Klarinet Archive - Posting 000107.txt from 2004/01

From: Tony@-----.demon.co.uk (Tony Pay)
Subj: Re: [kl] Cracks, cracks
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 07:53:31 -0500

On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 19:28:06 -0500, FrankLucciano@-----.com said:

> Some interesting and good replies on this cracking subject. I still am
> curious about the gluing of cracked stringed instruments though. Are there
> less opposing forces at work? Is it a more stable crack on a violin? I
> highly doubt it. Why have glues been used exclusively for this purpose?
> I would think fixing a crack on a violin, when the crack is almost always
> through the body completely would be more sensitive to
> expansion/contraction.

(1) You don't pin a violin because the added mass would interfere with its
vibration, as you have said yourself.

(2) Violins don't have to withstand the effect of the humidity of the breath,
which can lead to enormous forces on the bodies of woodwind instrument in
some cases, depending on the precise nature of the piece of wood involved.

> I never said gluing was the end all be all for clarinet crack repair. If
> the crack gets bigger or open, I will surely get it pinned.

But you said in your post:

> Pinning most likeley will become obsolete in time once the "tradition" of
> using that method dies. I guess it's hard for some to commit to a new and
> better method of doing things once one is steeped in tradition.

and,

> The super glue method seems to be the way to go now in 2004.

...which to me shows that you don't, or didn't, understand the difference
between superficial cracks, which may be dealt with using superglue alone,
and fundamental ones, which require more thoroughgoing attention.

> As to Tony's post, if the crack is on the surface and NOT into the bore...
> how is the bore affected by the crack? I do not know.

The movement of the wood evidenced by the external crack appearing can
involve distortion of the bore. Allowing the crack to close by not playing
the instrument, and pinning it when the bore is back to where it was, can
often, though not always, save the instrument.

I suppose I've played professionally on something like 25 instruments.
Around 4 or 5 suffered from major and minor cracks. The modern instrument I
play at the moment has a cracked and pinned top joint, which I've been told
really needs further attention when I can return it to the workshop for a
couple of weeks. The boxwood copy of Muehlfeld's boxwood Ottensteiner A
clarinet that I also own and play on suffered a top joint crack that was
beyond repair, and required a transplant a few years ago.

I well remember that particular crack because we discovered it at Howarths
between rehearsal and concert of a Brahms programme -- the instrument had
been misbehaving, and I'd taken it in to have the pads checked. There was no
time to let the instrument 'recover', so we had to do our best with superglue
and hope the concert would go OK. It did, luckily (though I was wondering
throughout whether or not it would explode on me), with the exception of one
very quiet solo in Brahms II that was missing a crucial note. It generated a
very interesting expression on the conductor's face -- and possibly mine too.

> A bore could easily warp without ever cracking as well.

True, and one reason why modern instruments use blackwood instead of the much
more labile boxwood.

> Until there are plenty of facts, not opinions abound about this topic, I
> don't appreciate being told I "do not know what I speak of".

No, there are plenty of facts; it was just that your original post didn't
contain any of them.

Tony
--
_________ Tony Pay
|ony:-) 79 Southmoor Rd Tony@-----.demon.co.uk
| |ay Oxford OX2 6RE http://classicalplus.gmn.com/artists
tel/fax 01865 553339

... Hackers do it with bugs.

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