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does humidity affect clarinets when playing?

Author: kIt-KaT_75
Date: 2005-01-07 18:07

I have to do a science fair project at school . I decited to do one using my clarinet and my science teacher supported me so she sugested me doing the project about the affects of humidity on a clarinet and i agreed the problem is that i have to do a research paper along with the expiriment and when i go to search websites they don't give me the information i need.And in the expiriment i need to play my clarinet somewhere were there is alot of humidity like a bathroom after leaving hot water running will this damage my clarinet ? can anyone please help me out !!!!!!!!

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Re: does humidity affect clarinets when playing?

Author: clarispark
Date: 2005-01-07 18:21

The area in which I live is quite humid from April to early November. I've never actually experienced a major problem with my clarinet because of the humidity. The corks and sometimes the pads do swell up, making it difficult to get the instrument apart. After you take your clarinet out of the humidity, let it sit out for a while, cool back down, and dry out a little bit before you put it away in the case.

Hope this helps.

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Re: does humidity affect clarinets when playing?

Author: John Stackpole
Date: 2005-01-07 23:28

I turned on a room humidifier in the relatively small bed-room where I practice - bigget than a bathroom - for a day or so at the start of the heating season here in Maryland. But I left the door closed, overnight - bad idea.

The humidity in the room got high enough so's I could "feel" it, and it had been that way for easily 24 hours.

My R-13 didn't seem to sustain any damage, but the reeds I had in the room all turned to mush - they are mostly #2 (soft) - I'm only a re-beginner at present - and they would simply just close up against the mouthpiece. No spring hardly at all.

A day or so of drying out and all is well - now only my playing is mush, but that is another story.

Also for a science project, you might look into the way humidity effects the tone - the frequency of the notes being played. High humidity means less dense air and higher pitch. How much? There's your project.

Just keep your reeds OUT of your "moist room", except when playing them.

JDS

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