My first day of classes at HCC is on August 27, about 2 weeks from now. I spent time today getting more things set up in my office. I thought of a clever way of displaying my bamboo and PVC flutes that will keep them right at hand and easy to pick up. They are such great instruments to improvise with. I also love my blackwood flutes, but they are very expensive and live in a special cabinet with controlled humidity. Taking them out, applying cork grease, assembling them, then carefully drying them afterward is an involved process. I also have a student model Boehm flute, but I don’t think it’s ‘healthy’ for it to be sitting out all the time either. So it’s great to have the bamboo flutes. Both of mine are by Olwell — a small one in G and a large one in C. I also have a black PVC flute that was made in Ireland, in the traditional key of D.

My blackwood flutes were made by David Copley. There is one headpiece and two bodies. One body is the traditional keyless flute in the key of D; the other is a fully-keyed flute in C. Unfortunately the material under the keys has broken down (eaten by dermestid beetles?) and the keys don’t seal. I need to send the flute back to meet its Maker!

I still have to set up the “piano” in my office. I have an 88 key, weighted keyboard that is more than 20 yrs old. It’s a bit stiff and squeaky but functional. There’s several sound sources I could connect it to using midi cables. The original is a rack mount Korg 05R/W (also 20+ yrs old!). Other options are the Korg Karma and Korg Microarranger.

I also need to clear the random boxes out of here so that I can sit at the piano without tripping on things!