The Cracking Xiao Horror Picture Show

[Blue]

Acquired a few more xiaos back in May of this year, and then in July, roughly one year after the wooden xiao given to me by Xindi suddenly cracked, some of the new xiaos that I acquired also cracked. The curious thing is that I kept them out of sunlight with the humidity maintained at around 64% (which is pretty good given Taiwan's humid climate) and the indoor temperature never exceeded 28 degrees C. It feels that if a piece of wood/bamboo is bound to crack somehow, it will crack. If another piece of wood/bamboo doesn't crack under the same conditions, it will never crack. The reason I argue this is that these new xiaos were placed next to xiaos that are three years old along with dizis that are five to six years old. None of those old dizis and xiaos cracked under the same storage conditions.

Will will add more pictures to this “Horror Picture Show,” including peeled paint and detached metal tenons.

[davidmdahl]

I am sorry to hear about the bad luck. The cracks don't look so bad though, and should be repairable. I had my xiao repaired by a shakuhachi maker and the results were great. For an expensive xiao that sounded good before the cracks, it is probably worth the expense of a skilled repair.

Best wishes,

David

[edcat7]

Allen

It might be just Taiwanese bamboo. The low Bb dizi you gave me has also cracked - just as well I bought another Bb

[Blue]

Such over-generalization based on where the flute was purchased! It's like saying that someone is from Taiwan even though he/she was born and spent his/her first decade in the United States.

• The Bb flute I gave you was made in China even though it was purchased in Taiwan.
• The wooden xiao that cracked one year ago was made in Guangdong even though it was purchased in Hong Kong.
• While it is true that the cracked bamboo root xiao above was made in Linnei, Taiwan . . . . .
• . . . . . the cracked queen's tears flute depicted above was made in Wuhan, Hubei, China!

Such over-generalizations that the dizis and xiaos I have are made in Taiwan because I live in Taiwan makes me upset!

[edcat7]

Sept 3, 2013 23:40:48 GMT edcat7 said:

The above have all one thing in common...

[Minh]

Hey
I am sorry to hear that your flutes cracked. www.navaching.com/shaku/crack.html Ok I didn't read the whole thing, just the first paragraph, it says that "Hey it just cracks" I guess it's just the bamboos, and although you have all the right humidity and temperature, probably just from buying it and being exposed to that short moment of the flute travelling into your home, it affected it?

I know I am an intruder, I know nothing about flute, I have one vietnamese one and I don't even have enough air for any notes, I am from the erhu side, I just came here because of all the pretty pictures hehe... Sorry.

[edcat7]

Oh yeah, my TWD$ 24,000 (£522) liuqin bought by my liuqin teacher also developed a crack.

[Blue]

Well phrases such as "They are have one thing in common" and a reference to a liuqin in Taiwan dollars sounds like you are either personally attacking me or you have a grudge/vendetta against the Taiwanese. If that's the case, I'm sorry and very upset to hear that, and there's nothing else to say to you and your attacks against individuals and groups.

[davidmdahl]

Gentlemen, this would probably be a good point to drop the topic.

Best wishes,

David

[Blue]

Here are pictures of the calligraphy painting pigment peeled off as well as the metal tenons totally detached from the bamboo. Certain user(s) in the forum may make fun of this further and hide behind the administrator by pressing the “Like” button for the administrator's comments, but if the flute maker saw this, the flute maker's heart would be devastated. All this mess happened within a few weeks of receiving it from the flute maker, and I've haven't notified the flute maker these five months because I don't want to break his heart regarding his quality and reliability issues and sending the flutes back to China for exchange is a hassle.

[Flolei]

Does this disturb/affect the playability of this dizi, which looks really beautiful even with the little "accidents"?

[Blue]

Those Queen's Tears flutes still play pretty beautifully despite those awful cosmetic defects, but perhaps I shouldn't let the flute maker get away with the defects, especially when other flutes placed next to them didn't suffer ANY issue. And maybe it's time for me to consider other Queen's Tears flutes suppliers like the one you found.

But the flute maker's Queen's Tears U xiao has been very frustrating to enter the third octave compared to all other U and UV xiaos I have. If I do return the U xiao to the maker, maybe I'll challenge the maker to create a UV xiao as UV xiaos are slightly easier to play than U xiaos.