Klarinet Archive - Posting 000053.txt from 2007/01

From: kurtheisig@-----.net
Subj: Re: [kl] instrument acting odd....
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2007 02:19:23 -0500

I live on the Monterey Bay where humidity tends to be 70% in the house wher=
e I do most of my repairing. San Jose--"over the hill", is near desert at t=
imes in lack of humidity. Merely bringing clarinets to me and having them s=
it at my house sometimes re-hydrates them. For a loose ring, I will leave t=
hem on the bathroom
shelf for a few days. A few days of showers and they get close to tight, th=
en I use tissue paper to tighten the ring with. I've been doing that for 26=
years and have never gotten one back to re-tighten from over in "the valle=
y".

A story to show what humidity/lack of humidity can do:

In 1978 when my grandfather died, I took home a mission oak bookcase that w=
as so dry it was wobbling and falling apart. He had lived near Palm Springs=
out on the dessert. There were upright posts in all 4 corners that came up=
through the top board of the cabinet. the top board is about 10" deep and =
between the gaps at both corners and splits, there was a total of over 3/4"=
of space from front to back due to drying. I had it in San Jose, a dry cli=
mate, but not as dry as Palm Springs for 2 years, then took it to Santa Cru=
z County for 26. Within a few years the gaps and splits had closed until th=
e total of them now is about 1/8", and the cabinet is now reasonably tight,=
without any other work on my part! That oak had shrunk that much in 65-75 =
years and yet when re-hydrated came back 5/6ths of the way in just a few ye=
ars!

Kurt

-----Original Message-----
>From: Gillian Craven <gillian_craven@-----.com>
>Sent: Jan 6, 2007 6:22 AM
>To: klarinet@-----.org
>Subject: Re: [kl] instrument acting odd....
>
>My clarinet is three years old and I live in Scotland so it is possibly=20
>related to temperature/humidity. I am always very careful about not leavin=
g=20
>instrument near heaters and leaving it to adjust before playing.
>I am aware that this is likely to be the problem but not sure what I shold=
=20
>do with the instrument now. what tricks are you aware of to get water back=
=20
>in ?
>
>Gillian
>
>
>>From: Mark Sausville <sausvill@-----.net>
>>Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
>>To: klarinet@-----.org
>>Subject: Re: [kl] instrument acting odd....
>>Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:53:34 -0800
>>
>>Where do you live? In the winter months in many areas, ambient humidity=
=20
>>(inside) drops like a rock as more forced air heat is used. Unless I=20
>>humidify in my house, the humidity goes as low as 20%.
>>
>>Suspiciously like your time line.
>>
>>If your bore changes as the instrument dries out, it will do so slowly. =
=20
>>The changes that happen are completely unpredictable but definitely inclu=
de=20
>>pitch problems. One day, you suddenly won't be able to stand playing the=
=20
>>(now altered) horn one second longer.
>>
>>Recently, something like this happened to one of my clarinets. That horn=
=20
>>is about 6 years old now. It may also have to do with how far from the=
=20
>>manufactured state the horn is. Presumably all the oil=20
>>soaking/waxing/polishing things that are done to stabilize the wood don't=
=20
>>last forever.
>>
>>If you think this might be your problem, I would try some gentle tricks t=
o=20
>>slowly get water back into the horn. It doesn't happen overnight. Maybe=
=20
>>weeks to a month.
>>
>>M.
>>
>>
>>Gillian Craven wrote:
>>>
>>>Hello,
>>>
>>>I was wondering if anybody has ever experienced this problem and could=
=20
>>>possibly help. Over the past few months, I have had intonation problems =
on=20
>>>my Prestige Bb which got worse and worse until one day the instrument wa=
s=20
>>>unplayable.
>>>The left hand notes were suddenly all very flat and the right hand all=
=20
>>>very sharp. This seems to be a problem that was building and then sudden=
ly=20
>>>got much worse. I have experimented with changing barrels and bells but=
=20
>>>this makes no difference.
>>>My teacher cleaned out all the holes, checked pads and filed some holes=
=20
>>>which helped the tuning of the top two holes. I then took the clarinet t=
o=20
>>>get the venting of bottom pads closed over to reduce sharpness. The=20
>>>flatness has now gone but the instrument is now very sharp.
>>>I have spoken to two top repairers who cant think of an answer. Has=20
>>>anything similar happened to anyone? I cant play it like this. anyone=
=20
>>>experienced bore shifting???
>>>
>>>Thanks
>>>
>>>Gillian
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>Windows Live=C2=99 Messenger has arrived. Click here to download it for fr=
ee! =20
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>
>
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