Klarinet Archive - Posting 000626.txt from 2005/06

From: ormo2ndtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] Humid conditions - affects on the clarinet & reeds
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 11:31:28 -0400

Dominic=A0Codera wrote:

> how would the high humidity conditions in the
> Philippines affect the clarinet and reeds.

One of the recommendations that has been posted here in the past is to
bag your clarinet while in transit in order that the 'shock' of a major
humidity change is gentler. Then, when you arrive, you can open the
bag without removing the clarinet from the bag and thereby allow your
clarinet to accommodate itself to the new environment more gently.

....and be careful to dry your clarinet & reeds (swab, etc) as well as
practical after playing in order to discourage mildew growth.

However, once I asked a professional player who travels world-wide with
expensive instruments if he does this, and he said "No, I don't". As
with everything else about music, there's a lot of superstition and
random anecdotes available, if you want to pursue them.

My own solution, on the few occasions when I've travelled with a
clarinet, has been to travel with my plastic clarinet and leave my wood
clarinet at home.

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