I have in my possession one of the most amazing flutes I’ve played in my life…very possibly the most amazing.
Sadly, the lovely thing is whittled of cocus. Cocus that most fiendish of timbers! Which beguiles me with it’s most amazing tones then abruptly sends me to the brink of anaphylactic shock.
For those that wonder whether cocus actually makes a difference tonally, my opinion is that it does indeed. It has a rich complexity and wonderful edge…blackwood on steroids.
As I sit here with my lip itching, my head pounding and my lungs filling with fluid. I wonder if Benadryl is available in an IV drip. I wonder if Ibuprofin would work better if I took it before I started playing. I wonder how many more tunes I could get off before I started to seizure…hmmm.
Maybe it’s that “living on the edge” sense of danger and the feeling of throwing caution to the winds that make you able to play like that. I bet if you play a cocus flute while riding on a crocodile, it could get even better!
Seriously, though, I’m sorry you are so tempted by the thing that hurts you.
I assume it’s a cocus Olwell. Come on Doc, do tell!
Regarding allergies - do you know this kind of foil they use to make protecting covers for all sorts of LC displays? It works perfectly as an anti-allergy-shield on your flute. I used it when I had a bloodwood flute, to which I was allergic a bit. Just reddish skin and such, but the foil helped a lot!
But I have no idea what to do with your fingers. Rubber gloves are a bit, well…thoroughgoing.
Barrier creams maybe? Used in industry…coat your fingers with them, they form a temporary, dry barrier, then wash off. Don’t know if they work on lips. Or lungs.
Anyway, I’m assuming that means the flute is for sale, at a deep, deep deep discount?
One can usually deal with a mild allergic reaction to Cocus with lip plates and stuff - but it sounds much worse in your case if your lungs are filling up full of fluid. Being highly sensitive to Uriosol (the irritant in Poison Oak, which is very similar to the irritant in Cocus) I avoid using any of Cocus in my workshop.
Doesn’t sound like that amazing of a flute if it is doing this horrid stuff to you. But don’t burn it to get rid of it! The smoke will be extremely hazardous!
I know this topic has been around and around, but seriously, has anyone taken two IDENTICAL flutes by the same maker in different woods, same player, and truly noticed a difference? (Yes, I remember the thread with the sound clips and different flutes. But I’m sure they weren’t the same model.)
Why is cocus such magic? Isn’t it mostly in the ear of the player?
I never played or heard a cocus flute long enough to notice any difference to blackwood. I do think that boxwood has a distinct sound, and a Rudall made from boxwood is something special. I wish I could play this kind of flute!
It is, and always will be impossible to come to any real scientific conclusions on this subject for many reasons.
There are no two IDENTICAL flutes, even by the same maker for one thing.
I haven’t tried as many flutes as some people around here, and as you know, everyones opinions are subjective and may not agree with others. But I am convinced that there are differences between different woods. I haven’t tried two similar flutes by the same maker from different woods, but to me it feels like Boxwood flutes from different makers share some characteristics that Blackwood flutes don’t have, Cocuswood flutes from different makers have some common nuances that cannot be found in Blackwood flutes, and so on and vice versa.
Now, I’d have a lot more to say if we could only start to talk about European Oak and American Oak casks for maturing
whisky
This is only personal observation, but I’ve felt that my cocuswood flute, which alas makes MY lip itch without its protective tape (I’ve also noticed I’ve seemed to be “gasping” more while playing it and wondered … ) is a “harder” and more dense wood than the others. I’m only speculating but this density seems to lend to a bit more brilliance and a quicker response … it’s almost like playing a silver flute in the response category. I also wonder if the harder woods allow for thinner walls, which would allow for more buzz and resonance too?
I have a blackwood Murray flute that almost matches the cocus in terms of tightness of grain and thus overall “hardness.” It’s even shiny, to the point where parts look like black glass. But every other blackwood flute I’ve played has been, in varying degrees, more open-grained and thus a bit mellower (although embouchure cut and style of play has lots to do with that) with a bit of a slower response and less brilliance; my two boxwood flutes are the “spongiest” of all … my boxwood Murray, in fact, seems almost made of cork (and absorbs moisture like it, too!).
I’ve recorded myself playing on them all, however, and can’t detect THAT much difference; the boxwood Murray’s the most obviously different, but I play that the most too so I might just be used to hearing it.
But as to feel, the difference between the cocus flute or the glass-hard blackwood Murray and the corky-boxwood Murray is night and day. Everything else falls in between.
Common now Doc. You have to tell us what sort of flute it is now! There’s no reason for you to hold it in.
You’re not in hospital I hope!
(anyone heard from him?)
Maybe that sort of discussion is better suited for the Pub (both here and in real life). It’s better to discuss it over a couple of wee drams. As with most stuff, theory is less fun than practice when it comes to
whisky
As Cathy points out, even wood types that should be identical, aren’t; they come from different trees, under different circumstances, and have lived different lives (droughts, fires, long periods of humidity, etc) as they grew, so how hard, porous or naturally oily they are can vary a bit, to alot. All you can do is generalize about their qualities; boxwood is softer and more porous than blackwood or cocus, some absorb oil readily, while others, very little to not at all. Probably, the “fresher” the wood (as opposed to an antique), the worse a person’s allergies will react, if they’re going to react. It also seems to me that allergies are worsened by the use of certain barrier oils, which probably bring the woods’ natural allergens to the surface faster, but that’s just slightly educated conjecture on my part.
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