 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dano
Date: 2005-01-08 19:57
A question for those of you that have experience with new, first time used clarinets. Instructions say you should not play for long periods of time when the clarinet is new. My new Leblanc says "start at 15 min. a day and gradualy increase". This is very frustrating for me. I want to play the thing for hours on end so I can compare it to my other clarinets. Does this mean I can't really compare my horns without risk of wood cracking until a few months go by?
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Author: Marnix van den Berg
Date: 2005-01-08 22:23
Your mileage may vary,
When I bought my Selmer I started at 10 mins at day, after a week I did 15, next 20, next 30, etc.. until after 3 months or so of keeping STRICT to this schedule I was using it nearly full-time. Still it developed a crack.., which was fixed with no problems though.
Then again, it's commonly said by repair-men I know that using a new clarinet for hours on end immediatedly is a good way to get a crack too.
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Author: hans
Date: 2005-01-08 23:47
Dano,
When I bought my Selmer Recital 16+ years ago, it didn't come with any break-in instructions; I played it as much or as little as I wanted (and still do). It has not cracked.
In spite of my good fortune, if I were to buy a new instrument I would break it in more gradually.
Hans
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2005-01-09 14:32
I usually do about 15 min. the first sitting and then come back later on in the day and do 30. Then the next day I do 30 and then 45 and after that an hour or so a time is fine. You don't have to wait 24 hours between sessions.
I'll bet it sounds good!
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Author: lycfmtkl
Date: 2005-01-10 05:58
I bought my leblanc sonata 3 years ago and played as much as I wanted since it was new. It never has a crack.
I have been playing my new Buffet R-13 as long as three hours a day since 4 months ago without properly breaking in. I do not see any crack on it so far. Perhaps I am lucky.
I am well aware of the importance of breaking in a new clarinet. But I just didn't follow.
Post Edited (2005-01-10 07:03)
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2005-01-10 07:24
You may luck out and not have any cracks at all.
But I think that since it's a brand new instrument, it's better to play it safe than sorry. Yes it's frustrating, and yes maybe you could play on it for hours at end and ultimately have it be fine down the road, but a break-in process will not hurt. While not having one has the potential to hurt.
I vote break it in. Sure you'll never know if it was the breakin process that saved it from cracking months down the road, but you WILL know that it didn't crack. And that's what's important in the end.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Dano
Date: 2005-01-10 14:52
I think I will break it in slowly just because of the common sense of what happens to wood when put through too many changes too quickly. Kind of like hardwood floors (for some reason I don't like equating my clarinet with the floor). I think it will also tend to make me play with more purpose and more careful. Let's see what happens. Thanks for your input.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2005-01-10 19:02
A new clarinet, Buffet at least, almost certainly has some sort of surface treatment, or timber impregnation that either resists absorption of moisture, or buffers the moisture content through the timber wall.
At any time of an instrument's life then, surely this is the time when it is least likely to quickly absorb moisture inside the bore.
Add to this, grenadilla is a very close-grain timber. It does not absorb moisture quickly. IMHO it will take many hours of playing at one sitting to get the timber to absorb moisture sufficient to increase the moisture gradient through the wall of timber sufficiently to risk cracking.
If that minute change of climate is going to crack a new instrument, then it is probably because that particular piece of timber was highly stressed, ready to split at any time, when it was bought. The quicker it inevitably splits, the sooner the guarantee can be activated.
So unless the guarantee or instructions clearly stipulate a breaking in period period, then I cannot see the need for such a process.
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