 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Gene
Date: 2000-07-08 01:10
How does one prevent a wooden clarinet from cracking?
I have seen orange peels in clarinet cases.
Have any suggestions?
Thanks
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Author: Stephen
Date: 2000-07-08 03:40
Fresh orange peels, a humidifier, or if you can afford it just go out and buy a greenline R-13 or festival! They are supposed to never crack!
Stephen
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Author: William
Date: 2000-07-08 03:55
Always swab and wipe tendons after playing. Also, remove excess moisture from Eb/D# and Db/C# side tone-holes. Avoid sudden temp changes. If you can afford it, the Greenline Buffets are great instruments and will not crack, but this does not mean that you do not have to clean them as you would a traditional wood clarinet. With proper care, a wooden clarinet should not crack.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2000-07-08 14:05
William wrote:
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... With proper care, a wooden clarinet should not crack.
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While I agree one should alsways take the best possible care of their clarinet, some wooden clarinets will crack anyway. This is true of even the highest quality wooden instruments as it is not always possible to detect flaws in the wood itself that will cause it to crack.
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Author: Lelia
Date: 2000-07-08 19:02
For humidifying, IMHO it's better to stay away from aromatic food, such as orange peels. I know that some people use these successfully, but I've heard a lot of insect, mold and mildew infestation stories, too. Anything with vegetable sugar in it can rot, too. Once that stink gets into a case, it's very difficult to get out. Pads and corks may have to be replaced. If the clarinet wood soaks up a bad smell, lots of luck.
I think a lot of the trouble starts because people who care enough about the instrument to think about things like humidifying the case also expect to practice regularly. They think if anything starts to mold or rot in there, they'll spot it right away and take care of it before it gets too bad, because they'll be opening up the case every day. But then, for some unforseeable reason, someone leaves the clarinet closed up for a few weeks or months. The vermin have wild parties in there, boogie til they puke, drop dead in your mouthpiece, etc.. Next time you open the case, it smells like a garbage can.
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Author: Joris van den Berg
Date: 2000-07-09 15:57
I've just seen a Festival with a little crack inside the lower part of the bore. ( 4 month's old and maintain properly, it's also a matter of luck)
What i've heard about the greenline is that it's pretty brittle and sometimes litle lumps of the plastic come off. They (Buffet) really should have used a regular plastic instead of the completely useless compound of plastics with wood powder.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2000-07-10 12:41
Good comments! I agree with Dee that there may be flaws in the wood which, despite all the proper care, will cause it to crack. Maintaining the proper moisture content in the wood with no sudden changes - too dry or too wet - will help those instruments that have the potential to crack under adverse conditions. Some instruments are so stable (a matter of luck no doubt) that they will never crack no matter what the insult. Since we can not tell whether our horn has the winning lottery number tatooed in some undetectable place on it - it is best to treat it with care and remove all the moisture after playing and keep the relative humidity in it's surroundings stable (50-70% RH) during dry periods (plain water on a dampened cloth not in contact with the instrument is probably the best). Now for my sermon - I believe that the wood should be treated on a regular basis with a natural oil formulation that will allow a certain amount of moisture to diffuse into the wood. I have done some acoustic experiments and wood with some moisture content has different acoustic properties than completely dry wood (these are relative terms but I have more exact data on the numbers and conditions). Most commercial bore oil products are mineral oil (probably the most expensive baby oil on the planet) that completely block moisture absorption by the wood (essentialy causing the dry conditions that we want to avoid). Since the outside of the horn (and tone holes) can absorb more moisture, there is a bad moisture gradient which can lead to cracks in susceptible horns. When the mineral oil eventually goes away the bore can absorb too much moisture and create another bad moisture gradient situaltion. The mineral oil can also clog the pores and fine structure of the wood and therefore cause areas which will not absorb moisture, and where absent, absorb excess moisture. I believe that a blend of natural oils, stabilizers and antioxidants, which protect and nourish the wood as well as effectively control the proper moisture content,is the best answer -but of course I am biased. If you are at the ClarinetFest I would be glad to discuss this at length in the vendor area. ------- The Doctor
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-07-16 17:34
Excellent comments, L O H, wish I could have made it to the Fest [beyond the enjoyable discussion-meeting and good refreshments at Coach's] to talk with you. I like almond oil for the infrequent oiling, how about olive oil or other naturals more obtainable? Don
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2000-07-18 13:29
Don:
Sorry you were not able to attend the Clarinetfest, it was a truely wonderful event (except that my booth was directly across from sneezy.org which was a rowdy group - just kidding). There was a huge interest in the natural bore oil approach - I guess that the word is getting around. Yes, almond oil and olive oil have the right properties for use as a bore oil - other more exotic oils have better properties however. An antioxidant such as Vitamin E should be added to them to avoid oxidation. One problem that we have gotten around by using the proper stabilizers is that certain oils separate naturally over time and develop a similar stratification in the wood which acts as a selective filter and separator. I spoke with literally hundreds of clarinet players and their frequency of oiling varied all over the spectrum of never to frequently. With a little discussion and factual evidence I was able to win over most of the former group to some schedule of treating the wood with other than baby oil (mineral oil).
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