Is it the Flute? Or is it me? – Part 3
Common problems to check for on your flute:
There are some common problems to check for on your flute so that you can determine:
Is it the flute? Or is it me?
Here’s part three in this series. All of the problems occur as the result of either simple aging, or rough/ careless handling.
After you’ve checked all these things you should have a clearer idea how much (if any) repair your flute needs, and can take it in to be seen to by a reputable flute technician or repair person.
Things to check yourself:
Foot joint keys out of adjustment:
The most common reason for having difficulty with playing low C on the flute is that the foot joint keys are no longer adjusted so that they’re falling at the same split second.
If you look closely, the C and C# keys are both supposed to go down when depressing only the C roller. There’s an L-shaped elbow that connects them, and a tiny piece of L-shaped cork at this elbow that insures that the two round pads hit the holes at the same exact instant. If there has been rough handling of the foot joint, the C and C# will not land at the same exact instant.
To check for foot joint key problems:
Depress the C natural roller only, and watch closely to see if both the C and the C# keys land at the exact same time on their respective tone-holes.
You will probably be able to see, just with your eyes, whether or not they are acting identically.
If you suspect that the C# key is somehow bent, or not closing all the way when only the C roller is depressed, but are not sure, take a leaf of cigarette paper, with the glue strip cut away, and place it under the C# key while depressing the C roller.
If the cigarette paper can be pulled out from under the C# pad with little or no resistance while just the C roller is depressed, it could be that the foot joint’s keys are out of adjustment. Both pads (C and C#) SHOULD both seal at the same rate.
This is an inexpensive repair. The technician will tweak the bent key, and/or add a shim or new piece of cork to the L-shaped joining-bar of the two keys.