Klarinet Archive - Posting 000217.txt from 1997/11

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: RE:from material to blow out
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 01:53:45 -0500

> > Robert Howe wrote:

> > ...the value of a smooth, polished bore, which absorbs less energy
> > via friction and provides an easier blowing, more flexible instrument.
> > If you think about this a moment you will understand how clarinets and
> > oboes "play out", and why bassoons do not.

Are you implying that swabbing-out of the instrument is the
cause of the speculative blow-out phenomenon? It is understood
that swabbing out over many years' time has the effect of slowly
reaming the bore. Is this reaming effect uneven, such that the
inner surface is less even and uniform, thereby creating greater
friction and a harder-blowing instrument? Or is it the opposite
result? How does one know when his/her instrument has "blown out"?
Do clarinets, then, as well as oboes, have "shelf lives"? If the
swab is the cause of the phenomenon, has anybody determined con-
clusively which material is best to use in order to minimize the
friction/reaming effect? Cloth? or Silk? Chamois? Is the
best function to absorb moisture, or merely to spread it thin
so that it evaporates? Does evaporation of the moisture have
an adverse effect on the organic pores of the wood? Where in
the world IS Carmen San Diego?

Neil