an instrument maker's journal

Have you ever wondered how a Yamaha recorder head looks inside? They are obviously not supposed to fall apart like this, but in some rare cases they do. It's an easy fix but quite fascinating to see one from the inside

Sometimes you find blocks in old recorders that look nothing like they should. Often it is just mould and build-up. In this case, the block has very deep grooves. A block should actually be as smooth as possible to direct the air evenly to the labium. Grooves like these cause condensation to collect and the recorder to become hoarse very quickly. What we do then is quite simple. Using very fine sandpaper, the surface is carefully sanded down until it is even. Only a very small amount of material is removed, so the sound is not significantly altered.

Today on instruments you probably haven't seen before: A small valve horn

Cleaning a clarinet also includes the keys. Usually they become black over the years due to oxidation. More on that in a later post. Sometimes we also find the pads to be quite dirty after years of playing. Sadly a lot of times they just get yellow and dry over the years and need to be changed. But with this one we got lucky. The pads are still soft and the dirt is mostly on the surface so we can clean it with wood polish and talcum powder. What you see in the pictures is the before and after of a leather pad being cleaned

Sometimes I do find small surprises. This tone hole is red on the inside while the clarinet is made out of grenadill, a mostly black wood. There is an easy explanation for it, but I still don't see it that often. To adjust the pitch we usually use shellac or wax to fill out the hole or we file it open a bit. When using shellac or wax, it is standard practice to use one that has a similar colour to the wood. But sometimes we don't have that and then something like this happens. It is well hidden beneath the key and the player probably doesn't even know. A lovely little detail

drawing done by me about two years ago (2023)

This fabulous instrument is called a harp-lute and was invented and built by Edward Light (1746/7 – 1832) in London

This recorder is made out of lead. It belongs to a group of recorders made out of different materials to test if the material would have an impact on the sound. It doesn't have any tone holes and therefore can only play one tone. The instruments were build by Johann Michael Eisenmenger (1723-1788). If you want to see more pictures or read more about it, check out the page of Deutsches Museum