Klarinet Archive - Posting 000700.txt from 1997/09

From: Bill Edinger <wde1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: swabbing mouthpieces
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 20:11:38 -0400

I feel strongly that Roger Garrett is quite correct in advising against
swabbing mouthpieces. The real wear occurs at the edge the rails, when
the swab is drawn through (from either direction): over time, the edge
becomes rounded, as does the tip. It takes a long time - years, in
fact, when you practice as little as I do - but it eventually makes the
mouthpiece respond less and less, most noticeably in the upper
register. You don't see the same thing occurring in the bore of the
instrument because there is no sharp ninety-degree edge being "polished"
with the swab every time you draw it through as there is with the
mouthpiece, i.e. no shearing edge. On the other hand, it is entirely
conceivable that the use of a rougher swab, over time, would indeed
eventually change the dimensions of the bore, although it is perhaps
more likely that time alone working on a natural substance - wood -
would be changing it even more.

My vote goes for not swabbing.

Bill E.