Wet Out and the Native American Style Flute

The most annoying problem associated with playing the Native American style flute is called “wet out”. Wet out is caused by condensed moisture accumulating in the flue of the flute. The difference in temperature between the humid air coming out of the lungs and the cooler inner surfaces of the flute causes condensation inside the flute. Droplets of condensed moisture impede the flow of air through the flue and distort to sound of the flute. When this happens you must stop playing, remove the bird, wipe and blow out the moisture and then replace the bird. It usually takes 10 or 15 minutes of continuous playing before a Love flute wets out. Wet out is more of a problem in colder conditions.

Some Native American style flute players are not bothered by wet out. For others it is a major problem. Because I was plagued by wet out myself I have done a lot of experimenting to find a solution.

A Solution for Wet Out

Grayson and I have discovered that it is possible to stop wet out by lining the flue of the Love flute and the bottom of the bird with a hydrophilic (water attracting) plastic material. The surface of the plastic has a surfactant quality. This prevents moisture from beading up on the surface of the plastic. The beaded up water droplets are what distort the sound.  Instead the condensed moisture follows the air flow as a sheet or thin film and not droplets. It follows the air through the flue and flows off into the barrel of the flute as a thin film.  . 

We have developed a method of fitting an Ancient Territories flute with this hydrophilic plastic. This involves routing out a groove on the bottom of the bird and in the flue of the flute itself.  Next, we seal the resulting raw wood surfaces with two coats of polyurethane varnish. Finally we must hand fit the plastic into the bird and flute and glue the pieces in place. Each piece of plastic must be carefully dimensioned by hand. Because this is a time consuming procedure I have to charge and additional $50 for wet out protection. It’s worth it.

Customers sometimes ask if wet out protection changes the sound of the flute. The answer is; if anything, it improves the sound of the flute because it is possible to dimension the plastic material more accurately that is possible with wood. Another question is how long does it last. All I can say to that is I have had this material in my personal flutes with any noticeable deterioration in the material. It does discolor with time however, but this does not affect the protective quality.