I think I’m getting skin irritation from playing the quena … in fact I’m virtually certain.
The irritation is in an arc, in the space between my lower lip and chin. It’s pretty much exactly the shape you’d expect if the quena is the culprit. It started to get better when I took a few days off the quena, then came back hours after I picked up the quena again. So I am stopping the quena again Which is sad, as I enjoy playing it.
Am I alone in this experience? Is there anything I can do to prevent it, yet still play the quena?
Ah, here’s the problem … I have several. I left off them all at once (at that point, anything would have been irritating) and then once my skin was better I tried them all again at once (and so missed an opportunity for the scientific method).
Gack … I also have a bamboo traverse flute, which I stopped using due to the irritation being present, and then picked up again when it departed. With fancy carvings and colors.
What are you cleaning them with? I have a bamboo quena and a bansuri which I’ve been practicing for a little while with. About once every 2 weeks I use mineral oil to wipe the surfaces down with.
The pvc ones may stand a wipe down around the mouth area just for the sake of removing any irritants that may mave accumalated on the chin part of your quena.
I always use mineral oil since it is very mild and can even be consumed without toxic effects.
Ernest
PS: Gregwhistle, how do you like the pvc quenas? do you find them to be better players than bamboo? I’m gonna buy a wooden one soon made here in the U.S. I don’t have the website at this time but he seems to do good work.
Have you thought about buying some hypoallergenic laquer?
(I saw a reference to this on Shakuhatci Flute site.)
A quick search revealed products for fingernails and hearing aids, but either may do the job.
I’d use this just on the contact areas of the wood instrument.
IIRC, some people have allergies to PVC as well.
Try a test on a piece of PVC that is expendable to be sure it doesn’t ruin the instrument.
BTW, I was over at Tyrone Heads whistle page and he was giving away a maple quena in g with the sale of one of his wood whistles. http://www.theflutemaker.com/
Can’t say that I’ve cleaned them at all. I shake them out and let them dry before putting away (which, thanks to the two open ends, is pretty thorough drying, I would think).
Probably a good idea.
I like the PVC quena that I have. I put the eBay link to it above … it is listed as a “student” quena, but mine is in good tune and I like the sound. It does not have an end constriction, by the way, just open tube.
I can’t say that it’s better or worse than the wooden one I have (also a link above, from a maker via Novica), just different.
The wooden one is simply beautiful in appearance, and is has a very full, almost “honking”? tone (probably the wrong word - it sounds great, but I am not sure how to describe it … almost a sax-like flavor?). The difference may be more the design than the material - the wood one has thicker walls and I believe a larger bore. The wooden one also does have a constricted end.
EDIT
Forgot to mention my two PVC quenillas … I just took the tubes from two of my early failed whistle-making attempts and converted them. I like them a lot too. They just feel very responsive … they seem to combine the benefits of both whistles and side-blown flutes (e.g. you can bend the note a bit by changing the way you are blowing across the notch).
This is the website I was talking about. http://www.quenaflutemaker.com/index.php . I thought it was the same as the flute maker link posted above but I’m unable to pull up that webite link with this computer here at work for some reason.
This guy has some beautiful quenas and his vids show how he puts alot of work into them.
Ernest
Ok, I’ve really been giving it a go with my quena. I’m still having problems hitting the 2nd and 3rd octave on demand. I can get them by accident but I must be able to hit it when I want to. I had a devil of a time just learning to blow into it and now know that it actually requires very little air! It’s all in the mouth!
I’m kinda dissapointed in myself for not being as good as I would like to be, being Peruvian-born, one would think I had the right beak for the job but I think it will come along with more practice.
I have 2 Alcasami quenas which I bought from a Peruvian vendor, http://alcasami-english.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-play-quena.html …Alright, maybe I’m being prejudice but I just have more confidence in a Peruvian made quena than anyone else’s. I did, however, place an order for a quena from http://www.quenaflutemaker.com/index.php . Those quenas are works of art. I bought the cherry hardwood one which shows as having been sold.
Ernest
PS: This website is very bad. I never had a need for an Irish tin whistle, let alone a quena until I ran into you characters.
Update … so my skin was completely healed. You could only see the faintest traces (scarring, perhaps?) if you knew where to look.
I picked up one of my homemade PVC quenillas and played a few bars, that’s it. Then I went back to playing my whistles and traverse flute.
The next morning, the red U was there between my lip and chin, almost as angry as before.
The same PVC does me no harm in homemade whistle form, where the top of the mouthpiece is made of the stuff. I guess lips are not vulnerable like skin (and may it ever be so)?
I guess the only experiment left to run then is to let it heal again, and try the wood.
That’s the strangest thing. Maybe the edge of the mouthpiece has a barely noticeable abrasive surface which is causing the irritaton? Can it be buffed down a bit?
Greg…if you sand it, you will alter the blowing angle and increase turbulence.
If yours is lacquered, the chemicals or if, it, is insect based lacquer will be sufficient as an irritant. You.d best try some antihistamine and stop in case your mouth/tongue swells and blocks the airway, since you are describing an anaphylactic contact allergy reaction.
You can drip hot wax over the opposite end of the notch where it contacts the chin, and cut around it neatly once it has hardened. Or adhere a strip of elastoplast across it so that it does not actually
touch your skin.
I use a Francois de Villiers plastic modern quena…no such problems. Octave wise…yes…I still only get two octaves and a note.
I’d ignore the advice above and sand it with a very fine grit sandpaper. I’ve built hundreds of quena at this point and it’s extremely important that it be smooth. I would not advise sanding near the embouchure though, that is a delicate procedure. Out of curiosity, how much pressure are you using to hold the quena to your bottom lip? It sounds like you are using too much pressure and it’s causing irritation because of that. Any chance you can send me a video sometime? I might be able to help you out on skype and see what the heck is causing the irritation. I highly doubt it’s from the material, it’s from roughness or too much pressure.
One option to fix the pressure issue is to create a small backwards slope on the quena. Meaning, from the embouchure side it will slope done to the back, only by a few millimeters. If you think that may be the problem I could easily modify your quena this way.
Gaiteiro, a while back you were selling a batch of cheap quenas. Do you still have any of them? Are they playable or souvenir grade? I have a couple of good quenas and was looking for a “beater axe” that I wouldn’t mind taking around with me to practice at the lake or work and such.
Which is sad, as I enjoy playing it.
In any case, the outside color is different from the inside color.
