Flute Tips

 

Dealing with Flute Wet-out, Moisture, & Mold Growth in the SAC

     It is well-nigh impossible to stop moisture from forming inside any flute; that's just what Nature's Laws dictate will happen given a particular combination of circumstances. When a player's warm breath meets the cooler inner walls of the Native American flute's slow air chamber, or SAC, condensation forms there, builds up, & then subsequently breaks free, following the flow of air out through the wind-way where it then constricts & eventually clogs the opening until forcibly removed. When this happens, the volume & tone of the flute change dramatically, and not for the better! 

     When that happens, you can clear out the worst of the moisture by first placing your right hand index finger just in front of the sound hole (i.e. in front of the block) and blowing sharply several times. This will effectively mute the sound of the flute and at the same time dislodge the biggest water drops. Some makers suggest slinging the flute to remove the remaining moisture, but this is strongly discouraged as it would be too easy to damage your flute should you accidentally let go of it or strike it against a hard surface! Though it is indeed annoying to have to stop playing in order to eliminate the wetness, this whole procedure can be accomplished in less than a minute.

     Several flute makers have attempted to address the wet-out problem through innovative SAC designs & other means. One such maker claims his innovation eliminates 80% of the wet-out issue, and I recently got to test this claim. In June & July 2010, I watched over a house in Albuquerque, NM for a fellow flute-playing friend who happened to have one of said maker's custom "wet-out protected" flutes, which I played on a number of occasions. (It's also worth mentioning that the climate in Albuquerque is rather dry; overall humidity levels typically fall in the 20-40% range.) The so-called “wet-out protected” flute, as it turns out, experienced wet-out out just the same as any other flute & in about the same amount of time, too. Others have proposed their own unique solutions to this dilemma which include drilling a hole in the bottom of the SAC & installing in narrow section of thick string to act as a moisture-absorbing wick, adding a ceramic insert in the flue to soak up wetness, & incorporating vertical rows of brass plates inside the SAC to catch moisture droplets. 

     Are such innovative attempts effective? Reports vary. Should makers abandon such efforts then? Not at all! What would the life of a dedicated craftsman be without the challenge to innovate? No doubt many, if not most Native American flute players would gladly welcome any improvements that reduced this incessant & annoying problem. The fact remains, however, that despite all well-meaning efforts, wet-out is still going to occur to some degree. A 100% solution is very likely not possible. 

     Short of a definitive solution, the best one can do is to lessen the likelihood of quick moisture build-up. Some makers coat the interior of the SAC with some kind of sealant (polyurethane, shellac, etc.) as a preventative measure although the primary reason for this protective coating probably has less to do with fighting wet-out-causing moisture build-up than it does with blocking condensation from entering the grain of the wood from the inside of the SAC & causing potentially destructive swelling, separation of glue seams, discoloration, & even cracking. Conversely, others will argue the opposite, opting instead NOT to coat the inside of the SAC, thus allowing the wood to naturally absorb the excess moisture that would otherwise cause wet-out. Still others point to a trick which involves applying a thin, even line of epoxy from the top of the SAC ramp to the back edge of the TSH, that is, the flue area, which allows some moisture to dislodge freely & get blown clear of the wind-way during playing. A common trick in colder environments is to take off the fetish & wrap one hand around the nest area for 5-10 minutes before playing, thereby warming up the wood & bringing it closer to your breath temperature. This does in many instances extend the playing time available before the first wet-out occurs. One maker even suggests covering 50% of the mouth-hole with your upper lip when playing, thereby allegedly reducing by half the amount of moisture being introduced into the SAC. 

     The issue of wetness is especially relevant to flute players who live in climates with very high humidity. If any moisture is left to sit in the SAC, health-endangering mold growth can & will begin. The single best way to prevent such growth is simply to take the bird completely off the flute *every time* you finish playing. I would also blow out & gently tap out as much moisture as possible & then use a tightly-rolled-up piece of paper towel or lint-free cloth to swab out the interior of the SAC, thereby removing any remaining wetness. The more quickly the interior can dry out, the less likely mold can gain a foothold. Leaving the bird off overnight is a wise move, too. Personally, I'm pretty lucky in that I haven't had any experience with mold growth in my flutes. Like most players, however, I do have plenty of flute wet-out experience, especially from playing in such moisture-magnet locations as tunnels. In any case, you would do well in not placing unwarranted confidence in any design that promotes itself as having completely or even partly solved the wet-out problem. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't go out and buy any flute simply because I believed it to be less likely to wet-out; I would buy it because, first and foremost, I liked how it played & sounded. In the end, wet-out & mold growth is something that we as individual players will have to find a way to control & minimize.

 

Getting Unstuck & Carrying on with Your Improvisation

Flutations! These are some tips that I either brainstormed or gathered together from YouTube & e-mail correspondence over the past few years. I hope you find them useful. 

 

It is inevitable that you will find yourself getting creatively "stuck" from time to time. First off, know that IT'S OKAY; creative blocks are a natural part of the growth process. The very fact that you notice this is a good indicator that you are developing. To help yourself out of any ruts, real or perceived, try some of these things:

 

Tip #1. Imagine a phrase or melody BEFORE you even pick up the flute, and then try to play that phrase or melody. Play your main melody in a straightforward way the first time. Play it again, and this time, put an extra note (a) before the main melody starts, (b) between one or two of the main melody notes, and (c) right before the last note. Now play the original again, unadorned. Finally, add another, completely different melody line or phrase. This is, in fact, the basis of composition.

 

Tip #2: Use accents on different notes to add emphasis and feel. This can produce dramatic results!

• Use tonguing techniques on some notes: gently add a silent /t/ sound at the start of each note, and if you can make your tongue flutter, try that on one or two notes.

• Add trills to some notes by rapidly opening & closing holes with your middle or ring fingers. 

• Use vibrato on any notes that are held longer than others, and try *varying the speed* of your vibrato to give added depth to the note. Vibrato should come as a pulse of air from your diaphram, though some people can use their throat muscles to do this effectively.

• Incorporate grace notes between the main melody notes by using left-hand finger flips: Just a split second before playing a note, rapidly raise & lower one of your left-hand fingers *very slightly*. Note that you don't want to open the hole up all the way; in fact, you just want to barely crack it open for a fraction of a second. It gives the note following it a quality that is similar to the "gulped" notes that singers sometimes use for inflection. Remember: if you do this correctly, you shouldn't be able to hear the "flipped" note because you're doing this to place emphasis on the melody note that comes AFTER it.

 

Tip #3. Do you tend to play a particular phrase over & over? Take that phrase and REVERSE it. Playing it "backwards" will give it a different flavor and may actually inspire you to go off in a different direction. (Recording yourself & then listening back to your phrase may make this tip easier to accomplish. More about recording a little later...)

Tip #4. Here's another way out of the "same ol' phrase" rut: Start playing the phrase, and STOP after you play 3 notes. Where will you go next? Even if you continue by playing that same repeated phrase, it is no longer the same; you have just altered its rhythmic flow by consciously stopping.  

Tip #5. Notice where you usually start when you first begin to play the flute. Do you always begin at the fundamental? From there, do you usually open up the bottom 3 holes? This seems to be the most common initial phrasing for the Native American flute. While there's nothing at all wrong with that, if you're consciously trying to break out of a rut, start somewhere else. Begin at the octave, i.e., on a 6-hole flute, keep the 4th hole from the bottom closed with the left-hand ring finger, and open all the other holes. Go ANYWHERE from there, but come back to that note at the end. Or, start all holes closed, then play the scale in order from bottom to top... and skip every other note. The next time, play only the notes that you skipped previously.

 

Tip #6. Do you normally play a series of short notes? Play long, sustained notes instead. Use lots of vibrato on these long notes. Or, you can do the opposite: play shorter notes or phrases where you would normally play single sustained notes. A simple shift in your thinking such as this will open up new possibilities for your playing.

Tip #7. SPACES are your best friends! Be sure to leave spaces when you play. Silences between phrases allow the ear to digest what it has just heard, and they give you a second to re-orient yourself to what will come next. It is an act of creating anticipation as well as one of releasing tension. Generally speaking, if you're playing improvised music for an audience, try to avoid playing phrases that include long, unbroken streams of notes. This uses up both the player's and the listener's energies, albeit in different ways. Of course, playing like this for *yourself* is fine; you sometimes need to express yourself in a flurry of notes. That said, gaps between phrases give your spirit breathing space & create a rhythm & balance to your music. Best of all, the calming effect of adding spaces cannot be overstated! 

Tip #8. Play along with a rhythm track or accompaniment CD. I can recommend three of these CDs:

Laughing Crow's: http://www.cedarflutes.com/cd_page.htm

Clint Goss': http://www.naftracks.com

Stephen DeRuby's:http://www.deruby.com/Stephen_s_Music_CD_s.html

 

Tip #9. Do you have a keyboard that has built-in rhythms? If so, you already have a fantastic tool to help you improvise. Turn on any rhythm and play along with it whatever comes out. Change up the tempo & rhythms, and you'll witness your playing changing & expanding, too. Don't be afraid to try rhythms that you ordinarily wouldn't  select; a polka or bossa-nova can lead you to some surprising places. You may just find yourself enjoying the ride!

Tip #10. Put some medium-to-slower tempo instrumental music that you like on your iPod or home stereo system and play along with it whatever notes you feel inspired to play. Of course, it helps if you're playing in a related key, but if you have several flutes, try switching between them to find one that blends well & compliments the music you're listening to.

Tip #11. Play along with music that you hear on the TV. Also, switch on your radio and join in! A very well-know flute player/recording artist & good friend of mine, Saggio, used to bring his flute to the movie theater and play along with the credits at the end. The sky is indeed the limit!

Tip #12. Join a local flute circle. Playing together with other Native American flute players offers many benefits. You can learn tips & tricks directly from them, and you can show others what you have learned, too. Keep in mind many of these folks have the same issues as you: *they* want to break out of *their* flute ruts, too! 

Tip #13. Find friends who play guitar, keyboards, or drums & percussion. Live jamming is both a fun experience and one of the fastest ways to really open up your playing to new vistas. The energy you get from live musical interaction is a special experience that you'll probably find intoxicating, too!

Tip #14. Get in the habit of recording yourself whenever you play. That is a VERY useful way to evaluate where you are at in your development. it's a good idea to have the recording device set up and ready to go so you don't have to spend time fiddling with it before you begin playing. Any of the currently available portable digital recorders will work well. (When not in my recording room, I use a Tascam DR-1.) You will be glad you recorded yourself because interesting things happen while playing the flute, and you will have saved them.

Try to re-create some of your improvisations by re-listening to them a few hours, or days, or weeks later. Inevitably, you'll do things a bit differently when you're trying to figure out just what it was you were doing in the first place! This is good; it can & often does lead you down a new road. In addition, you can record VIDEO of yourself playing as well as audio. (If you have a suitable program, you can easily extract the audio from a video as well.) All modern digital cameras include video capability, so there's no reason not to try this. Video will give you an "outsider's view" and may well cue you in to aspects of your playing that you hadn't previously been aware of.

 

Tip #15. Above all, take it easy on yourself! We can be our own worst critics sometimes. Just let the flute say what it wants to say. It will speak in different ways on different days. Allowing the music to flow naturally will also allow you to witness your playing blossoming. If it just doesn't seem to be happening on a particular day, accept it, and put the flute down. It's your spirit's way of telling you to rest, recharge, & get into a different zone.

 

A final word: Ultimately, you have to speak with your own voice, so always play whatever YOU feel. You will probably notice that when you simply let the flute do the talking, very often music will flow forth with little or no resistance. This is music from your heart; it is your own voice emerging. Be careful not to be too critical or compare it with the voices you've heard from others. They are who they are, and you are who you are. Accept that fact each & every time you play, and allow it to happen naturally. In time, your own voice will become clearer and more refined. Development comes in phases, but remember that each phase is still YOU and YOUR VOICE at that particular moment. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Honor each phase as both a statement of where you are at and as a step in your development, and continue to express what you have to say through the flute.

Peace ~ Bruce