Straubinger™ Pads – Design Revolution

Ashley Jackman, head technician at The Music Place in Melbourne, recently completed the Straubinger Pad Certification Workshop in Indianapolis, USA.  This intensive course is exclusively for experienced repair technicians, and qualifies them to install and repair the patented Straubinger™ Flute Pads.  Ashley shares some his experiences from Indiana.

After 8 months of communication, research and planning, I was ready for the 35 hour travel time and minus 5 degree temperatures that greeted me on arrival in Indianapolis to undertake the Straubinger™ pad certification course.  I was less prepared for the overwhelming greeting on my arrival which began with David Straubinger at the airport, and followed with an immersion into a family like environment back at the factory, meeting the rest of the team and David’s wife Dale – what a warm welcome.

My first full day in Indy, I pitched in with the set up for what was to be the first pad course since the factory was rebuilt – the Straubinger Factory was tragically destroyed by fire in early 2009.  That evening saw the commencement of the course, with an official welcome dinner and the arrival of other technicians from around the world and across the United States.  It was a real buzz to be in an environment of other like-minded repairers – all willing to share knowledge and excited about the week ahead.

Day 1 kicked off with a lecture answering the questions - Who is David Straubinger, What are Straubinger™ pads, and How did they come about. 

As a professional Oboe player, and woodwind instrument repairer, David had long thought that there should be a more stable pad available for flute.  He felt that the thickness of felt in regular flute pads, and internal shape of the key cups, adversely affected the stability of the seat (the sealing of the pads over the tone hole).  David overcame these issues by re-designing the entire pad system.  By introducing a stabilizing disk, a level and solid base is created to build the pad from.  Where traditional pads are manufactured into one piece, the Straubinger™ flute pad assembly, is a multi-layered system, designed to better withstand temperature and environmental variations, and remain stable and secure over a longer life span.

To achieve optimum results with Straubinger™ pads, a significant amount of time is required in preparation of the flute.  This process involves leveling tone holes, centring and squaring key cups and spuds – all prior to installation of stabilizing disk and pads.

Ten hours into the first day, we downed tools – our flutes in pieces, our heads overloaded with massive amounts of information – it was certainly going to be an intense week.  The social interaction over dinner became a melting pot of experiences, philosophies and techniques, we were all eager to bounce ideas off each other.

Over the next week, we were expertly guided through the preparation, installation and completion of re padding our flutes.  Working individually, but problem solving as a team, we encountered many varying obstacles, and brainstormed solutions to overcome these.  This resulted in a number of correct answers for the same problem – a fantastic way to learn.  This training philosophy was driven by David and we were encouraged to contribute our own ideas as part of the process.

On the completion of repadding the flute I took with me, I was blown away by the feel of the new Straubinger™ pads.  Although it played extremely well leaving Australia, post installation, note centring and tonal colour was vastly improved. The response under my fingers was superior to any other handmade flute I had worked on.    

For the duration of the course, our little family comprised of experts from around the world including – a lecturer from the Seattle university woodwind repair course, a flute technician from Lyon, France, and the grandson of the founder of Emerson Flutes.  It was a humbling experience to work and train alongside these esteemed fellow students.  Great friendships were made and The Music Place network extends even further than before.