Some of you on this board may be familiar with the Fajardo wedge, a device designed by Raoul Fajardo to improve the tone and intonation of cylindrical bore flutes. Since Fajardo’s original patent expired in 2002, I have used a modification of his wedge design in my pvc flutes. Glauber (where are you, Glauber?) and I were discussing this on the board about a year ago. I received an email last night from a friend of Raoul Fajardo, and he gave me permission to share it with you.
"Hello, Doug, and Happy New Year! This afternoon I was “Googling” for
Raoul Fajardo’s flute wedge, and was brought to the Chiff & Fipple
site, where I found your comments. What a kick! So I decided to share
with you what I know about Prof. Fajardo.
The attached photos of Prof. Fajardo are from my copies of the 1964 and
1966 “Pageant,” the yearbook of Pasadena City College. Raoul Fajardo
was one of my electronics instructors during that era, and we became
friends, mostly because of the fact that upon graduation from PCC, I
became an employee of the college. (In fact, I retired just a little
over two years ago.)
I believe that he was a physicist at heart, and taught electronics as a
sort of respite from his regular routine. And, of course, he was a
flautist. Sadly, I never heard him play. But he did talk about his
flute wedge, which, as he explained, he designed to help people learn
to play the flute more easily. Prof. Fajardo was a delightful person: modest and soft-spoken, he was quick to praise others for a job well done.
Whether or not he is still among the living is unknown to me.
Here’s hoping this finds you well and happy. Thanks for reading.
Stan Coutant
Prof. S. O. Coutant, retired
Performing and Communication Arts
Pasadena City College
