Tips for installing Tipple wedge

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 2:03 pm

I use double-sided tape instead of glue. It's strong enough to hold the wedge in place even when swabbing, but still removable. Scotch makes two types of d-s tape: permanent and removable. I used the permanent d-s, which has more tack.

On the bottom of the wedge and starting at the back edge, put about a 1/2" length of d-s tape. With the headjoint rotated towards you so that the blow hole is about 60 degrees from vertical, slide the wedge down the bore until it touches the cork. (Doug recommends 45 degrees, but 60 works great for me and keeping the wedge away from the airstream improves the playability the 2nd octave). To get the tape to grip, insert a thin wood dowel through the blow hole and press down on the back of the wedge.

To reposition the wedge, I used a long plastic coffee stirrer stick with the tip mashed flat (there are flat wood stirrers that should also work). Insert the stick down the headjoint bore and under the tip of the wedge. Continue pushing the stick into the wedge until it pops off.

I've had my Tipple 8-hole (smooth bore) for about 2 weeks, and find that the wedge changes the characteristics of both the 1st and 2nd octave. The wedge adds backpressure to the embouchure that makes the flute more comfortable to play for me, especially in the 2nd octave. Of course, the 2nd octave is more in tune (which is the purpose of the wedge), but the wedge gives more overtones to the bottom notes of the 1st octave too (to my ears), which I find very pleasant.

<b>Update:</b> I have reinstalled the wedge by rotating the headjoint so that the blow hole is 90 degrees from the vertical. I also replaced the 0.5" ds tape with a 1.25" length of ds tape. This change allows me to reach some 3rd octave notes more easily (see my post below).

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 3:21 pm

Thanks for the tip, Chu. Staying in "beginner's mind", I learn something new everyday.

mkchen · Post by **mkchen** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:14 am

Yes, thanks for the tip! I've been frustrated trying to keep the wedge in place with condensation alone, but couldn't get up the nerve to glue it in place, since I wasn't sure I would hit the right spot. Several times in session playing I've had the sickening feeling that I'd just blown the wedge out the end of the flute like a poison dart and nicked the jugular of the fiddle player to my right. Fortunately it never actually got past the second joint. I find that the 60 degree rotation works better for me as well; the low E and D seem to speak better that way.

Ming

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:31 am

mkchen wrote:Several times in session playing I've had the sickening feeling that I'd just blown the wedge out the end of the flute like a poison dart and nicked the jugular of the fiddle player to my right.

Excellent image. I have blown straight into the flute hole to "clear out" the flute (sometimes
I forget and think it's a whistle), and had the wedge fly out... Gotta remember not to do that.

fyffer · Post by **fyffer** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:59 am

fearfaoin wrote:
mkchen wrote:Several times in session playing I've had the sickening feeling that I'd just blown the wedge out the end of the flute like a poison dart and nicked the jugular of the fiddle player to my right.
Excellent image. I have blown straight into the flute hole to "clear out" the flute (sometimes
I forget and think it's a whistle), and had the wedge fly out... Gotta remember not to do that.

And I have learned the hard way, in general, not to "clear out" a flute with the end aimed in anyone's direction. It took a lot of convincing by his friends to keep the drunk patron from not tearing me limb from limb for blowing spit into his face! Needless to say, I'm always aiming *DOWN* when clearing from now on.

Tommy · Post by **Tommy** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:49 pm

Would sticky tac work also?

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:03 pm

Haven't tried it. The bond from sticky tac is kind of flimsy and the pvc plastic may be too slippery for the sticky tac to grip adhere reliably. On the other hand, if you have sticky tac, it costs you nothing to try it.

One caution: if you use sticky tac and later want to try double-sided tape or even glue, these will work better if you clean the pvc surface of any residual sticky tac.

hans · Post by **hans** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:34 pm

I have been using a very small amount of bluetack, applied very thin over much of the wedge, to hold the wedge in place, very successfully for months. It never has fallen out. But I also do not swap out the flute, there is no mechanical stress for the wedge by inserting some cleaning rod. I imagine sticky tack is similar to UK Bluetack. I put the wedge in with bluetack just to try it out, later to be glued with pvc glue, but this later has not come yet

bang · Post by **bang** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:27 am

first off, kudos to headwizer for the double stick tape trick. if i'd known that i might not have come up w/ this:

notes: the pin is stainless steel, & there is a small divot carved into the wedge where the head rests. i used pliers to push about 3/8" of the 1" pin into the cork at an angle so the head of the pin gently sits along the side of the flute without the wedge. this gives it a little tension after the wedge is slipped under the pin from the side using a small dowel through the embouchure hole. this arrangement seems to hold the wedge in place under most circumstances, but it can be dislodged with a firm rap if desired.

the 'security wedge' is cpvc. not sure if thicker walled sched40 pvc would spring sufficiently, & it was fidgetty to make. *very* secure though, & removable. (i'm using a shorter, wider version on a Tipple D.)

enjoy! /dan

ps- yes, i am a hopeless tinker. :^)

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:28 pm

bang, I especially like that security wedge idea. Seems to be a design that Doug might be able to replicate. Did you just copy Doug's wedge dimensions to make it? It seems to have a different shape than the pinned wedge. Is the pinned wedge a copy too?

Doug's flute sounds so nice with the wedge in place. Too bad he doesn't sell one with keys. I have a blackwood cylindrical flute on order from Terry McGee. It has a Boehm headjoint and simple-system keys. Should be very interesting to compare the sound of these two flutes.

bang · Post by **bang** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:48 pm

headwizer wrote:bang, I especially like that security wedge idea. Seems to be a design that Doug might be able to replicate.

perhaps w/ better tools/jigs/etc, but as i said, it was fidgetty to make just one of them.

Did you just copy Doug's wedge dimensions to make it?

it is similarly sized to a Tipple wedge, but cpvc is thinner than the pvc Doug uses, so it's not exactly the same.

It seems to have a different shape than the pinned wedge. Is the pinned wedge a copy too?

only in concept. i've been playing around with different wedge dimensions generally, seeing what works & how in the various Tipple's i've accumulated. (who needs keys? :^) as mentioned, for my grey Tipple D a shorter, wider wedge suits me. the pinned wedge was an earlier effort at a smaller wedge that seemed to have a more focused sound. actually, that wedge got shortened by 1/3 and is now in a dimpled Tipple E where it gives a bit more reedy sound & helps the high C# intonation a bit.

i must say though, the tonal effect of all these variations (& wedges generally) is subtle. since a flute player hears far more tonal detail than a listener, i wonder how significant these effects actually are. fun to play around with though! :^)

Doug's flute sounds so nice with the wedge in place. Too bad he doesn't sell one with keys. I have a blackwood cylindrical flute on order from Terry McGee. It has a Boehm headjoint and simple-system keys. Should be very interesting to compare the sound of these two flutes.

quite interesting. please report back. how did Terry come up w/ the "right" taper for the headjoint? is it the same as a classical silver flute?

enjoy! /dan

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:18 pm

, the tonal effect of all these variations (& wedges generally) is subtle. since a flute player hears far more tonal detail than a listener, i wonder how significant these effects actually are.

To my ears, the difference is dramatic - not only in the sound but in the playability of the flute. It is true though that the player is in the best position to hear subtlties.

One thing I did not test was whether the wedge affected the 3rd octave notes. I can manage a 3rd octave F on the wedged Tipple, but I have to focus the embouchure so much that I can't really use these notes on the fly. On the Grey Larsen D harmonic exercise, I can only get D and D'. All this may improve with more practice though.

Have you tried installing the wedge at different angles from the embouchure hole? This also changes the sound.

Terry McGee is making the cylindrical based on a late model Metzler cylindrical flute. He says that this type of Boehm-simple system hybrid was the last-stand of simple system wood flutes before the Boehm silver flute design finally took over. It's not much requested because traditional and folk music (where the simple-system wood flute still holds sway) have been played by musicians who prefer the sound of conical flutes.

The Boehm-simple system hybrid also seems to be virtually unknown these days (Terry may be the only living flutemaker with any experience building this type of flute). I emailed Chris Abell (who makes Boehm system flutes in blackwood) and he didn't know anything about them.

bang · Post by **bang** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 4:30 pm

headwizer wrote:
, the tonal effect of all these variations (& wedges generally) is subtle. since a flute player hears far more tonal detail than a listener, i wonder how significant these effects actually are.
To my ears, the difference is dramatic - not only in the sound but in the playability of the flute. It is true though that the player is in the best position to hear subtlties.

to clarify: wedges do seem to me to make a concrete, beneficial difference in the tuning (i.e. playability?) of a cylindric flute. i find the tonal effect subtle compared to other contributors to tone (i.e. blowing technique), but significant. the wedge in a D Tipple makes the low end notably "punchier". i also like the sound of certain wedges w/ low C and E Tipple flutes. the D+wedge combo hits a particularly sweet spot though, imo. (and as always, consider the "intermediate" source.) i mostly wanted to acknowledge that the effect of the wedge variations i've been playing with are small.

enjoy! /dan

headwizer · Post by **headwizer** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 8:12 pm

An update: I took my own advice further and moved the wedge even further from the airstream by rotating the headjoint so that the embouchure hole is 90 degrees from the vertical and reinstalling the wedge. The edge of the wedge is now almost aligned with the bottom of the embouchure hole, but not quite. Because the angle is now steeper, I replaced the original 1/2" length of double-sided tape with a 1.25" length so that it will hold better.

On the Grey Larsen embouchure harmonic exercise, I can now reach the 2nd octave A (D, D', A') with ease and with a bit of precision blowing, I can even sound the 3rd octave D. Very nice!!!!!

dow · Post by **dow** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:11 am

Just a thought on installing the wedge...

I used a tiny piece of orthodontic wax under each end of the wedge. You can get it at the grocery store in the dental section. It's a little sticky, and is working great so far.