Klarinet Archive - Posting 000102.txt from 2009/09

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] desert climates?
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:08:18 -0400

Curtis Bennett asked,
>What's the orange peel for?>

It's for attracting all those friendly bees. Since they're experiencing a
population crash, I'm sure you want to invite them to feel right at home in
your clarinet case. [Evil grin.]

But seriously.... People who do use orange peels need to be sure the case
closes tightly and then keep on changing those peels often, before they
start to rot. In looking at old clarinets at yard sales and flea markets,
I've seen a definite correlation between dried out old orange peels in the
case and the presence of dried out bees and various dessicated vermin.

The same dry air that can make clarinet wood shrink also affects a wooden
case over time, providing gaps that let the insects in when the aromatic
fruit peels attract them. The plastic cases won't shrink but most of them
are constructed loosely enough that insects can wriggle in. I used to keep
an "Insect Mausoleum" list of the different species I've found in clarinet
cases. It was a long list. I've also found old orange peels that had glued
themselves messily into the case lining as the peels, and the lining under
them, rotted and then slowly dried out. It's no coincidence that the
formerly putrid, now dry orange peels and the formerly lively, now dead
insects come along with rotted pads, mold in the bore and other
deterioration on the instrument itself.

These problems probably aren't as likely in a clarinet that's used regularly
and thus aired out, swabbed often and so forth. The trouble starts because
someone stops playing a particular clarinet without making a positive
decision to stop -- and I suspect that's usually the way clarinets fall into
disuse. Someone who consciously decides to put a particular clarinet away
in storage and not play it any more might also take care to make sure the
instrument is dry and to remove anything wet (swabs, fruit peels) from the
case, but when a clarinet gets retired without such deliberate planning,
Mother Nature does her thing with whatever's left enclosed in there. Pretty
soon, the bees gag and warn each other away and what's left in there doesn't
smell like dinner to anything but a maggot.

I've opted to play it safe and not put invitations to insects, mold, mildew
and rot into my clarinet cases in the first place. I do oil the bores
lightly in winter, but not with aromatic oils. I maintain the house
humidity at a comfortable level rather than putting damp things in the
cases. I even hang my swab over the back of the music stand to dry, instead
of leaving it in a case.

Lelia Loban
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/Lelia_Loban

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