem to make any difference. I played it in a lengthy outdoor session at Augusta this summer; it was probably in the low 60s that night -- the flute ran like a faucet, but basically stayed in tune and didn't require a bit of worry or care. I have to admit, I liked that part!

P.S. I just got to play one of the new boxwood Murrays and boy, it was nice! Almost identical to mine in looks, cut, and feel (sans that little, uh, curve, of course) -- only with a nice sharp new blowing edge (mine's sort worn down and thus mellower) so it was quite lively. Wheee!

P.P.S. And yeah, the gig ... well, as our lead singer said, "we sucked." Gosh, if we could just grok the notion of silly stuff like ... rehearsal?

[Akiba]

Cathy,

Speaking of something way off topic, your quote...

"Deja Fu: The sense that somewhere, somehow, you've been kicked in the head exactly like this before."

...made me think of:

Fu Shui: the art of the perfectly placed ass whoopin'.

And by the way, I'm very envious of you and all your great flutes--I guess we all need goals and dreams in our lives.

Cheers!

PS--sorry for the hijacking...couldn't help it.

[Irish Marine]

Hi Folks,

Just remembered this thread as I was oiling my flute today. Noticed the RH in my house was getting down to 38%. It's getting quite dry out there; not as bad as Arizona, but that's low for Long Island! Have my flute in a drawer with a cup of water to add moisture. The flute is now at a comfortable 60% Depending on where you live, it may be time to change how you store your flute;)

[O_Gaiteiro_do_Chicago]

My solution for humidifying my flutes is pretty simple, although not cheap for the financially impaired. I just bought one of those 12 gallon humidifiers, they run about $150ish depending on where you shop. It can keep my entire apartment at about 50-55% in the driest part of our Chicago winter weather. The reason I opt for this is that I can leave my flutes, pipes, accordions, and so on, out. I find that if I keep things in cases or a closest with a humidifier I tend to play them less. The other advantage is that since the instruments get plenty of circulating air, I have no problems with mold.
<p>A thing to really watch out for is gigging in the winter. Nothing could be more dangerous than a session with a fireplace, or playing gigs with heated tents...... best to bring a set of pipes to those gigs as nobody will care if they crack. I suppose though, if you wanted to play the flute....and you should, then just keep it oiled that way the inside will not expand so much. Flutes are pretty durable though, I bike to my lessons in winter, it's a good hour ride, and all my wooden flutes seems to put up with it just fine. I just warm the headjoint up under my arm and i'm good to go.

[Cathy Wilde]

Yup, time to put the Humistats in the gun cases. It seems so soon!

[Jon C.]

We just finished two weeks of Santa Ana winds, that get the humidity down in the teens. I had a humidifier going down in my shop the whole time, the flutes were in humdified containers, the humidity still fell to 30% in the containers, with wet rags, real dry! But now it is back up to 45%, hurray!

[jemtheflute]

Looking out of my window at the grey, grim, drizzly, damp, chilly, miserable British autumn day, I wonder what all the fuss is about..........
I've no idea what the humidity would be, but the SAD factor is stratospheric! Can that affect flutes as well as their owners?

[Thalatta]

Ah British weather... hopefully that doesn't wet your whistle!

[jemtheflute]

Ah British weather... hopefully that doesn't wet your whistle!

When I played my ebonite RC&Co piccolo in the drizzle on the parade at Lorient last August, it went green after! (It has gone back, more-or-less, to black since.) Funny rain in Britanny! My boxwood-&-cow-horn pibgorn didn't seem to mind, though.

As for wetting my whistle, nah, I have to do that myself. Proper West Country farm cider for my Zumerset made Swayne boxwood high D, of course! Forget Henke's distilled ash-tray washings - you can't beat a drop of proper scrumpy! It makes the brass-work shine nicely! And makes me forget the SAD (amongst other things........). Unfortunately, I've just finished the 5 gallons I brought back from Devon at the tail end of August - I drank the last 1/2 pint last night ( ).

In the absence of decent cider, Guinness has to suffice.........

[Terry McGee]

Only thing wrong with good cider for the flute player I reckon is its tartness. It certeainly screws up my embouchure. Guinness is much better, but Jamisons is best. But I do like a cider when I'm not playing!

Now Jem, is there still a Dartington Centre for Oral Tradition? I went there in 1974 to interview Peter Kennedy. One of the less common ways they employed to fund themselves was selling Scrumpy, brewed on the premises, I was told. I distinctly remember having an 'alf and 'alf on Peter's advice, as the Sweet was "too sweet" and the Dry "too corrosive".

Getting back to the topic (hic, now what was the topic?), it's of course precisely because of the dramatic difference between English weather and almost anywhere else we have so much trouble with cracked English flutes. A London-made 19th century lined cocus flute is pretty much doomed to crack anywhere else in the world. I imagine they almost all crack in England these days, with air conditioning and central heating to contend with. Seems counter-intuitive, but your old flutes are probably better off in the potting shed than in your lounge!

Hopefully modern flutes will do better. Blackwood is stronger than cocus, and hopefully most makers will have got the message that the wood cracks because the metal won't allow it to shrink. I'd be happier though if they told us what strategies they were employing to counter that basic mis-match in characteristics.

I'd second Dave Copley's advice (above) about keeping lined flutes somewhere above 50%. But do get a hygrometer - it's very easy to overdo it and end up with mould (which might present a health hazard) or even loosening the tuning slide and leaving you with a displaced lining, which can have ghastly effects on tone and responsiveness.

Terry

[jemtheflute]

Only thing wrong with good cider for the flute player I reckon is its tartness. It certainly screws up my embouchure. Guinness is much better, but Jamiesons is best. But I do like a cider when I'm not playing!

No problem I've ever noticed, and I like it dry! Long practice.......There's NOTHING "wrong" with good cider!
A well balanced dry cider, though acidic, should not cause lemon juice type tongue drying and face crinkling. That said, some "rough" ciders are aptly so-called!!!!!

Now Jem, is there still a Dartington Centre for Oral Tradition? I went there in 1974 to interview Peter Kennedy. One of the less common ways they employed to fund themselves was selling Scrumpy, brewed on the premises, I was told. I distinctly remember having an 'alf and 'alf on Peter's advice, as the Sweet was "too sweet" and the Dry "too corrosive".

Dunno. Never heard of it, and I lived near there in the mid 70s - was in secondary school at Totnes and went to concerts etc. up the hill at Dartington Hall. I'd have been in school (aged 15) coming up for my O Levels that summer when you were there! Dartington College of Arts is being closed down currently and merged with/moving to Falmouth, and I'd guess it would have been part of that if it was still going. They sell exorbitantly overpriced farm ciders at the Cider Press arts and crafts centre commercial side-kick of Dartington at Shinners Bridge, but despite the name, haven't made cider there so long as I remember.

I met Peter Kennedy myself a couple of times in his last few years - he was living in Gloucestershire and playing in a band with my old fiddling chum Bene Hall (who introduced me to ITM....). Fine singer and melodeon player.

Hopefully modern flutes will do better. Blackwood is stronger than cocus, and hopefully most makers will have got the message that the wood cracks because the metal won't allow it to shrink. I'd be happier though if they told us what strategies they were employing to counter that basic mis-match in characteristics.

I've met two cracked Hammy blackwood heads in the last two years and heard of a couple more! No disrespect intended, just a fact.

On topic, as I've noted before, when I visit my parents in southern Spain, I keep the flutes I take in Tupperware boxes with a piece of damp kitchen roll on a jar lid in with them - makes their surfaces go tacky and the keys tarnish rather swiftly, both silver and German Silver, but does save the wood from dessicating.

[Thalatta]

And keeping the flute in its padded wooden case isn't sufficient to protect it from dryness? (Sorry if I missed someone's answer to this already, I was sitting a the back of the class watching the elections and lovin'em! but back to my point...)

[jemtheflute]

And keeping the flute in its padded wooden case isn't sufficient to protect it from dryness?

No. Leastways, not the extremes we're referring to. Not unless it has an airtight seal and you keep some kind of moisture reservoir in it - and get mouldy velvet!

[Jon C.]

Hopefully modern flutes will do better. Blackwood is stronger than cocus, and hopefully most makers will have got the message that the wood cracks because the metal won't allow it to shrink. I'd be happier though if they told us what strategies they were employing to counter that basic mis-match in characteristics.
Terry

Well Terry, I finely got a flute returned that cracked. The flute was made of nicely seasoned Blackwood, Terry Mcgee style cork lined slide, unlined head, supporting silver rings, the works! It still cracked. I think that it must have been stressed by extremly low humidity, say 10% for a long time. Maybe the previous owner could tell us the story?
Not to decry Terry's design, as I think this is the best design for preventing cracks, but it is no subsitute for keeping the flute in a sutible humidity! That is what delrin is for, those that don't want to take the time to humidify there flutes...

[Terry McGee]

Well Terry, I finely got a flute returned that cracked. The flute was made of nicely seasoned Blackwood, Terry Mcgee style cork lined slide, unlined head, supporting silver rings, the works! It still cracked. I think that it must have been stressed by extremly low humidity, say 10% for a long time.

It's possible, but you'd want to ask yourself the question - what was the mechanism that caused the crack? If we imagine a hollow cylinder of wood - a headjoint - and we reduce the humidity, it will shrink. But why would it crack? If there's a metal tuning slide inside it, clearly yes. But if not, why?

Don't forget that there are many mechanisms that can crack flutes, e.g:

* Shrinkage onto a metal liner. Cracks follow the grain. Often seeks out a weak spot, such as a timber feature, or the embouchure hole.

(Doesn't have to be a liner of course. A delrin stopper with not enough space around it is also an immoveable object. Location of the crack will give it away.)

* It got trodden on. Cracks follow the grain unless the damage is immense, whereupon it might cut across the grain like a snapped school ruler.

* Too much water soaked in from the inside (left unmopped, not oiled.) Cracks are often "angry", like eruptions, cutting across the grain. Crack is usually a bit downhill from the embouchure hole.

* Seasoning fault. Essentially the same as the previous. Instead of dry wood getting too wet inside, it's wet wood getting too dry outside. Usually picked up during making.

* Timber fault - cracks follow the fault.

There may well be others.

If there was excessive shrinkage, I'd expect the rings to fall off first, which is usually enough to alarm most owners!

Terry