Klarinet Archive - Posting 000224.txt from 1997/11

From: Dirk Kussin <dirk@-----.de>
Subj: Re: from material to blow out
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 10:15:57 -0500

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

For a few month there were some opinions that the Buffet silk swabbing
cloth is the best for the clarinet. It's very expansive. It is
supplied with the Buffet top modells (Prestige...) by default?

The swabber which comes with my B-12 plastic clarinet is too large and
hard. It causes some slight damage on the plastic. I would not take it
for a wooden clarinet.

Brymer wrote in his book that a leather swabber is the best because of
the oiling effect (if I remember correctly).

Dirk

--
Dirk Kussin dirk@-----.de
Fachbereich 17 Mathematik Raum D2.323
Universitdt-GH Paderborn Tel. (+49) (5251) 60-2636
D-33095 Paderborn --------- http://www-math.uni-paderborn.de/~dirk/