Klarinet Archive - Posting 000612.txt from 1996/04

From: "Gregory T. Wright" <103147.1471@-----.COM>
Subj: crack prevention
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 23:01:11 -0400

Fellow Reed-slaves,
I play sax, so I haven't needed to worry about cracks. When I attended
Northern Michigan University, I was introduced to the "dampit" for strings.
Question:

Would it be helpful for clarinetists to use a "dampit" (moist sponge) in
cold weather??? Cold air is quite dry, but water becomes LESS dense, colder
than about 4 degrees C (This is why ice floats.). Which is worse? Letting
instruments dry out in dry weather, or letting water cool & expand [ sounds
strange, doen't it???] in the wood??? Makes you go "hmmm", doesn't it?

-Gregory T. Wright
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