Klarinet Archive - Posting 000278.txt from 2002/12

From: Bi6W@-----.net (Bill Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] WOO HOO!
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 22:56:48 -0500

<><> Rebecca=A0Brennan wrote:
uhh oh! I played for about 7 or 8 when I first got it. Then I went
through a 2 hour band rehearsal on it. Will I suffer for this?

...well, I hope you didn't take my comment too seriously, but just to
explain.....

Some Klarinet folks have mentioned that one or two manufacturers
recommend a break-in period of 10 minutes/day for the first week or two
in order that a new instrument can adapt to new moisture conditions.

My own (definitely amateur) opinion is that if an instrument is
pre-disposed to crack, such that several hours of playing will damage
it, then I'd want to know during the first day or two while the sale is
still fresh in the dealer's mind.

But the opposing notion is that any clarinet, new or old, can crack at
any time; and therefore surviving or failing during the first few days
doesn't mean anything, nor does it change the likelihood of failure
later on.

My clarinet, which I bought used, had cracked and been pinned after a
professional performer had played it for a couple of years, not when it
was brand new. My superstitious belief was (and still is) that my
clarinet is now 'stress relieved' and therefore safer than a new
instrument. Despite this, I confess that when I travel, I leave my
wooden clarinet at home and take my plastic instrument with me instead.

So probably it's all superstition, which can be 'proven' either way by
selecting whichever anecdote you wish to believe and ignoring all the
others.

....Gadzooks! the temperature and humidity have changed in my house
since this morning ....pardon me while I adjust the thermostat and boil
a kettle of water in order to restore the conditions....

Cheers,
Bill

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