Since I was about to buy a new flute, I thought I’d have a go at modifying my 1 piece Dixon to try and overcome it’s shortcomings.
After reading an excellent article on Terry McGee’s website about the shape of embouchures, I decided that the Dixon lacked rounded sides which was causing too much wind noise.
So after 10 minutes of careful filing with a rat-tailled file, I washed out the filings and blew.
I started with the low D and that came readily and smoothly although it did sound like it had lost some of its raspy edge. Then the E, which is my least favourite excuse of a note, but that sounded much better balanced less thin and wheezy and slightly more full and mellow. The F and G were both vibrant and full. Even the notes in the upper register were fuller.
After an hour of playing, this felt like a new instrument - it is far easier and producing a full, rich note every time whereas before some notes were just thin and wheezy. It’s also louder because I can pump more air into it without as much wind noise. It’s more responsive, the low D sounds almost immediately even when suddenly dropping to it from a high note.
If I can only sort out the tuning, I won’t need to buy another flute afterall. I’ll try and make a parabolic wedge to insert into it.
I just thought I’d share this, in the hope that others find it useful.
A suggestion from my meager workshop: It’s not too hard to find tonkin bamboo with an inside diameter close to PVC outside diameter. Carve a nice bamboo lipplate, epoxy it on, and drill away. Very comfy on the lip, and the bamboo can be ground down to whatever thickness you like. Marine epoxy with microballoons works great (none have cracked or popped off yet) but anything is worth a try. A very(!) sharp exacto blade is more effective for carving than files, in my experience.
Marine epoxy with microballons? What is that? Thus far, I have been using superglue to glue the pvc lip plate to a pvc headjoint. The slower setting superglue that I have been using gives me enough time to get the lip plate clamped in place before the glue starts to harden. However, I have had one report of a lip plate coming unglued when the flute was dropped. Maybe the superglue is too hard and brittle for this task. I am curious whether epoxy might provide a better bond between two pices of pvc. Is this where the microballons come into play?
Have you tried using the regular PVC plumbing cement? I know it’s smelly, but it bonds PVC to itself very well. Should give you a bit of working time, too.
Microballoons and epoxy are used in two different ways…
A very few small micro ballons (or solid spheres) are added to the mix to insure a minimum thickness to the epoxy bond…it should not be infinetly thin..
A high proportion of microballoons can be added to bulk up the epoxy and lower the density of the resultant material (or increase it if you use solid spheres of dense material). We used to do this alot to make acoustic matching layers for ultrasonic transducers…
I would also recommend pvc cement, it fuses the two pieces of pvc together. However, in my experience, the working time has been relatively short - about 30 seconds or so. Use a respirator too, it stinks.
The only reason I went for thickened epoxy was to fill any gaps between the bamboo and the PVC. If done right, it can be a really tough, flexible, and bubble-free bond. I’m very serious about safety with epoxy liquid, dust, and solvents: I’m sensitive to any solvent stronger than vinegar (which works pretty well).
For PVC to PVC, I always use solvent cement (outdoors). Even good CA glue like SuperT dries more brittle than the PVC. If you try epoxy, I’d suggest trying to get the hardness of the adhesive close to the hardness of the pvc. This makes it so much easier to work (carving or filing the emb. )
I read the back of the can of the clear pvc cement this afternoon, and the hazardous warnings are extensive. It isn’t very convenient to have to do the work outside for fear of explosive and hazardous fumes. Also, I am concerned about the excess cement that would be forced onto the surface of the flute near the contact of the lip plate. I think that it would be hard to wipe off the excess without it affecting the surface of the flute. PVC cement literally dissolves the surface of the pvc with solvent (methyl ethyl ketone) to make the bond. No doubt that it is a good bond, but you want the flute to look nice, as well. I am thinking that there may be another cement that would be nearly as good as the solvent cement.
Best bet would be not to put much cement on…not enough to flow all the way to the edge of the lip plate but enought to cover the area where the hole is and then some…
Well Doug, its becoming quite clear that I’m the hazardous material user on this board.
Its pretty nasty stuff granted. There are other bonding agents. Cyano and epoxys… they will “stick” but they will not give you the maximum material bond. Considering we probably want to create a homogenious weld between the to pieces making them in reality one the solvent cement was for me the only solution.
You really only need just a quick touch of the swab (they all have built in swabs ) to the centerlines of the emb on the plate. Its so little solvent. Ive made twelve so far and I haven’t had any spill from the lip plate to the body.
oh well… so many ways to do things and you’ve been doing it so well for so long.
Besides… I’m in California… its never so cold to not open a winder.
