Entry tags:
recorder repair
A number of years ago (I think it was 2010), we attended the Berkeley Early Music Festival and bought three used medieval-style "stick" recorders (they're perfectly cylindrical on the outside, with no turnings or bell, and have a cylindrical rather than reverse-conical bore) made by Jean-Luc Boudreau. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hrj, with whom we were staying, didn't bat an eyelash when we asked her to drive us to Home Depot to buy a length of PVC pipe to pack them in, since they didn't come with cases.)
Anyway, they were a C soprano, a G alto, and an F alto, and we loved all three of them. A few years later we decided we really needed a tenor to match, so we contacted Boudreau, told him what we had, and asked whether he made tenors. He did, but also pointed out (based on the serial number) that our F alto was a very old model that he had since improved, and we really should try one of his newer ones. So we bought a tenor and a new F alto. Although the soprano and altos were each carved from a single piece of wood, the tenor was big enough that it needed a joint between the head and body (this is important later).
In 2011 we attended the Known World Dance Symposium in Bloomington, Indiana, and while there, visited the shop of Unicorn Music, where we tried a couple of Monika Mutsch stick-style recorders, which we thought were wonderful but couldn't afford at the time. (I hope I'm remembering this right...)
In 2015, the renowned early-music pro (and epitome of sweetness and light) Tom Zajac died after a prolonged battle with a brain tumor, and since we had more disposable income by this time we bought two Mutsch "stick" recorders from his estate, a C soprano and a G alto. Also lovely instruments, and in some ways better than the Boudreaus. Monika makes each of her instruments with not one but two joints between head and body. We like them so much that whenshalmestere spotted a used Mutsch F alto on the market last month, she bought it, and it arrived a week or two ago.
The Boudreau tenor has always been frustrating to play: some of the low notes were reluctant to sound, and the joint was a little loose, even at the most humid times of the year. I tried applying cork grease, but that didn't help much.
Anyway, the other night I noticed that one of the joints on the Mutsch G alto was quite loose and wobbly, so I opened up both joints to look inside. One joint had a strip of Teflon plumber's tape wrapped around it, presumably by the late lamented Tom Zajac, and the other had a ring of plumber's tape no longer attached but floating around loose. So I went to the basement, got some fresh plumber's tape, and wrapped it around the offending joint, which was suddenly no longer loose and wobbly. This worked so well that I tried some on the Boudreau tenor too, and it too was no longer loose and wobbly... and, as a bonus, the low notes came out better than before, presumably because there had been a bit of air leakage through the loose joint. Score!
One wonders how civilization was able to develop without Teflon plumber's tape.
hrj, with whom we were staying, didn't bat an eyelash when we asked her to drive us to Home Depot to buy a length of PVC pipe to pack them in, since they didn't come with cases.)Anyway, they were a C soprano, a G alto, and an F alto, and we loved all three of them. A few years later we decided we really needed a tenor to match, so we contacted Boudreau, told him what we had, and asked whether he made tenors. He did, but also pointed out (based on the serial number) that our F alto was a very old model that he had since improved, and we really should try one of his newer ones. So we bought a tenor and a new F alto. Although the soprano and altos were each carved from a single piece of wood, the tenor was big enough that it needed a joint between the head and body (this is important later).
In 2011 we attended the Known World Dance Symposium in Bloomington, Indiana, and while there, visited the shop of Unicorn Music, where we tried a couple of Monika Mutsch stick-style recorders, which we thought were wonderful but couldn't afford at the time. (I hope I'm remembering this right...)
In 2015, the renowned early-music pro (and epitome of sweetness and light) Tom Zajac died after a prolonged battle with a brain tumor, and since we had more disposable income by this time we bought two Mutsch "stick" recorders from his estate, a C soprano and a G alto. Also lovely instruments, and in some ways better than the Boudreaus. Monika makes each of her instruments with not one but two joints between head and body. We like them so much that when
shalmestere spotted a used Mutsch F alto on the market last month, she bought it, and it arrived a week or two ago.The Boudreau tenor has always been frustrating to play: some of the low notes were reluctant to sound, and the joint was a little loose, even at the most humid times of the year. I tried applying cork grease, but that didn't help much.
Anyway, the other night I noticed that one of the joints on the Mutsch G alto was quite loose and wobbly, so I opened up both joints to look inside. One joint had a strip of Teflon plumber's tape wrapped around it, presumably by the late lamented Tom Zajac, and the other had a ring of plumber's tape no longer attached but floating around loose. So I went to the basement, got some fresh plumber's tape, and wrapped it around the offending joint, which was suddenly no longer loose and wobbly. This worked so well that I tried some on the Boudreau tenor too, and it too was no longer loose and wobbly... and, as a bonus, the low notes came out better than before, presumably because there had been a bit of air leakage through the loose joint. Score!
One wonders how civilization was able to develop without Teflon plumber's tape.