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| Care and Maintenance of Recorders and Early Flutes
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Like all wooden musical instruments, recorders and early flutes need a certain amount of special care. Please observe the following basic rules:
• Protect the instrument from sudden changes in temperature or humidity (such as playing a very cold instrument without warming it up).
• Whenever possible, warm up the head joint of your instrument to body temperature before playing. This is the best way to prevent excessive condensation and clogging. This can be accomplished by holding the head joint in your hands, under your arm, or in your waistband for awhile before playing.
• Avoid exposing the instrument to excessive heat, such as leaving it on a radiator or in a hot parked car. In particular, some instruments made of maple, pear, or other softer woods are impregnated with wax to help protect the wood from moisture. If these instruments are exposed to heat, the wax will exude from the wood and make a big mess. It's possible to clean it up, but much better to avoid it in the first place!
However, even instruments that are not wax-impregnated should be protected from extreme heat.
• Avoid very dry conditions, which can make the instrument prone to cracking. If you live in a dry climate, it is a good idea to keep the instrument humidified. This can be accomplished by keeping a small bit of moist sponge in your case (if the case seals enough to keep the humidity inside) or by storing the entire case in a ziploc freezer bag with a bit of moist sponge.
• Avoid very damp conditions, which encourage the growth of mildew and mold.
• Avoid sudden changes in humidity. In particular, if your instrument has not been played for awhile, especially if you live in a dry climate, it is a good idea to play it in again gradually to ease the transition.
•A new instrument should not be played for more than about 15-20 minutes twice a day for at least two weeks until it is "broken in".
•After playing, the recorder or flute should be disassembled, and excess moisture swabbed from the walls of the bore.
• Do not allow anything to damage the delicate thin edge at the tip of the labium (the "whistle part") of your recorder. This is where the sound is produced, and damage to this edge is not generally reparable.
• Keep the cork joints well greased. Cork is organic, and has a grain, like wood. Assemble the recorder carefully, using a continuous twisting motion (rather than rocking joints back and forth). When possible, it is best to store instruments disassembled, as leaving them assembled all the time will compress the cork joints and make them too loose over time.
• If your instrument has string joints, always be aware of how tight or loose the joints have become. String joints do not have as much "give" as cork joints, so if they are too tight, there is a risk of cracking the socket. If they get too loose, you risk dropping part of your instrument. String joints can be easily adjusted by adding or removing some thread. Cotton or silk sewing thread will work, as will waxed dental floss. You can use cork grease or beeswax to hold the ends of the string in place (waxed dental floss will stick to itself, so this is not necessary).
• Please do not try to change the voicing or tuning of the instrument without consultation, or have any additions or alterations such as thumb-bushings, re-reaming, voicing, or tuning done by unauthorised craftsmen. We cannot warranty any instrument which has been tampered with, we may be unable to repair it, and may refuse to work on it.
About Oiling
The bore (the inside of the tube) of your instrument should be oiled sparingly about a month after purchase, and every 2-3 months thereafter. We recommend a mixture of 3 parts boiled linseed oil thinned with 1 part turpentine, although some players prefer to use almond oil. Use a soft, lint-free cloth on a slotted rod, and oil only the length of the bore below the window opening (of a recorder). Do not get any oil on the cork of a flute or the block or fipple (the cedar plug in the mouthpiece) of a recorder. To avoid this, insert your oiling implement into the head joint of your flute only until you can see the end of it through the embouchure hole; for a recorder, insert it only until you can see the end of it through the "window" on the front of the head joint.
Allow the oil to soak in for about half an hour, then wipe out the excess with a clean cloth. Take care to avoid oil build-up in the tone holes, as this can adversely affect the tuning. Excess oil can be cleaned out of the holes with a q-tip or a corner of cloth or paper towel.
If your instrument has keywork, take care not to get oil on the keypads, posts, or keywork.
About Clogging
"Clogging" in a recorder is the result of condensation collecting in the windway, which will adversely affect the tone quality. As recorders are played, the block will tend to absorb moisture and swell, and further change the tone and response of the instrument.
The best defense against clogging is to make sure the head joint is warmed to body temperature before playing, as this reduces the difference in temperature between your warm, moist breath and the surfaces of the windway. Larger instruments or instruments made of denser and heavier materials such as grenadilla, ebony, ivory, etc, will take longer to warm up than smaller instruments or instruments made of less dense materials such as maple, pear, plum, or plastic.
If clogging persists, it may be due to individual playing technique or individual characteristics of the instrument, and can usually be helped by the use of a wetting agent or weak detergent solution, such as our Anti-Clogging solution.
Drop this solution into the windway with an eyedropper, wetting the surfaces of the windway. Do not use pipecleaners, strips of blotting paper, cigarette paper, or feathers, which can inadvertently damage the thin edge of the labium or the surface of the block. Wetting agents and detergents do not stop condensation, but they reduce the surface tension of the water that condenses so that it runs off more easily instead of beading up and remaining in the windway.
When clogging occurs, excess moisture can be removed in three ways:
• Cover the window of the head joint with the palm of your hand and blow sharply into the mouthpiece. Never put your finger directly onto the labium, as this will over time leave a residue of oils from your skin, and can cause the edge to warp, ruining the recorder.
• Disassemble the head joint from the center joint; cover the bottom (socket) end of the head joint, and blow sharply into the window opening, letting the moisture come out of the mouthpiece end.
• Suck air back through the mouthpiece, which you can do quickly during a piece; in addition to removing excess moisture, this helps to dry out the wet block.
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