Greetings flute players from far and wide. I’ve just taken the plunge into the wide world of the flute, after playing whistles for several years. What an amazingly different instrument from the low whistles I’ve been so fond of (and I’m sure I’ll still play, though I can see already that the flute has so much more diversity in tonal quality, as I’ve heard you all say many times over). So I recently got a Casey Burns Folk Flute, I’m taking lessons with a fine teacher here in San Francisco, and so now I’m starting the climb up the steep learning curve of flute playing (though pleasantly surprised at already being able to produce a fairly decent tone, at least for a beginner…). My question is this: for any of you who have or have had a CB Folk Flute, have you found any remedy for fading of the wood on the near side of the embouchure hole? Casey recommends a carnuba wax mixture, which he’s sending me, and says that some people even put a thin layer of super glue at that spot. He also says that the pH of the body oil of some people affects this more than others. Any comments and/or suggestions about this? Overall, I’m completely impressed with the flute, and expect it will serve me well through the beginning stages of learning, whatever that may be!
Your question is actually about mopane and body chemistry…if you phrase the subject to include something about embouchure discoloration in mopane, different people may read and respond.
My flutes have not discolored as a result of playing, but I have purchased some used ones that have been discolored. If it’s a one-time thing like that, sanding is ok, but sanding isn’t something you’d want to get into as a repeated procedure. Perhaps some people have some suggestions. Good luck.
I haven’t had a problem on the head joint, but I have similar discoloration where the flute sits on my left hand. I like it, I think it makes the flute “mine”. I have a few instruments passed down in the family and the worn patches and spots polished from years of use are precious to me, they make it seem more like I have a piece of them than simply something they used.
Here’s a thread that might help.
I’ve had mine for almost ten months and haven’t experienced any fading at all. In fact, the whole flute is getting progressively darker as the months go by. Maybe it’s not getting lighter, but is somehow being protected from darkening?
Regarding the thread that artsohio referenced, I have found that rubbing the inside wall of the far-side of the embouchure hole (not completely - just about 1/16" to 1/8" down - basically the amount that I can access with my index finger) with a tiny bit of ChapAid does help reduce moisture buildup problems when playing the CB. Rubbing the surface of the flute around the embouchure hole does prevent discoloration, but it needs to be reapplied. ChapAid has a high Carnauba Wax content.
BTW, I never did hear back from the instructor you recommended. Can you tell him I tried emailing him several times? I am progressing though, thanks to the Lunasa concert. I arrived with a pair of binoculars and studied Kevin Crawford’s handling of the flute way, way close. Very instructive. I applied those techniques to my flute playing and it has helped.
I do wonder why Kevin’s fingers seem to be flying so high above the tone holes. I thought the fingers were supposed to be kept close to the holes. Is this because
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it’s an optical illusion. KC fingers only seem to fly high above the holes, but are really hovering fractions of an inch over them
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it’s ok to have fingers flying high above the holes
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KC is trying the impress his fans in the back of the room
My mopane Casey Burns is unaffected.
Perhaps the years have dulled my once-acid personality.
Hi Stephen,
Glad to here that you got your CB flute! The wax will probably do the trick for the discoloration, I have the same problem with blackwood and bocote and boxwood… I just use oil, to bring back the luster.
I got a chance to have a short visit with Casey Burns a couple of weeks ago, when I was in Washington State. Great guy! All the flutes that I played there were top notch. I liked the Bb flute the most, deep rich sound and easy reach on the tone holes. He has a beautiful house in Kingston, out in the country. He saw me on short notice, I called him from the ferry, while I was coming across the water, about 20 min. from his home… :roll:
Hope to see you again, when I get up there to SF again!
Jon
I kind of look at the discoloration of the wood as a badge of honor – I’m playing it enough that I’m changing the wood. Yeah, I know, it’s probably because my sweat is lower pH, but nobody could look at any flute of mine (except the Seery polymer) and think I didn’t play it. I don’t have a mopane flute, just boxwood and cocobolo. I had a blackwood flute, and that one lightened a little around the embouchure.
BTW, seeing the staining really gives a good idea where the shape of the metal lip plate came from. 
I have two mopane flutes, and two blackwood flutes. After playing I wipe them down with a soft cloth (yellow duster) sprayed with ‘Wood Silk’, a non-silicone beeswax-based wood polish. Brings them up a treat and keeps them looking lovely, and also helps stop the brass rings tarnishing.
On the mopane D flute, there’s a little spot where my right little finger rests on the flute, that’s developing a rather splendid opalescent sheen. For me, keeping the wood looking good isn’t a chore, it’s more an act of love. Takes 5 minutes. Seems odd to me that some folks will regularly swab out and oil their bores, obsess about humidity and cracking, but then leave the exterior of their flutes covered in a crust of greasy, sebacious smears, sweat and flob.
Excuse me? I happen to like flob.
Eeew. Flob: noun, vulg. Spit, sputum.
But seriously. To me it’s like buying a $1200 hand-made coffee-table and not using coasters, never polishing it, and then proudly pointing to the burned-in rings and stains and going “it proves I use it.”
Different with keyed flutes, I suspect, they’re likely more difficult than keyless to wipe down (apart from the headjoints of course).
I worked in my father’s cleaning business for a time. We went to an old, very famous inn that had all these traffic patterns worn into the floor. My father told them that we could buff all that away. They said something to the effect, are you kidding? They said that all the visible wear, which did include some stains, was part of the charm of the place.
So, I’m weird, but in good company.
I think there’s a difference between marks of use and abuse. To me, wear marks (not discoloration from lack of cleaning) are part of what make wood natural and organic.
As an aside, have any mopane-owners noticed golden bits on their flute? Mine has a vein of the grain that is much, much lighter than the surrounding area and it just sparkles. I think it’s a lovely wood.
I had that happen with a McGee GLP flute that I had for a time, it discolored around where my lip rested against it. I never really thought it was a bad thing, like artsohio, it was kind of “my” trademark on the flute.
Aodhan
Major wearmark on my dogwood stick. I oil it along with the bore, but it comes back right away. Doesn’t bother me, although one person who saw it said, “Boy, you really did a number on that puppy, didn’t you!” as if I had been careless or something. :roll:
My Casey Burns mopane flute used to get a little light colored triangle from my breath on the far side of the emboucher hole that went away every time I oiled it.It stopped appearing a couple months ago.Maybe enough oil soaked in to prevent it? I dunno.
And yes,mine has golden veins too.So pretty! 
It only has them on the head though,and they’re on the side that’s pretty much covered by my face.It would be more dramatic if they were on the other side all the way down.
-Kelly
thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions. after giving the affected area a little extra oil, the fading seems to have gone away, or as seisflutes mentioned, perhaps enough oil soaked in. it’s a beautiful wood, and I’d like to keep it that way. I’ll be interested to see how it ages.
On a related note, I’m wondering about how much oil to use in the bore and how often to oil during and after the “breaking in” process. I know there are lots of opinions on this topic, even between flute makers, so I’m expecting just as many thoughts from you all. I’d appreciate any and all ideas on this.
p.s. I had my first lesson with the CB folk flute, and listening to my teacher, San Francisco local flute player Jack Gilder play it, I was even more impressed with this flute. who knows, maybe after 50 or 60,000 hours of practice, I might sound a little like the way he played it!