Klarinet Archive - Posting 000120.txt from 1994/02

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Clarinet death: myth or fact?
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 16:44:44 -0500

Anne Vacca posted a note on whether or not older clarinets undergo some
sort of an unrecoverable change that makes then less usable over time.

Anne, that was going to be my next hand grenade into the cave. I am
so enjoying the vibrato discussion that I was reserving this one, but
since you brought it up, I will give an opinion and sit back to read
some more.

The phenomenon to which you are referring is called "blowing out" a
clarinet. To put it neatly, I think the entire theory that clarinets
are more susceptible to being blown out (whatever that means) is a lot
of camel-doo. And, to make the matter worse, it may be camel-doo
with a financial benefit to manufacturers since those who accept the
hypothesis will, of course, buy new horns periodically to avoid the
phenomenon. I assert that most of these purchases are needless.

The basic theory (one for which I can find no evidence whatsoever) is
that clarinets wear out. This wear is sometimes attributed to the fact
that we swab a lot, that clarinets are cylindrical and not conical,
that the vibrations of the wood cause the wood equivalent of metal
stress, etc., etc.

But when one counters that such does not seem to be the case with bassoons,
and never was the case with flutes when the wooden ones were the more
popular, one is told that the clarinet is different in some sense.

I have a Buffet C clarinet made in 1895 and it plays very well, though I
take a great deal of effort to keep it and all my instruments in good
playing shape. I have a Selmer full Boehm F-flat from ca. 1935 and,
though I don't use it very much any longer because of intonation
issues, it played beautifully for me for years.

But if you ask almost any repairperson (who also sells clarinets), you
will be told that "blowing out" is something that will happen to your
clarinet and you should prepare for it, with that person gaining
financially from your gullibility.

A clarinet that is kept in ideal condition, with periodic overhauls to
make sure that the posts don't start to rotate and therefore create
leaks, will play for an indefinite period of time without actual loss
of character. What will change is the player's perception of his/her
playing. S/he will begin to believe that the instrument is not as
responsible as it used to be. But that can be caused as much by the
player becoming more sensitive (and alsobeing a better player) than any
negative physical characteristics of the instrument.

It's like weight training. You start out with 250 pounds and after a while,
it feels too light. It is still 250 pounds, but your muscles are better.

I anxiously await a single, valid, scientific study that shows that
clarinets deteriorate physically over a period of say 30-75 years. And
I am referring to physical deterioration that cannot be recovered from.
Until I see such a thing, I consider the entire phenomenon of blown out
clarinets to be folk lore and unworthy of serious belief.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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