Special Projects
How to Repair a Dent
For anyone interested in seeing how a dent is removed from a flute, we were recently asked to remove a rather nasty dent from a headjoint. Naturally, Edison took one look at it and said, "Hold my beer" and got to work. Angus was on hand to record the process (and provide the sound effects)!
How to Fix a Bent Headjoint
To our horror, this headjoint was brought in to the shop a few days ago. The result of a very unfortunate tumble, the parents thought all hope was lost. Even David and Mark thought there was no going back and was about to pull out our case of headjoints, when Edison Castilho Jr. stepped in and said, "Not so fast. I got this."
Featuring the Kuhlau Fantaisie No. 1 performed by Mark Xiao.
Extra Trill Keys!
Handmade Custom flutes are made to special order at the factory but sometimes a player wants to make some alterations or even a special key added. Luca Manghi, a very well known and distinguished performer and teacher in Auckland, wanted an extra gizmo and a Left Hand Low D# Extension added to his 9K Muramatsu flute and Edison Castilho Jr., one of our repair technicians was able to make these for him.
Adding the Low D# Extension makes it possible to trill between low C and D#, C# and D# and B and D# (try these on your flute!).
The extra gizmo that was added now sits next to the standard gizmo. This gizmo is connected to the G key, making it possible to do an A to G trill with the right hand index finger, rather than just using the left hand's ring finger.
This is very specialised work and Luca was very happy with the result. Check out some behind the scenes pictures below as well as a video of these trills in action!
