Flying to New Mexico--flute survival question

Irish Flute
1

We’re visiting a friend on the Taos mesa next week, for a week.
She lives in a Navaho hogan, water trucked in, electricity
from solar generators.

I would like to take my keyed Seth Gallagher flute,
which I bought from Brazenkaine and which seems
grafted to my hands. My friend is musical, she sings
and plays piano.

Two questions:

Can I take it on the plane? It’ll go in a plastic gun case.
I think Terry McGee has said there’s nothing to fear
if it must go in baggage. But I’m paranoid. What do you
think?

Second, it’s dry in NM, very dry. Well, I suppose we
can put the flute in a plastic bag with a sponge,
but I’m scared. Should I be?

People say we humidify flutes by playing them, but
Seth G’s flutes have (I’m told) a varnished bore, which
prevents moisture from going through. Is this
a factor?

Thanks, I have a Seery, if needs be.

2

In arid conditions, it needs to be humidified when it’s not being played. If the bore’s varnished, the condition of the outer part of the body needs to be considered, I’m thinking. You’d be surprised how quickly a wooden flute will desorb and shrink when the air is dry, even blackwood.

3

Thanks. I guess the sponge and the plastic bag should help.

And the airplane?

4

I would go carry on, then you can keep it with you. I don’t remember how many thousands of pieces of luggage airlines loose a year, but I think it is in the 5 or 6 digits! I checked some delrin flutes last summer, they banged them up pretty good, I guess they wanted to see what was under the rings, so they knocked some of them off! They never question the flutes, with me when they are xrayed.

Second, it’s dry in NM, very dry. Well, I suppose we
can put the flute in a plastic bag with a sponge,
but I’m scared. Should I be?

Go for the bag with the sponge, and if you can get a cheap cigar humidistat, that helps too. Living in LA, the wood flutes live in plastic containers during the Santa Ana conditions (18% humidity) they can dry a flute out in two days! When it is a keyed flute with a lined head, you don’t want it drying out.

People say we humidify flutes by playing them, but
Seth G’s flutes have (I’m told) a varnished bore, which
prevents moisture from going through. Is this
a factor?

You don’t get much humidity on the outside of the flute by playing it. If the inside is humidified and the outside is dry you can get “hoop stress” where the inside expands faster then the outside, creating pressure that may crack the outside of the flute. Had that happen to a boxwood flute once, went off like a gunshot! BAM! (Sorry I guess that isn’t helping calm your fears…) :blush: This is mitigated some by having a coated bore, but you still want to keep the whole flute uniform in humidity, thus the plastic bag.
Just my 2 cents worth…

5

Definitely take it carry on. If something cannot be replaced, take it carry on.

6

Very much appreciated, everybody. My pulse is
returnng to normal, almost.

Last paranoid question:
Can I be reasonably sure that they will let me
take it carry on?

If I may ask another, non-paranoid question:
What’s the point of sealing the bore?
I can think of answers, but some of you
know better than I do.

7

Yes.

If I may ask another, non-paranoid question:
What’s the point of sealing the bore?
I can think of answers, but some of you
know better than I do.

The idea for sealing the bore is to prevent the flute from soaking up the moisture and creating the hoop stress. It would also make the flute play more consistant, so it doesn’t have to be warmed up as much.
I am a purest though… I will stick with the oil.

8

I’ve never had a problem carrying a flute on a flight. Only twice out of a couple dozen flights has it even raised an eyebrow. Once was in Belgium flying back to the US in fall 2003. I was just about strip searched (as was everyone else), and they took the flute out and looked at it and asked me what it was. The other was the last time I flew, just a month or two ago. It was in the US, domestic flight. They x-rayed it like five times, then asked me to take it out of my backpack. I told him how relieved I was; a wooden flute basically looks like dynamite in an x-ray image. They all looked it over very closely, I told them it was a flute, they kept looking at it again and again and again, opened the cork-grease container, looked over the wooden stick and silk swatch I swab it with. I offered to play it for them, at which point I guess they realized it was diminishing returns.

As for sealing the bore, does anyone seal ONLY the bore? I know Ralph Sweet soaks his flutes in tung oil; most Baroque makers also seal the whole flute. It’s a helluvalot easier to dip or soak a flute than to somehow spray something only on the inside. It’s also easier not to mask the outside when soaking it.

As for why to seal it, it’s so that you don’t have to worry about situations such as the one you’re facing. I’m not crazy about it, because it means that none of your breath is absorbed; every bit of water vapor in your breath condenses in the flute.

9

Thanks again. With what, does anybody know, does
one seal a bore?

Ralph Sweet uses tung oil, I believe, soaking the flute
several times in it.

I suppose this reduces the need for oiling. So says Ralph.

Alternatives to tung oil?

10

If Seth is sealing the bores of his flutes the same way he learned to so at vH, you can be assured that absolutely NO moisture will be penetrating the sealant. So hoop stress is the least of your concerns.

Carry the flute on-board with you, you will have no problems. Keep a humidifier of some sort in the case, and check it daily to make certain it is still damp. And, finally, if you’re going to live in fear, you’re better off going back to a plastic flute.


Loren

11

I prefer living in fear. Thanks, all of this helpful, Jim

12

I have heard that the Taos mesa squirrels love to chew on wooden objects. I guess that they like the oily smell. And they can chew right through that plastic gun case like it was nothing. I sat my pack down on the trail for only a few minutes, just enough time for one of the critters to chew through the heavy nylon pack material and go after my peanuts. It didn’t touch my pvc flute, though. At night the mesa packrats come out. Who knows, while you are sleeping, they could be dining on your expensive flute. I don’t know if this is helpful, or not.

Jim, have a good trip to New Mexico. I wish that I could go along. I love it there.

13

Thanks, Doug. Why do I think this is an illicit commercial post?

My friend, Ruth, worked for many years as a shepherd.
They would give her a couple of dogs, a rifle, a horse,
and a couple of hundred sheep and off she’d go to
Montana, somewhere.

Then she worked as a masseuse. One day, giving a massage
in the Taos Ski Lodge, she smelled gas. She complained and the
management sent in the Gas Co, which checked and said
things were fine. The management told Ruth to light some
incense. She did. The explosion blew the door off the hinges,
her hair was on fire. She pushed her client into the shower
and saved them. She had third degree burns over a good deal
of her body and came out of it looking like somebody else,
but not bad, and with a couple of hundred grand settlement.
(The ski shop across the street had patched a gas leak with
duck tape and the gas had seeped under the snow into
Ruth’s massage studio.)

She used the money to build a navaho hogan six miles off the
road a bit south of the Rio Grande River Gorge, dirt road,
no phone line, no electricity, no water. All these old hippies
out there in geodesic domes, old school busses. There’s a
Tibetan temple a twenty minute walk away. You can see
down over the mesa to Taos Mountain; it’s beautiful,
kinda heartbreaking.

Ruthie supports herself as a masseuse;also she makes
shoulder bags of hemp, modeled after Buddhist monk’s
bags, quite functional and lovely colors. Taos Hemp
is the name of her company; you can find her online.
She’s selling the bags in Whole Foods stores and online too.

The hogan has a dome, it’s very beautiful, like a temple.
The floor is made of stone. Great acoustics!

Will think of you all, Jim

14

http://www.menc.org/information/infoserv/traveltipsformusicians.html

http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?content=0900051980069ab5

15

Whoops, Charlie, you were posting as I was writing my last post, so I missed this:

Charlie wrote:

“As for sealing the bore, does anyone seal ONLY the bore?”

Yes.

“I know Ralph Sweet soaks his flutes in tung oil; most Baroque makers also seal the whole flute.”

Define seal. If you mean seal as in completely waterproof, then I’d say most of the Baroque flutes I’m aware of are NOT “sealed”. Many makers do oil with polymerizing oils alone, however rarely is the finish that is built-up completely waterproof, or highly durable. I’m not suggesting this is either good or bad.

“It’s a helluvalot easier to dip or soak a flute than to somehow spray something only on the inside. It’s also easier not to mask the outside when soaking it.”

You assume facts not in evidence my friend :smiling_imp: Perhaps it’s not done either way? :wink:

"As for why to seal it, it’s so that you don’t have to worry about situations such as the one you’re facing. I’m not crazy about it, because it means that none of your breath is absorbed; every bit of water vapor in your breath condenses in the flute.[/quote]

That’s true. A disadvantage? Perhaps. OTH, a flute with a sealed and smooth bore can be given a quick flick (make sure those corks are tight!!) and the moisture will fly right out - making you plenty of new friends at crowded sessions. An unsealed bore, will absorb some condensation, but you’ll still have plenty of build-up, and swabbing is really the only way to get it out. That said, I’m not at all suggesting this is a serious reason for considering one type of finish over the other. Durability, and the fact that your bore will remain smooth and maintenance free (keeping the tone consistent), are what I would rate as the big advantages to serious bore sealing.

Final note, sealing the bore DOES affect the tone and response of the instrument, much the way lining a headjoint affects those same qualities.


Loren

16

Give me a clue.

It reminds me of my younger years when I was roaming around the southwest in a 1965 VW bug. I thought that I could drive anywhere, and as a consequence, I got into interesting situations. One day, as I was driving on a jeep trail in the mountains above Red River, New Mexico, I saw a Basque sheep herder in a beautiful mountain meadow. I stopped to chat but couldn’t communicate very well. He invited me into his tent for a fine dinner of freshly killed coyote and biscuits. I have forgotten most of the dinners that I have eaten in my life, but I remember that one.

Jim, when you mention that your friend for many years was a solitary sheep herder, and then you mention the nearby Tibetan temple, I think about the Buddhist idea of reincarnation. Don’t ask me why I make the connection. Could it be that the choices that we make in our current life are influenced by circumstances in previous lives? Tibetan Buddhists believe that, and so do I.

17

how was the coyote?

18

I have never had anything lost in baggage on a plane, however, I have had about 1/3 of my vacations where my luggage arrived later (often days). While traveling I have a travel fife that I play. I keep it easily accessible as I do with all “strange” things so that if there are questions, it can be easily inspected.

Have fun and play to the stars that are not visible in the city.

19

Thanks for your post, mon. Very enlightening.

20

I called Delta’s service line and got this automated
maniac that kept trying to route me to the wrong place.
‘I can’t hear your answer,’ it/she said.

Finally I said
I wanted a reservation. It asked me questions
about flight and day: ‘I can’t hear your answer’
it complained. Finally I said: ‘Listen, you automated
monster, let me talk to a human being!’
It said: ‘That’s alright. I will connect you to a
service representative.’

Then a lady got on who barely spoke English, the
connection sounded as if she was in Hong Kong
or the Phillipines. ‘I have a question about carry-on
luggage’ I said.

‘The correct size is…’ she answered.

‘No, that’s not what I want to know. Will you listen to
my question?’

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘I have a wooden flute. It’s in a case. It isn’t very large.
Can I carry it on the plane?’

‘I don’t know’ she said. ‘I will ask.’

About ten minutes later she returned and
said something inaudible.

‘I can’t hear you,’ I said. ‘Will you please speak louder?’

‘You may carry on your flute. There will be no extra charge.’

‘Thank you’ I said, but she was gone.