Klarinet Archive - Posting 000053.txt from 2003/05

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] outdoor theatre
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 17:14:16 -0400

> From: clarinetnut@-----.com]
> Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 4:42 PM
> List, am I correct about the wood taking time to stabilize? That's just
> something someone told me once.
>
You may get a few differing opinions about this, but it will all tend to be
based on anecdotal evidence. It seems (from other discussions we've had
here) as if most clarinets that crack do so early in their lives - during
the first year or so. The question is whether or not those instruments would
have cracked no matter what conditions had surrounded their use. There is
probably little if any real evidence (other than personal anecdotes) that
our instruments that never cracked would have if underprotected during their
first years, nor can we be sure that an instrument that cracked at an
outdoor concert one summer night wouldn't have suffered the same fate in an
air-conditioned concert hall or practice studio.

I would take pains to protect any wood instrument, but especially a new one,
from sharp temperature swings and extremes on the theory that a piece of
wood with a marginally weak spot in its grain *might* be more likely to
crack if exposed to them. But even a crack isn't fatal, or even disabling,
to a clarinet if it is repaired properly. I personally wouldn't avoid using
a clarinet, even a relatively new one (Rebecca, yours is a few months old,
if I remember - well past anyone's recommended "break-in" period) except
under the extreme conditions I've described.

Karl Krelove

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