Does plastic flutes need any care, like lubricating, oiling or something? Do they need to be cleaned from saliva, slobber, drool (I don’t know the wright English word for that) when we stop playing it? I have a three part flute, so is it better to be always in one peice, or seperated in a case?
Thanks for reply’s, cheers…
Ivan
The main things to watch for are that the cork stopper forming the closed end of the tube doesn’t get manky - I have a three piece Tony Dixon polymer flute which I leave assembled all the time so I can just pick up and rattle off a tune on a whim without the hassle of assembling then drying and dissassembling my wooden flute. I don’t swab the Dixon when I finish playing, I just prop it up so the condensation can drain toward the open end, and let it dry in the air. The oher thing is to periodically separate the sections and grease the cork tenons to stop them drying out. But the whole point of a plastic/polymer flute is convenience and to have it there ready to play!
I have a 3 piece Dixon, and a Desi Seery.
The seery seems to need the occasional wipe through when it gets played a lot, but otherwise, no.
When they get really gooey inside, I just wash them in hot soapy water (a practice session in the bath usually happens around this time,too!) and when they’re dry the Dixon gets a bit of cork grease on the joints, and the Seery gets a bit of vaseline on the tuning slide to prevent corrosion.
Both flutes have synthetic corks for stoppers at the closed end, which will never go rotten.
It’s the wooden ones that need the TLC.
Anyone with any experience of the Tipple ?
I have a 2-part Tipple, which requires exactly zero maintenance so far. Just let the slobber/drool/spit dribble out, and your good.
Thanks for answers. My flute is also Desi Seery’s. Can you tell me what’s the best to put on tuning slide to prevent the corosion?
I have both a Tipple and a Seery Delrin Flute. If I play for a while on either one I give it a quick swab out. Like wurzel, I periodically give it a warm soapy water bath. I use just a bit of cork grease on the slide and some beeswax on the exterior part so it’s “not so” slippery as to move out of tune.
I’ve got an M&E polymer and I clean mine out after every time I play. I’m sure I probably don’t need to, but it can’t hurt and it only takes a few seconds. Better safe than sorry if you don’t know otherwise.
Big deal Jason - i’ve got an M&S polyester one. Cool wash and slow spin once a fortnight does it for me.
Hee hee. Fortnight. Good thing I watch the Wimbledon tennis tournament every year or else I wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about NEWTY 😉
Like, this thread is SO chiff and fipple man.
Whatever …
Having seen a number of references to “slathering” flute players, drool, saliva, slobber, etc., recently I am compelled to, without malice toward those who use use such terms, set the record straight. What you see emitting from the exit end of a wind instrument (or the drain valve on a brass instrument) is simply condensed water molecules. If you don’t believe me, pour yourself a glass of cold water from the tap, and when you blow your warm (moisture laden) breath against it, (provided the ambient temperature is below 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit), guess what? Moisture droplets form. And if you keep at it long enough, as woodwind musicians train to do, the droplets join each other, gravity takes over, and the moisture runs down the side of the glass. Its even easier and more graphic if you simply place a number of ice cubes in the glass and let it sit for an hour or so. You’ll be reaching for the paper towels before you put things away, and the moisture you’re mopping up didn’t leak out of the glass did it? Now, for you wags on the site who are prone to add your bits of humour, we needn’t cloud the pure physics of the process with Guiness, almond oil, or Tic Tacs; what drips from a wind instrument is NOT slather, spit, drool, or slobber.
Thanks for setting my mind at rest, jtrout. Now I won’t feel compelled to seek out a chair far away from the wind section. The terminology WAS starting to get to me.
“what drips from a wind instrument is NOT slather, spit, drool, or slobber.”
I’m unconvinced by this, despite the dangerous experiments performed at http://www.chiffandfipple.com/weirdscience1.htm, the drips definitely seem to drip in a gooey sort of way.
Ain’t never seen green condensation anywhere else ….
…and why do they call them “spit valves” eh? Answer me that!
…and why do they call them “spit valves” eh?
Because “they” are ignorant, eh!
“the drips definitely seem to drip in a gooey sort of way.”
Could be the almond oil! 🙂
There are no ‘spit valves’ on a simple system flute - you must be confusing the flute with a trumpet or similar instrument where you DO indeed spit to create the sound 😉
“you must be confusing the flute with a trumpet or similar instrument where you DO indeed spit to create the sound”
Well…yes, but I’ve sat close enough to enough flute players to know that they can spit with the best of ’em when playing those fast reels.
Dear Bile
I had a chat to Seery and he re oiled my tuning slide and said, don’t takie the top two sections apart, leave them as one whole piece when you take the flute apart and you will never have to re oil it again. He uses really hardcore oil, i can’t remember what it was, possibly engine oil? maybe not. . .anyway basically, don’t lubricate it cos you don’t have to.
Good Luck