My Flute is rattling

Taking care of your instrument

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Walrus
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 5:05 pm

My Flute is rattling

Post by Walrus »

When I play in the middle register w the RH keys, my Flute begins making this awful buzzing/rattling noise, like there's a mosquito in my ear. I thought it was just a problem with my open-hole Flute so I took it to the shop to have it looked at (and of course the rattling stopped), but my closed-hole Flute makes the same noise when I play the same keys!
I haven't changed anything about my mouth or hands or the amount of time I play, but I never noticed this noise on either Flute until recently.
Have any of you ever experienced this before? Any ideas on how to fix it?

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pied_piper
Posts: 1962
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:31 pm
Location: Virginia

Re: My Flute is rattling

Post by pied_piper »

Be sure the crown on the end of the headjoint is snug, but don't over tighten it, just snug only. Other possibilities include a loose screw, a loose spring, a torn pad skin, or something else. There are a lot of possible causes.
"Never give a flute player a screwdriver."
--anonymous--

fluteguy18
Posts: 2311
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:11 pm

Re: My Flute is rattling

Post by fluteguy18 »

Indeed! I once looked for about 2 hours before I found the cause of a mystery buzz. The culprit? A spud that was coming unsoldered.

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