Klarinet Archive - Posting 000431.txt from 1996/05

From: David Hughes <dhughes@-----.COM>
Subj: Bore water (not saliva)
Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 17:45:01 -0400

>. The liquid in the clarinet bore
>produced by playing is NOT saliva. Air breathed into the lungs becomes loaded
>with water vapor. On blowing this air into a horn the water vapor tends to
>condense on any surface as liquid water. * * * What
>does make a difference to the amount of condensate in the bore is the
>relative humidity of the ambient air.
>
I have often thought this. It also makes a huge difference what the room
temperature is. If it is cold, more water vapor will condense.

Paul Covey (oboe repairman/maker in Balto) assures me that the bore water
*is* corrosive, however.

Water flow in the bore would be an interesting fluid dynamics problem. I
suspect that the water flow is entirely different once the bore becomes
completely wet, and that the wetter the surface, the faster the water will
flow along an established path, This would explain why, once a tonehole
fills, it tends to refill until the bore is thoroughly dried. We all agree
that swabbing early and often prevents problems.

BTW, the best swab I've ever used is the David Hite "red flag". It is soft
and very absorbent, never catching. I wonder if this is the swab Stanley
Drucker "waved" at Ozawa in the immortal NYP San Francisco concert years ago?