 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: K.B.M
Date: 2006-02-27 01:54
Hello,
I am driving down to Chapel Hill tomorrow to tour UNC-CH, and was also going to have a ton kooiman thumbrest possibly installed at a woodwind repair store near by. The only problem is that I have not yet heard back from the repairman about whether or not he could install it.
I was wondering, if he was not able to install the thumb rest and we ended up keeping the clarinet in the car for about seven hours, would the temperature outside cause damage to the instrument. The temperature will be about 40 degrees and the humidity will be 25%. I have an R-13 and an Altieri bag(that is supposed to keep a regulated temp.
Thank You,
Katie
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-02-27 02:15
I recommend that you drag the clarinet along with you. My 40+ year old Buffet cracked this winter. I think that it was caused by blowing hot air through a cold horn that had been left in the car for awhile. The warm iside expanded and pulled the cold outer wood fibers apart.
If you do let it get cole, warm it up before playing it. My teacher holds the upper and lower joints of his cold instrument in his armpits before assemblying and playing his wooden instruments.
Good luck with your university tour.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-02-27 03:39
Rule No.1 of clarinet playing - NEVER leave your clarinet in your car!
And this applies to ALL instruments - plastic, metal or wood.
Katie, it shouldn't take too long to have a Kooiman (or any other) thumbrest fitted - with any luck your repairer could have it fitted within an hour if he's not busy at the time you get there, but you will have to find the right position and angle that suits you.
But I'd strongly advise never to leave your clarinet in your car, or carry it around outside with you for long periods - I know it's sometimes impossible but it's all for the safety of your clarinet. I don't think there are any cases that retain temperature and humidity if subjected to sudden temperature or humidity changes, but if your clarinet is cold, warm it up as Bob suggests, and also to avoid condensation (which will be increased in a cold instrument) and the inside expanding at a greater rate than the outside.
Or let it warm up to room temperature slowly by leaving it in the case with the lid open for about an hour or so, then it should be safe to play it without the risk of any damage.
Sometimes pads can even fall out if clarinets get too cold, but you'll find the keywork is sluggish on a cold clarinet and may even bind, but the biggest risk is cracking which no-one wants - it's not the end of the world if a joint cracks, but it's best avoided at all cost. Prevention being better than cure.
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Author: ClariTone
Date: 2006-02-27 04:34
Chris P wrote:
"Or let it warm up to room temperature slowly by leaving it in the case with the lid open for about an hour or so..."
Chris
Does it really take that long to warm up ones clarinet?!?! Or is this based off of the humidity and temperature given by K.M.B.??? Is there any way to SAFELY speed up the process (like the armpit idea)??? Thanks!!!
Clayton
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-02-27 06:35
If you have the time you should let things warm up slowly and evenly, but more often than not there's never enough time to.
So keeping the clarinet top joint inside your jacket under your armpit will bring the temperature of the joint up to playing pitch much quicker (it will warm the outside quicker than the bore which will lessen the risk of cracking), but there's always the problem that the hall you're playing in is going to be cold and your clarinet is going to cool down during several bars rest when you're not playing, but I keep a beer towel with me to wrap around the clarinet in an attempt to keep it warm, and to keep the condensation off the keys while holding it. And always keep your pullthrough to hand to dry the bore whenever possible, and to prevent water collecting in the side key toneholes, as well as blowing the water out the speaker tube from time to time.
At this time of year we're all going to experience water in the speaker tube, in the thumb bush and other low lying toneholes, as well as the heightened risk of cracks so we should be prepared to take the extra time and have the patience to have things warmed up correctly (and not by blowing air into cold clarinets or putting them on a heater), ideally we should let things reach room temperature before playing, but usually conditions are less than ideal, and 'room temperature' is not ideal - it is at home or in a music department when we practice or rehearse, but never in a church or some school or concert halls that only turn the heating on when players turn up for a rehearsal, just after they've opened the doors so it takes about 2-3 hours to reach a comfortable temperature. If we're not comfortable with the cold, neither are our instruments.
It does annoy me that the safety of our instruments is largely ignored by some musical directors - on one job I did recently, the stage door was left open so the cast could go outside to smoke, and in the 'pit' orchestra (we were at the back of the stage) it was freezing, but no-one outside the orchestra took this into account - they were all too busy lighting up between scenes!
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