I first saw one of these in Jon Landell's shop. It had been made
by Ed Almeida. It's the sort of thing flute makers do with scrap silver
and spare time. It's also quite useful. With a C foot, you
give up low C, but gain low B. Since B often goes to C#, this can
be a lifesaver. With a B foot you lose the B and gain a low B-flat. There
are some Mahler solos where this is the only way to go.
This aligns the French washer so that it goes on straight – making padding
MUCH easier and more consistent. I make them with whatever hardwood
I have lying around. If you want something special, just let me know.
Many of these gadgets get invented and reinvented, but I’m fairly certain
this one is original to me. BTW, I don’t believe in patenting this
sort of thing. If you want to make your own, let me know and I’ll
even give you the dimensions. I would ask that if someone decides
to produce them commercially, at least mention my name as the source of
the idea. $80Update - Ferree's is now producing two versions of this gadget - with my blessing. They look nice, feel good in the hand and really work! And, they're a lot cheaper from Ferree's!
Leak Machine
When
you design the scale of a flute, the very first decision concerns key opening.
If you alter that dimension, you alter the scale. My gauges are made
to either Albert’s Cooper's or William Bennett's dimensions. The small end is for the “F” key
and the large end is for the footjoint. The effect of altering the
key height is counterintuitive. Any change you make will affect the
left hand notes more, so raising key height sharpens the left hand most,
effectively moves the toneholes apart and in the end LOWERS the pitch of
the flute. This is why many “old scale” flutes work well with the
keys set low. It flattens the left hand more than the right hand
and foot, in effect raising the pitch of the instrument. $20
I think I invented this, but it’s such a good idea that someone else
may have gotten there first. I can say that in about 1975, I modified
a jeweler’s staking tool (it’s used in clock repair) to punch pins out
of flutes. The photo above shows the original item on the left and my "improved
version" on the right.. The ones I now make are from steel and allow better
access in awkward places. They’re completely hand made and very expensive.
Unless you’re really rabid about these things, I’d recommend getting one
from
Ferree’s, JL Smith, or
Jonathon
Landell. $300
Many piccolos are made with a sharp middle D and flat low D.
It’s s simple matter to extend the end of the piccolo a bit and bring the
middle D in tune. Of course this really flattens the low D, but life
is full of compromises. You can do this yourself with a bit of cork,
or you can pay me to make an elegant little piece of plastic that slips
into the end of the piccolo. This should cost about a dollar, but
unfortunately all piccolos are different. It has to be custom machined for
fit and pitch: $60
I
make these for two reasons. The first is personal safety. Don’t use a
conventional cleaning rod on a stuck cork! When the cork finally slips, the end
of the head tube can do a nasty number on your fingers. The second is the
necessity for accurately locating the cork. A few
years back, I nearly flunked out a talented graduate student for playing out of
tune. I repeatedly asked about the cork position and was assured that all
was well. I finally got suspicious and checked the very expensive, hand
turned rosewood cleaning rod. It was off by about three millimeters. We
moved the cork to the correct position and averted two nervous breakdowns!
If you look closely, this rod has two marks – one for flute and the other
for piccolo. Also, there’s a hole in the end that “swallows” the cork screw
and protects it from trauma. $65