NEW!!! Flute Pro Shop Skype Consultations

 Sifting through the mountains of materials about flutes, manufacturers, construction, materials, and who-plays-what makes the process of finding the perfect flute for you arduous and terrifying, especially if you are undertaking this search on your own.

Flute Pro Shop to the rescue!!!

Email joan@fluteproshop.com and set up your personalized Skype session with me, Joan Sparks.  I will ask a million questions: Why did you choose the flute? How much do you practice? (Try not to lie here) How long have you been at this practice level? Who have your teachers been? Are you an athlete?  What is your flute story?  All the while I will be taking notes and creating a profile for you. From here, we will begin to map out a process to select the flute that best suits your needs, dreams, and level of performance.

This process is valuable for local as well as out-of-town clients because we begin to form a relationship built on your individual needs before you even get into the shop.  It allows me to have informed choices of instruments for you to try.  It eliminates the overwhelming feeling of wondering, "I wonder what the 3rd flute down in this cabinet full of flutes sounds like?"  The hand selection process allows you to feel confident and have FUN!

We will also work within your budget and time frame.  Sometimes this process takes months.  Someone just bought a Haynes 5% gold flute (simply gorgeous!) after looking for the better part of a year.  It was worth it.  She is in heaven with this flute.

Some others can decide in 10 minutes, which is my own personal style.

The most frequent request I hear is for instruments with more resistance.  Sometimes we will start with the most resistant flute in the shop, and work toward less resistance.  This often defines resistance to the client, resulting in a much different purchase than might have been the first impulse.

The fun in this to me is the smile and the wonderful change in body language when the right flute has been selected.  I live for those smiles!!

Looking forward to your emails!!!

Jury Duty

Finally, the 15th of May was here: the day designated for me to serve my jury duty.  The summons had the ominous words: "Capital Murder" and "Estimated Time: 5 weeks."  Not at all comforting. As the owner of a small business, 5 weeks was a devastating time to be otherwise occupied.  I am also fervently against the death penalty.  I believe in the power and miracle of redemption, having closely witnessed it in my circle of friends and family.  I figured between the two, I could easily evade the 5 week trial.

I woke Wednesday to showers, and as I pulled out of the driveway, he heavens had opened up and torrential rain pelted the trusty Trailblazer.

Dilemma: Do I go get coffee?  Or do I avoid the risk of missing one of the limited number of parking spots in the court house parking garage? 

I did without the coffee.

220 of us gathered in the Jury Room.  All walks of life.  All quiet, respectful.  Soft chatter in the room.  I was surprised at the sense of community.  Whatever our similarities or differences, we were all there for the same reason.  That fact broke down whatever barriers would have been in place in the "real world."  I was touched by that, and realized there may be more to this than trying to get off annoying civic duty.  Some 100 of us had made mistakes on our questionnaire. We were called to the front of the room, given our marked questionnaires, told to make corrections. I had mistakenly admitted to being a convicted felon.  Oops.  I counted myself fortunate to have not been called up twice!

The chief judge came in and reminded us that Jury Duty was a critical part of our responsibilities as citizens, that many of us wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible, and to realize that there were many more factors and forces at work than our convenience and comfort. It really gave me pause, and I realized that if I were to be chosen for a 3-4 day trial I would do my civic duty, even if it meant working late at night or over the weekend.  He also said the Capital Murder trial was settled, so no one would be called upon for weeks of jury duty.

Break time!  Coffee was the first priority and I dashed out for a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee-why is that coffee so darn good??

The morning and early afternoon was spent reading a trashy novel, and kind of resting.  One large group was called up and that was all. I breathed a sigh of relief as the "S's" were called out and my name was not one of them. Of the 17 cases, only 2 were going on to trial.

I was sprung by 2:00 PM, and that was that.  I am now immune from another jury duty summons from the State of Delaware for 2 years.

 However, Federal Court is another matter.

Flute Care and Maintenance in Transitional Seasons

Ahh.  Spring.  Here in Delaware, our spring is always lovely. Lots of blossoming shrubs, trees, tulips, iris, all my favorites.  April Showers do bring May flowers (although this year it seems May and April have switched places in the showers department.)

And of course the temperatures and humidity fluctuate wildly.  One day the heat is on in your house, the next the AC.  Just as this stresses you, it stresses your flute.  And in the end of spring we have all those concerts, recitals, and auditions.  Again, more stress for your instrument.

So how can you avoid the last minute trauma of the flute not working well (or at all) at the big concert?  Here are some tried and true tips.

As always, swab out your instrument whenever you play it.  If you are practicing for hours, swab it out every 45 minutes or so-just at the time you should be taking your break.  Swab the flute out if condensation begins to drip out the end.  That much moisture is not good especially now.  I make a practice of drying the pads at the end of the day as well.  I use the BG France universal pad dryers because the nap on the material seems to cut through that film that can build up and cause noisy pads.  This additional maintenance really pays off with much quieter pads.

(There has been a big discussion on the flute list lately about what kind of cigarette paper to use on flute pads.  Here's my thought on the matter: You know how when you have a cold and you use lots of tissues and your nose gets raw and red?  That is the paper pulp fiber from the tissue irritating the skin.  Cigarette paper is also made of paper-just think what it does to the surface of the pad??)

Put your flute in its case and case cover at the end of the day.  Remember the heat/AC scenario mentioned above? You don't want your flute to suffer the wildly different atmospheres because that is just what causes problems.  You also protect the headjoint cork by storing your flute overnight in its case and cover.

Please don't store your cleaning swab in the case with the flute!  That's why case covers have external pockets.  Placing the moisture back in the case that you just removed from the case is contrary to what you want to do.

Take the time to gently wipe down the outside of the flute with a microfiber cloth so the flute stays shiny and also dust/dirt free.  It is also much more comfortable to play on a clean flute, free of finger prints.  The best thing to take that salty residue from sweaty fingers is a slightly moistened tri-fold white paper towel. The old fashioned kind.  When I find them, I always help myself to several.

Of course regular maintenance will head off any major problems, especially if you have noticed problems occurring in specific times of the year.  I have a flute that always has a problem with the Bb mechanism in the early spring.  Knowing that, I have David Kee, the,  FPS flute specialist, gives my flute a check up in April, and I end up avoiding a problem.

As always, if your flute is acting strangely, take it to be repaired.  The problem will never "just go away."  Better to be safe than sorry....