 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2011-10-09 18:02
I have just had the pads in the top joint of my clarinet (a Buffet E13) redone. The technician said they had worn through more quickly than he would have expected and I asked him why. He asked me if I put the clarinet away after each practice and I said no. He said this could be the reason for the wear. I have a few questions around this:
1. why should this be? Is it due to fluctuating humidity or temperature in the room?
2. if I covered over the clarinet (ie with a pillow case ) would that help?
3. would the same be true for my Hanson (a plastic student model)?
4. would it be safer to leave in a non-heated (or coolish) room?
My concern is that I like to have a clarinet all ready to go in case I have a few minutes in which I can practice a scale or two. I know I won't go to the effort of putting the clarinet together and taking it apart again if I am only going to be practising for 10 minutes....
Thanks in advance for any useful comments.
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-10-09 18:25
I dont think it should affect it, but I had an E13 and had to have all the pads replaced within the year as they all wore out. IT may just have been sub-par pads initially fitted.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2011-10-09 18:51
Do you swab out after each practice, and dry out the tenon joints?
If not, do so, then if you wish to reassemble it and leave it on a peg, fine.
But get the moisture out of the bore and of the tenon sockets.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: kdk
Date: 2011-10-09 19:17
I think the repair tech couldn't bring himself to say "I don't know" in answer to your question, so he made something up. Leaving the instrument assembled can affect tenon corks adversely, causing them to become compressed and lose their elasticity. But why the pads would be affected is a mystery to me.
I do have to wonder just what was "worn" on all those pads.
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-10-09 19:54
I wouldn't do that to the TENONS if I were you. The tenons will swell, compressing the cork and leaving your horn lose at the joints. As for the pads, perhaps residual moisture could be left in the tone holes and be more in touch with the pads if the horn is not 'lying down,' but it shouldn't really be much of an issue. In the case of just wanting more of an indestructible horn you may want to do all Valentino pads next time (they are not subject to any issues with moisture).
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-10-10 13:37
I wonder whether the pads really wore out or whether pad bugs (mites) got to them. Mites are so tiny they can get into cases that don't close tightly, too, but leaving a clarinet out makes life easier for critters that want to eat it. Old, unused clarinets that have been in storage a long time in deteriorated old cases often have wrecked pads (skin often looks okay but they're limp and crumbly inside) from pad bugs.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: donald
Date: 2011-10-11 02:28
I can assemble and disassemble my clarinet in 37 seconds, not counting the mouthpiece/reed (which you wouldn't want to leave on an assembled clarinet for any length of time). There are a number of reasons not to leave it set up, none of them earth shatteringly important, but they outweigh 37 seconds of my time.
dn
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-10-11 02:44
That makes no sense what's so ever. It won't matter if you left it out or put it in a case, which I would recommend on general principals. Make sure the pads are dry using pad paper after you swab. You may have a lot of acid in your saliva and that will destroy a pad real quickly if you don't dry them each time. I'd suggest you get cork pads in the top joint in any case. All upper joint pads except the 1/1 key. ESP
eddiesclarinet.com
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
Post Edited (2011-10-11 02:45)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2011-10-11 04:51
Ed Palanker wrote:
> I'd suggest you get cork pads in the top joint in any
> case. All upper joint pads except the 1/1 key.
Why not cork in that one?
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-10-11 09:55
The 1/1 or 'one and one' key is the clarion 'Bb' you use for arpeggios and such (first finger of left and first finger of right hand). This is the reason for the bridge mechanism.
If both the pad at the top of the bottom joint and the pad of the cup between your first and second left hand fingers were both cork, there would be NO 'give' and you would be constantly adjusting this 'Bb' to work properly if it would at all.
I have seen some repairers use cork on one of this pair, but I don't know if it's worth the added stress to the player.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-10-11 15:55
You can use a softer material on the bridge key linkage for some give or set up the long Bb so the LH2 pad closes with slightly more pressure than the RH ring key pad to ensure long Bb will work when using cork pads almost throughout (and you'd normally do this with skin and leather pads anyway).
Even on clarinets with articulated G# keys and forked Bb mechanisms, cork pads in all the ring key pad cups will still work fine - it's all down to how they're all regulated with each other. When two keys are linked so they close together, it's always best to have the uppermost one closing with slightly more pressure than the lower one to ensure they both close together - if the uppermost pad is set lighter than the lower one, then that will cause trouble. There's just enough flexibility (torsion) in the keywork to compensate so both pads will close under light finger pressure.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: dansil
Date: 2011-10-12 00:00
I doubt that pad mites have anything to do with the problem as Maruja claimed that only the pads of the top joint were affected. These pads are more exposed to moisture than lower joint pads so it's possible that the deterioration of the top joint pads was due to inadequate or infrequent swabbing.
If practising even for just a few spare minutes isn't followed by careful swabbing and disassembling to wipe sockets and tenons dry, then the persisting moisture will definitely contribute to accelerated pad deterioration. It's a nuisance but a necessity to ensure pad longevity!
Danny
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-10-12 15:14
>> I doubt that pad mites have anything to do with the problem as Maruja claimed that only the pads of the top joint were affected. These pads are more exposed to moisture than lower joint pads so it's possible that the deterioration of the top joint pads was due to inadequate or infrequent swabbing.
>>
You may be right, but I wouldn't rule out pad mites, because I often find evidence of them in clarinets that also show evidence of being put away wet -- and the mites are more prevalent in the top joint. I don't know much about these critters, but just from the evidence I've seen in old clarinets (the evidence isn't just the pad damage itself but dead mites I've found with a microscope in pads I've taken apart), I think a moist environment may suit them better than a dry environment. I think they head for the wet pads first.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2011-10-12 16:09
Many thanks for all those contributions. I think the message coming through is
- disassemble the clarinet when finished playing
- do a very thorough job of swabbing and drying tenons and pads (I have just bought some Rizzla papers to that end!).
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-10-12 16:55
Paul answered the 1/1 question well. Most techs will agree that they should be the same type of pad and that regular pads are better for the reason Paul stated. Some players don't like cork in the two upper trill keys because they claim they're too noisy, it never bothered me though and cork lasts for ever, almost anyway. ESP
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2011-10-12 17:11
>> Some players don't like cork in the two upper trill keys because they claim they're too noisy, it never bothered me <<
Some players don't like cork pads for almost any key because they are too noisy. For those who like them, they simply don't mind the noise. Or they don't like only a specific type of noise from pads (e.g. the noise from bladder pads, but not from cork).
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-10-13 18:56
I agree that some players don't like cork, there's nothing that everyone likes. For me, I have never noticed any noise from cork pads and good quality cork, when seated properly, lasts so long.. ESP
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