About

Hi!  My name is Drew Niemeyer.

I am a woodwind instrumental technician, specializing in flute, oboe and clarinet servicing and repair.

I have created Flute Essentials with the idea to help increase general knowledge about how flutes work. There are no real ‘secrets’ involved in the repair business and I believe every player should know about the state of their instrument, and exactly what goes on in maintaining it.What you will find in these pages…

Blog postsHere you can read about the various processes that make up an overhaul or a service. What is all the jargon you hear from repairers, such as ‘regulation’ or ‘double action’. What is the process of seating a pad or tightening the keywork? Do you know what was involved in the last 2 or 3 services of your own instrument?Live EventsThe live events have been designed to walk you through everything you need to know, from care and maintenance procedures, to disassembling a flute, identifying leaks, and how to make minor adjustments. You’ll find these in the calendar section of this site.PublicationsThese guides will step you through the main topics that are covered in the live events.The Flute Essentials ebook goes into more depth about purchasing a first flute, as well as some very basic details about the mechanism of the flute.The Contact PageFeel free to also ask a question in the contact page. If there is something that I haven’t already covered in the blog posts, I’ll make sure I get around to drafting something up in the future.

Thank you for visiting the site.

Hopefully we’ll see you sometime soon in the workshop!