Caring for your Flute
The picture above illustrates how your flute should look when it’s assembled.
To put your flute together, hold the head joint in your left hand and the body in your right. Slide the head joint and body together with a gentle twisting motion. Turn the head joint until the center of the embouchure hole in the lip plate lines up with the center of the main row of keys. Slide the foot joint onto the body in the same way. Line up the foot joint so the rod connected to the Eb key is in line with the keys on the middle joint as shown above. A very small amount of slide grease on the ends of the joints can make your flute easier to assemble and take apart.
The soft white pads you see in each key cup are important but delicate parts of your flute. By stopping air from coming through the holes they cover, the pads allow you to change the notes the flute plays. The pads have to be soft enough to seal the holes tightly when you apply light pressure to the keys. If the pads become hard or develop air leaks, your flute will be hard to play or won’t play some notes at all. The enemy of the pads is moisture, especially the kind that builds up inside your flute when you play. If that moisture runs out onto the pads, your pads will become stiff and the thin, clear cover on the pads will eventually crack. In order to protect your pads, each time you finish playing your flute, pull your flute swab through each joint to remove the moisture. If you do that, your flute will continue to be easy for you to play. For the same reasons, you’ll want to avoid eating, drinking, and chewing gum while you play.
Your fingerprints contain acids that can eventually eat into the shiny finish of your flute and make it look dull. You can wipe the fingerprints off your flute with a flute polish cloth. I don’t recommend liquid polish because it sometimes gets on the pads and destroys them.
When you aren’t playing your flute, take it apart and put it in its case or use a flute stand. Most of the damage we fix on flutes happens when the instrument is left out of its case—usually on a chair or on the bed.
Since your flute’s case fits your flute pretty tightly, don’t put other things in the case with it. They will press on the flute’s keys, bending them out of adjustment and making the flute hard to play.
Your flute has tiny screws on some of its keys. These aren’t meant to be tightened down. Instead they are used by the technician to adjust your flute’s keys so they work together properly.
It’s a good idea to bring your flute to the repair shop at least once a year for inspection and routine maintenance. Sometimes we can spot minor problems early and head off expensive repairs. We’re always happy to inspect and test your instrument free of charge, and usually can do it while you wait. And if you have Amro’s Maintenance & Replacement coverage, any adjustments and repair it needs are free of charge. A properly working flute can actually make you a better flutist.
Best of luck with your flute. Take good care of it, and don’t forget to practice!
