Simon Polak: Early Flutes
The first week do not play more than twice per day a quarter of an hour. Then per week, increase each playing period with five minutes until the desired playing time has been reached.
There is one topic that I want to give attention before everything else. It is the topic of applying oil. For my flutes use almond oil. Suppose the flute was oiled before playing. After playing you dry the flute and at the same time remove most of the oil with the drying cloth. Therefore use two sticks with cloth, one dry to be used after playing one oily moist to be used before playing.However, use only a just moist cloth. There is not much real hard evidence on this whole oiling topic so it is only my suspicion but I think that if you were to use a dripping wet cloth every time it would be really bad for the flute.
The inside of the flute should always be just slightly oily to the touch of the finger!
After each playing period disassemble the flute in all (three or four) pieces and dry the inside. Never, never leave the instrument assembled lying about after playing. Never leave the instrument in the sun or on the heating or at any other hot place. The instrument does not like pouring rain either.
There are two types of oil that can be used for the traverso, almond oil or linseed oil. Be consistent in the use of oil. Almond oil should be used liberally and often. If used too much no harm is done because it will disappear by itself. Of course one should not use the instrument as an almond oil sponge either. If used to little however the instrument may suffer. Linseed oil should be used sparingly. If used too much it will form a crust. Excess should always be wiped out after a few hours.
When oiling protect the key by inserting for instance some toilet paper underneath the pad. This is very important because otherwise the key will start leaking air or will become sticky. The least leakage of air will make the d1 useless.
My flutes are impregnated with linseed oil before I deliver them. I advise to use almond oil afterwards.
The thread on the tenons should be such that the fitting is snug. No force should be necessary when assembling the flute. However as soon as the joints have movement it is likely to decrease the playing quality of the instrument. The key with respect to tenons is: NO FORCE NO WOBBLE. The thread on the tenons of my flutes are wound in beeswax mixed with softening components. The end of the thread can be found by scratching wit a finger nail, such that some thread can be removed easily if necessary. The beeswax may give some friction, so on top of the wax a good cork grease should always be used. If there is to much thread on the tenon the wood will be pushed in. This is the case on practically all old instruments. It has a negative effect on the tuning!! Therefore if you the fitting is too loose the instrument does not play well, if it is too tight the instrument will be damaged. It is best to have it just snug and use cork grease liberally to completely seal the joint.
Never, never oil the pin or hinge of the key with any oil !!!! It will cause swelling of the wood of the key seat and the small leather block in the hinge in particular. This may cause the key to become dysfunctional.
The position of the cork is af crucial importance. In a seperate cork page you will find some reasoning but the cork should be such that d2-d3 is an exact octave on my flutes.
Removing the cork should be done via the top of the head, not as with Boehm flutes via the bottom.
When the cork has been removed it has to be repositioned rather accurately. A 1 mm. shift does make a notable difference both on tone quality and on tuning. The flutes are delivered with a cork gage. However the line on that gauge has a certain width. It is therefore advisable to use the gauge as first guide to positioning the cork. Then the d2-d3 should be accurately brought in tune. Everything else should be optimal with this position for my flutes. Note that d1 on baroque flutes often has to be compensated up a bit such that d1-d2 is not a good guide.
I wrote a guide to replacing key leather. You can find it here.
