Klarinet Archive - Posting 000340.txt from 1998/01

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: Swabs, rocks, water and mouthpieces
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 11:12:48 -0500

Of course, real swabs are not necessarily as clean as they should be.....
Roger Shilcock

On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Roger Garrett wrote:

> Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 09:54:47 -0600 (CST)
> From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.us
> To: klarinet@-----.us
> Subject: Re: Swabs, rocks, water and mouthpieces
>
>
> On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Jonathan Cohler wrote:
>
> > There has been much discussion about the dangers of swabbing mouthpieces
> > and clarinets recently.
> >
> > I have never heard of any study that demonstrates any measurable difference
> > in either a wood clarinet bore, or a hard rubber mouthpiece, from swabbing
> > with a soft cloth. I would love to hear of one, if such study exists.
>
> For clarificiation, I do not believe swabbing wears the interior
> dimensions of the clarinet - just the tip of the baffle of the mouthpiece
> (depending on the swab, condition of swab, and way it is pulled across.
>
> > Also, I have personally, on a subjective basis, never noticed any
> > difference in any mouthpiece or clarinet that I have played due to swabbing
> > in the past twenty years.
>
> Mine is also a personally subjective observation....as I stated earlier.
> I wore the tip of a mouthpiece down by swabbing twice daily in college - I
> learned to swab once a week, and with the swab (silk) away from the
> baffle. This seemed to solve my problem.
>
> Roger Garrett
> IWU
>
>