 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MGT91123
Date: 2013-04-17 21:33
Hi,
So I got my first Dampit in the mail. I soaked it in distilled water, because we've got hard water on the well, but it didn't feel very wet. How much water should it absorb, it's in the case right now, but how do I know it's doing any good? What do I look for? I live in Massachusetts, if that helps.
Buffet E-11
Buffet Moening Barrel, 65 mm, Backun Protege 65mm
Vadoren BD5 Mouthpiece
Vandoren M/O series gold Lig.
Gonzala's FOF Reeds 2.5
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2013-04-18 02:31
Let it absorb as much water as possible, then throw it away.
You'll never know if it's doing any good.
You MIGHT know, however, if it's NOT doing any good if the clarinet cracks or your pads get moldy. But those two things can happen with or without "artificial" humidification.
B.
Post Edited (2013-04-18 04:24)
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Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2013-04-18 02:54
bmcgar wrote:
>
> Let it absorb as much water as possible, then throw it away.
>
I agree. I'm not a big believer in case humidifiers.It's next to impossible to control the humidity in a small enclosed space like a clarinet case. I've you're really worried about your instrument drying out you should buy a room humidifier and regulate the humidity of the room in which you store your clarinets.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2013-04-18 03:00
For one thing, you won't know if it's doing any good if you weren't having a problem attributable to dry wood in the first place.
When I was a student, a lot of the woodwind players I knew and respected, including two of my teachers who played in major symphony orchestra positions, used Dampits as a matter of routine to prevent cracking and loose tenon rings. If the instruments didn't crack and the rings never came loose, they assumed the extra humidity was doing something. Others used orange peels, which were cheaper if you routinely ate oranges all winter anyway and, some people felt, were more effective
Whether they really do anything at all for a clarinet under normal circumstances is debated. I personally put them in my case at the first sign of a loose ring and it seems to tighten them back up. Otherwise I don't use them in my suburban Philadelphia environment (even with forced-air heat during the winter).
Not having had an instrument crack in 50 years, I may just have been lucky. But, unless you have a problem with loose rings, you won't know whether they're minimizing the potential for your instruments to crack or not, so you need to decide whether they're worth the slight effort to use regularly for extra safety or not. To use them, I curl mine up in a glass or cup of water (I use tap water and have never noticed a problem with any kind of mineral deposits) for several minutes so they are well-soaked. Then I wring them out in a towel so they're not dripping but are evenly moist, wipe any water off the outside and put them into the case when I close it up. When they're evenly moist, they're very flexible. When they're dry, the sponges inside are more brittle. If you see water anywhere on your instrument(s), I'd stop using the Dampits - actual condensate on pads can damage them and moisture in the tone holes isn't a good thing when next you try to play.
Karl
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Author: bmcgar ★2017
Date: 2013-04-18 04:19
Not to just let my first comment ride, I also want to point out that, as with temperature, within reasonable limits it's not the humidity that matters, it's the shock to the wood that occurs when taking a clarinet from high humidity (the closed case with a humidifier) and putting it into a significantly lower humidity environment (or vs. vrs).
Sticking the humidifier inside the case, keeping the case closed for hours, then opening it in a drier environment probably would do a lot more damage than keeping the clarinet in stable conditions, inside the case or out. So if you're not going to do as SteveG suggests and humidify the room you keep your clarinet in (which may not make a difference anyway), you probably will be massively increasing your chances of having problems using the Dampits.
I can almost hear the wood scream in pain!
B
Post Edited (2013-04-18 04:24)
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2013-04-19 13:02
I'll have to respectfully disagree with some of the responses above. I don't believe that adding humidity to the case is a problem and can help in the drier months. I would not bother unless the ambient air is dry.
I question that there is a shock moving a clarinet from a humidified case to a dry environment. Moisture doesn't move out of the wood that fast.
A clarinet that is played has moisture added to the inside on a regular basis, presumable causing some hydration of the wood. I could be helpful to increase the hydration to the outside, especially if the clarinet is not played daily.
I do not know any maker that warns against case humidifiers, and some that recommend them.
Steve Ocone
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