How Often Should My Flute See a Technician?

Flutes are a very intricate instrument, and their ability to play precisely is very dependent on two things; the operator and the instrument itself. It’s important to keep the flute in prime condition so that the operator can focus on their abilities and not be hampered by mechanical issues. This may make us wonder how often should your flute see a technician.

Your flute should be seen a couple of times per year.

 

The easy, quick answer here is that most technicians recommend your flute be seen a couple of times per year….. Now, I’m going to add some really important information to this, so read on!

First of all, when I played on a cheap brand of flute as a Junior High student, my flute seemed to always be broken. Why, oh why? Well, now that I’ve been the rounds for 30+ years I see the reasons.

Learn how to properly care for your flute.

 

I was never taught how to properly care for my instrument, and its pads were always shot. I had my pads replaced multiple times in my younger years, and it was always really expensive! So, my parents would try to find the cheapest repairman to help.

Here are the issues to note here:

1. My flute was a very cheap brand. (aka: low quality materials and pads)
2. I didn’t know how to take care of it properly.
3. Taking it to a cheap technician resulted in low quality repair as well as more low quality materials and pads.

The cycle of needing repairs was never ending. It was like a circle of frustration!

 

Quality flutes are important.

 

Once I was taught that I needed a quality flute that could handle me actually PLAYING it daily, I was on my way to a better flute-health life.

I changed from a flute that cost a few hundred dollars to one that cost a few thousand dollars,… received proper instruction, and voila! My need to take my flute to a repair technician every couple of months came to a complete hault.

New, good, high quality pads and springs etc. coupled with knowing A LOT more about caring for it was a big deal for me. And, I sounded SOOOO good!

My new, high-quality flutes still have to take an occasional visit to the high-quality repairman, but it’s actually quite rare. So as far as time and money go: Quality for the WIN.

Do you have questions on this subject? I bet you do. Let’s carry on the conversation here in this comment section. I’ll let you suck me dry for knowledge. Thanks for being here today.