Hi all - I know this has been covered to a certain extent in previous posts, but I’m looking for a bit of further advice and reassurance. I have an M&E R&R poly flute which I’ve been playing since I started about 8 months ago. A month ago I bought a McGee GLP in blackwood and I’ve been playing that ever since (I really like it). BUT for some reason I couldn’t figure out, I was playing less and less.
Last night I got the M&E out for the first time since I bought the McGee and it was sounding good. More importantly I realised that what’s been mucking me up with the McGee is the fear of cracks. Let me explain:
I tend to play in fairly short bursts whenever I get the chance, so I’ll play maybe 10-15 minutes, then do something else, do another 10 and so on. This was fine with the M&E, but with the McGee it’s a pain because I feel I have to swab it out every time - I know I should do this but it’s really messing up the experience for me. I loved the freedom I had with the M&E last night. Play a bit, prop it up in the corner, play some more etc - great. So my question is, just how often do you think I should swab the McGee? After every 10 minute play? Or can I afford to have, say 2-3 10 minute sessions before swabbing out (I tend to prop the flute assembled in a corner between plays). Or would it be better to dis-assemble the flute and not swab? I think you get the picture… As ever any advice much appreciated.
Blackwood is a naturally oily wood and doesn’t absorb much liquid. That’s why blackwood doesn’t really swell from being played, as oppposed to boxwood, plumwood and other lighter woods. You should be fine with swabbing out the flute at the end of the day or after a session, long practise session and so on. That’s how I do it with my bloodwood flute for some months now, and I didn’t notice any swelling. The main reason why you should swab out a blackwood flute is to hinder some funny mushrooms from assimilating your flute (and especially the cork) as their new habitat. Also apply some oil from time to time, it helps to prevent the wood from soaking liquid.
I appreciate your dilemma and I don’t have advice. I am sure Terry McGee will pitch in at some point as may other experts.
You are in the Outer Hebrides and I gather it would tend to be a moist ambience weatherwise mostly, right?
Here in eastern Australia, on my Irish flute day, I will assemble my Irish flute of a morning and play at it itsy bitsy through the day. I will only dissemble it after a peak practise that may last 60 to 90 minutes. The itsy bitsies are a build up towards the peak practice.
Call me a heathen but there is no way I am gonna pissfart about dissembling and swabbing 6 or 7 or 14 times in the course of the day.
I am interested to see what sort of advice is logged here.
Matt Molloy, when asked about swabbing out his precious Olwell cocus flute, told us that he does it the day after the concert. Catherine McEvoy almost never cleans her old Rudall Rose flute, although she does shake out droplets of Catherine McJuice and might swab lightly. She says, “The dirt knows where to go.”
I only clean my flute at the end of the day. I usually, but not always, stand it up when not playing so the water tends to run out. I might dis-assemble it and just let the parts sit horizontal. If you do swab it you shouldn’t use cotton- that would take too much moisture out. The flute isn’t happy being totally dry. At the end of the day I use a silk rag dampened with some light almond oil to more or less distribute the large droplets of moisture and to leave a bit of oil in the bore.
Caution such as you described is over the top regarding care of a wooden flute. I think your concern is way excessive. It’s more important that you play it and enjoy it. While it isn’t as indestructible as a plastic flute, a wooden flute can withstand centuries of use and abuse. It isn’t helpful, as a recent thread beat to death, recommending a plastic flute on the basis of a care-free maintenance schedule – unless you live in a desert or on top of a mountain, or some other climate very harmful to a wood flute. Professional musicians travel in and out of, and to and from, dry/wet climates (air-conditioning lowers relative humidity a lot) all the time and 99.9% of them play wooden flutes.
Mary alludes to this…but there really is a chance you might like the tone of your M&E better than the GLP - they’re different beasts with different bore sizes, embouchure cuts and tone hole size. Play whichever you like the sound of best is my advice.
I obsessively worry about cracks in wooden flutes as well, but I realize I shouldn’t. I also realized after owning a couple of wooden flutes for over a year, which neither ever cracked when I had them BTW, that the worry really did hinder my enjoyment of playing. My fear of cracks is down right phobic, and most folks really don’t understand such strongly grounded fears.
So, if you truly have a phobic fear type of thing with the cracking issue, I’d say go with polymer or go see a therapist. In contrast, if you’re just worried and prefer the GLP, play away…odds are very high you’ll not have any problems.
I checked with the maker of my first good flute about this,
as I played it then put it down for a good while, then played it.
He said it was OK not to swab, just stand the flute up.
so i’ve done this for years. No problem.
I find that, if I don’t play a flute for an hour or so,
it tends to dry out anyway by itself, even assembled.
So I’m actually swabbing less and less. If the instrument
is soggy after a session, I will swab.
Thanks all - you’ve made my day! I particularly liked talasiga’s “…moist ambience weatherwise..” Yes, correct - it’s mostly moist in a horizontal direction and usually at about 60 - 100 mph.
I’m not going to worry too much about this any more - are we obsessive about our ‘little darlings’ or what?
I concur totally ( ) with Cocus, with only one rider: if the ambient conditions are very condensation provoking, even a fairly short play may cause build up of sufficient moisture to make blowing out/draining and drying necessary in order to de-bubble keyed holes etc. This is a playing practicality, not a flute care issue. Otherwise, as the others have said, don’t fret, just play!
BTW, having spent my childhood in the West Country, I know all about gale-force horizontal drizzle! Folks from Central and Easterly parts of Britain don’t understand, let alone those from farther afield!
A guy at our session with a couple of fine Olwells never swabs his flutes. Doesn’t believe in it. We live somewhere somewhat dry so maybe that’s actually better. I can see how swabbing would prevent bacteria from finding its way anywhere it wanted to go.
Thing I have noticed is that the wood flute absorbs a lot of moisture but the plastic one absorbs none. Very quickly, as I seem to be pretty slobbery, the plastic flute becomes difficult to play and my fingers are wet. I actually end up swabbing the plastic one a lot more often.
I do have a question about taking apart wooden flutes. Maybe it’s already been answered. If I play the wooden one a while it’s very difficult to take apart, and my swab stick is not long enough to reach when the flute is fully assembled. Is it ok to leave it assembled and unswabbed until the swelling goes down?
Just to get back to the M&E for a moment, the corks will deteriorate with time and the sound gets “punky”…just replaced the second one in 4 years…(put in a metal piston this time..so far so good)
It is a bad day, when I don’t have a wooden flute propped up in the corner next to my favorite chair!
I’ll also offer for your consideration, make a long wooden cleaning rod. Then you can swab the flute out while it is fully assembled and awaiting your next oppertunity to play.
Also there’s a device called a Flute Flag, which one can
purchase online, which allows one to swab an entire
wooden flute at a single stroke, assembled. This
can be helpful when performing.
Yes, thanks for all the tips everyone. Do the same ideas stand for boxwood? Another flute player recommended that I do swab the boxwood with cotton, at least in the summer, because the humidity in the air is right about %60. Obviously in the winter it’ll need extra moisture, but he did not agree that leaving an uneven trail of water in part of the flute was a good idea. Uneven swelling and all that.
I play boxwood flutes and don’t swab them unless I play long enough that there’s a lot of liquid running down them. I have one that went a little out-of-round for a month or so in the summer once, but have never had any other problems. My flutes include everything from brand-new to antique. I do keep them upright while they’re moist.
As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, some makers don’t even recommend swabbing, just shaking out the bigger drops. Moisture isn’t the flute’s enemy, dryness, sudden changes in moisture, and standing water are.
AT the moment, I am out in the desert, 110 deg. 20% humidity, I brought 4 antique flutes with me, one is a Boxwood, (a Metzler with no cracks) no fears, as long as I keep the swamp cooler going! It is a good idea to shake out or swab a flute before storing it. I leave a little residual moisture to retain humdity in the case.
I particularly liked talasiga’s “…moist ambience weatherwise..” Yes, correct - it’s mostly moist in a horizontal direction and usually at about 60 - 100 mph. 
) with Cocus, with only one rider: if the ambient conditions are very condensation provoking, even a fairly short play may cause build up of sufficient moisture to make blowing out/draining and drying necessary in order to de-bubble keyed holes etc. This is a playing practicality, not a flute care issue. Otherwise, as the others have said, don’t fret, just play!