Klarinet Archive - Posting 000628.txt from 1999/05

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Blow Out
Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 18:41:35 -0400

Wow . . . this one again.

My opinion (please note this word, with all of its flame-retardant
capabilities) is that old clarinets get old. If not maintained/overhauled,
they get stuffy. The primary culprit, in my experience, is a leak in the
bladder pads. I have no doubt that there are some dimensional changes in to
wood due to swabbing and/or just general oldness; I do not believe that the
difference these minute variations make is material.

If, OTOH, you feel that your instrument is not up to the rigors of
performance, it's not. Whether the microscopic-evident changes make any
objective difference is irrelevant--playing is a deeply personal, subjective
relationship between you and the horn. There are players who swear that
their older horn just doesn't play like a new one. I believe
them--subjectively, these people certainly need a new horn.

Because it's blown out, the old one isn't worth much--so they can sell it to
me cheap. I will gladly spend some money getting a full-boat overhaul to
turn the instrument back into a "player." This is how students can get
artist-quality instruments for half the price of a new one--and how I
acquired the A I play today. The old blown-out horn, properly repaired, is
simply better than the newer ones I tried. (Please note the term "properly
repaired"--I do not mean replacing a couple of pads by the local part-time
high school kid at the music store; you need a full-boat overhaul by a
competent repair technician.)

People can do the name-dropping thing both ways. Many reputable performers
and/or repair technicians opine that blow out exists, and replace their
horns periodically. I buy new horns too--they're great fun, and are ooh so
cool when they're new and shiny and all. Stanley Hasty, on the other hand,
used the same set of Buffets for all of his performing since the last ice
age (of course, Thomas Puccio tinkered with/serviced them--a lot--over that
time). The anecdotes, in my opinion, end up being a wash.

If you want a new horn, by all means go buy one. Before you tell a
cash-strapped student to do so, they ought to try an overhaul first.

kjf

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