Klarinet Archive - Posting 000650.txt from 1997/04

From: ClarinetPlayer@-----.com (MR BRIAN C HING)
Subj: Re: saliva and pads?
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 02:17:32 -0400

Gary,

I have cork pads on the top tube of my A clarinet and, like you, I do
not think having cork pads eliminates the problem of water finding
its way to the pads. What cork pads will do, hopefully, is hold up
better than the bladder pads. Cork pads IMO do not absorb and hold
as much water as bladder pads do. Moisture causes the pads to
deteriorate/rot. Your observation regarding your polished bore is
consistent with my observation with an oiled bore. I find that water
is less likely to collect (pool) and channel its way to the pads if I
lightly oil the bore every few months. According to something I read
(perhaps in the Klarinet archives) it is this pooling and channeling
which causes a particular pad to continue to collect water even after
drying with cigarette paper, roller end papers (or whatever they're
called), or by blowing across the key. By the way, for bore oil I
use Old English Lemon Oil furniture polish. So far I have
experienced no problems using the furniture polish--no build up,
sticky mechanisms, or sticky pads. Plus, the polixh gives the
surface of the clarinet a nice finish when buffed.

At 10:19 PM ET Gary Hopkins wrote:

>Tom, having cork pads on some of the keys will help the problem
somewhat,
>but if you are a "wet" player (slobber a lot) you will most likely
have some
>problems even with cork pads. I started using cork pads in the
middle
>sixities, and continue to have problems with the right hand Eb/Bb
and the
>C#/G# pinky-key. I put cork pads on all upper joint keys except for
the
>second ring key (D/A). On the instrument I play at the moment I
polished the
>bore, and that has seemed to help some. I did it to make the
instrument a
>little less stuffy, and got the added benefit of less water
collection.

>At 02:00 PM 4/21/97 CDT, you wrote:
>>I'm wondering if having my clarinet repadded with cork pads might
reduce
>>the need to swab my clarinet every 5-10 minutes if
>>want to keep the sound clear and unclogged? Would repadding help?
Or
>>blowing it out with compressed air?! Anyone have any tips for
keeping the
>>sound clear without having to remove the mouthpiece and re-swab
>>frequently?

>>Appreciate any suggesions.
>>
>=====================================================================

>Tom Ascher Internet: u15310@-----.
edu
>University of Illinois at Chicago Phone: (312) 413-3665
>
>