Klarinet Archive - Posting 000227.txt from 1997/11

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: RE:from material to blow out
Date: Thu, 6 Nov 1997 10:16:00 -0500

> From: MX%"klarinet@-----.72
> Subj: RE:from material to blow out

> > > 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.

And Bravo to Neil for his comments below. He raises important
questions for which we have no answers. The problem with Robert's
statement above is contained in the phrase "if you think about this
for a moment..." The fact is that one has to think about this
for a lot more than a moment, and to relieve oneself of the
extraordinary amount of folklore and grandmother's tales related
to the subject of "blow out." I would like to suggest that the
reason why bassoons do not blow out is because they are more
expensive and thus, technologically ill-understood phenomena like
blow out are not applied to it. For an instrument that costs
$2,000, blow out exists, but for an instrument that costs $20,000
it doesn't? Do bass clarinets blow out? Do basset horns blow out?
Have you ever heard of an orchestral bass clarinetist claiming that
his instrument is blown out?

Your opinion on this matter and my opinion on the matter means very
little. What is the scientific basis of the arguments given by
Robert? And the answer is "damn little." It may very well be
true, but because it makes a kind of rough common sense is not reason
to presume it to be correct.

The logic that is being used by Robert is this: I believe in blow
out (and he is welcome to believe what he believes); clarinets are
swabbed a great deal and this is probably the most influential
factor in this thing about which I believe, therefore, swabbing
is the repsonsible party for blow out.

It is called "circular logic."

>
> 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
=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
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