My flute is buzzing at me!

[ShadowSaine]

Hullo all!

Brand new member, I've been lurking for a while but this is my first post, so hello to all. =] I hope you don't mind me diving in with a question.

I'm Zof, self-taught, been playing about three years (on and off) with not a lesson in my life (so I probably have a ton of bad habits. I'm thinking of having a pick-up lesson or two to try and get rid of those). I have a Trevor James Privilége III and I love it to pieces, but I notice it buzzes at me rather disconcertingly sometimes, especially when I'm playing the lower notes. Is there likely to be something I'm doing wrongly that would cause this? Should I take it for a service? (It's only a couple of months old!) Do flutes just do this sort of thing and I should ignore it?

Any help or insight will be very gratefully received! And apologies for diving in here with a "hi, this is very briefly me, now please set my mind at rest about the flute-that's-trying-to-be-a-bumblebee"...

[pied_piper]

There are a few possible flute problems that can cause a buzzing and yes, it usually happens when playing the lower notes. Technically, it's called sympathetic vibrations. The sound waves when playing cause the entire flute to vibrate and contribute to the overall sound. Sometimes, something on the flute can become loose and vibrate in ways that they should not.

A common problem is that the crown on the headjoint is loose. Check the crown and very slightly try to turn it. It should not move very easily. If it does move, turn it clockwise until it just begins to offer some very slight resistance to turning. Be careful not to turn it very far or the headjoint cork stopper will be moved out of the proper place. You can check the proper position with your cleaning rod. There is a line about 1/2 inch from the end. Insert that end into the tube end of headjoint until it touches the stopper. Look into the embouchure hole (what you blow into) and see if the line is centered in the middle of the embouchure hole. If it is not centered, I can explain how to set it correctly.

Here's a few other possibilities.
A loose headjoint cork that needs replacing
A loose screw
A loose spring
A torn pad

It's probably not anything serious, but if it's anything other than a loose crown, you ought to get a flute repair technician to check your flute. If it's a screw, a simple adjustment can fix it in quick order. Don't try to start turning all the screws or you could get the flute out of adjustment and while that won't harm the flute, you could end up paying a bigger repair bill to get everything right again.

[ShadowSaine]

Hey, thanks so much for the reply, and apologies that mine is late!

The cork seems to be in the right place, from trying this out with my cleaning rod and a tape measure (I decided to get precise). The crown doesn't seem loose either. The buzzing isn't as bad since I had a poke at that, but it's still there... Do you think I should take it for a service? Or is there something else I can try to make it better?

Might it be something about how I play it? I've never had a lesson, and though I try my best, I imagine my posture must be deplorable. Would that contribute?

Thanks so much for all your help, pied_piper. I really appreciate it.