 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2005-07-11 17:00
Here is a way to repair a defective pad. The idea is that it's a temporary fix, but you'd be surprised at how long you can be tempted to leave it like that....
There is a thin transparent plastic film that we call Clingfilm in UK, Domopak in Italy.....
USA....dunno.
It's used to cover things like plates of salad in the refrigerator. It comes in rolls.
You tear off a bit a couple of inches (5 cm) or a bit smaller across, slide it under the pad, pull tight and wrap it over the top of the cup.
A good feature of this solution is that the plastic stretches over the indentation in the pad that was made by the lip of the tonehole, so the seal is *very* good, and self-adjusting.
This technique can be a lifesaver on period instruments, where you're dealing with water-absorbent and labile boxwood, brass springs, leather pads and flat toneholes.
The really extreme situation where the pad disintegrates can be handled by using BluTak. (Are you sitting comfortably?)
There is a mildly adhesive chewing-gum-like substance called BluTak in UK, (Hafties in Germany....) that is often used to stick posters up on the wall, for example. (You roll a small bit of it between your fingers until it softens, put it between the poster and the wall, and then squeeze it into a disc by flattening the poster against the wall. This creates a semi-permanent attachment.)
But BluTak, combined with clingfilm, can completely replace a pad. You make the pad by wrapping a piece of BluTak in clingfilm, and then stick it into the cup with another tiny bit of BluTak. Pressing it lightly onto the tonehole completes the process. And you can almost always do all of this without removing the key.
This is particularly useful, again, with old instruments. The curator of a museum I visited once was completely astounded at how quickly I was able to get some old clarinets going temporarily, leaving them exactly as I found them at the end of my visit.
The upshot of all of this is that I always carry BluTak and Clingfilm with me in my clarinet case. I've chopped a short bit off the roll of Clingfilm so it's easy to keep in the case.
:-)
Tony
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Author: Mark Charette ★2017
Date: 2005-07-11 17:08
Tony Pay wrote:
> There is a thin transparent plastic film that we call Clingfilm
> in UK, Domopak in Italy.....
>
> USA....dunno.
Saran Wrap and it's ilk.
> There is a mildly adhesive chewing-gum-like substance called
> BluTak in UK, (Hafties in Germany....)
Poster Putty, Uhu Tak (at Sam's club)
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-07-11 17:33
Yes, Tony, good suggestions for us contemporary clarinet players.
But by using these modern inventions, you are no longer playing a "period" instrument - wonder how the management at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment would feel about that. We must have standards, now. Next thing you know, you'll be attaching Bakun bells and barrels to your reproductions.
Speaking of reproductions,
I suggest you use the analagous period fixes for leaking pads. As reported in die Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitschrift, 1803, what was known as "Passauer Klingstoff" was made from horse foreskin; "Dennerkleb" was a very tacky material derived from sheep's semen. Both very effective for the travelling clarinetist/bassethorn virtuosi of the the time.
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Author: D
Date: 2005-07-11 17:54
That made me laugh, if any of you think he is kidding.........That is actually what I was taught quite a few years ago as an emergency fix for flute pads. I was also told that chewing gum/bubble gum will work in a jam - as long as you don't forget the clingfilm. DON'T forget the clingfilm........Goodgrief, can you imagine. Those of you who are repair techs....is this something you come across, lack of clingfilm on a quick fix?!?!?!?
Oh, and another term for cling film which I don't think anyone mentioned yet is 'stretch n seal'.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-07-11 17:59
Saran Wrap is noticeably thicker and more waterproof than other brands. This is one time the brand name really is better.
Even stronger is Parafilm, which is a cover for laboratory bottles and is moldable, ductile, and stable. It is, however, 50% paraffin wax, which might rub off with continued contact and breakaway. See http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_view.asp?referred_id=778&sku=0672040 and
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=80806
My father was very handy. When he didn't have the right size washer to fix a dripping dripping faucet, he would cut a circle of leather out of a worn-out shoe upper, trimming it to shape and boring a hole in the middle with a pocket knife and replacing the old washer.
On the other hand, a faucet washer, properly fitted, would probably replace a pad forever.
For cork, champagne bottles need really high quality stuff to hold in the pressure. Even the cheapest champagnes have a 1/4" layer of the best quality cork on the bottom of the stopper.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-07-11 20:42
Finally, a useful piece of information from Mr. Pay in the last couple of days! I think I will keep this tack and wrap idea in mind and maybe put some in my marching band case since we get some pad problems and such. Thanks for the emergency repair tip!
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Author: Susan
Date: 2005-07-11 20:49
I have actually done this - Saran wrap and poster putty - on a contrabass clarinet as an emergency fix before a concert. Worked so well that the student ignored my advice about getting it to a competent repair person as quickly as possible, and just played with it that way for a couple of months (at which point I pitched a fit and saw to it that the horn was properly repaired).
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-07-11 20:53
On the Bass Clarinetist with the Riverside Sym. I used toothpaste to hold his pad in place. It was 5 minutes till downbeat time and the key was too hard to get to with a lighter.
I figured that the toothpaste would dry to a really hard stick and sure enough it worked.
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 2005-07-11 21:07
I independently discovered this use for Saran Wrap long ago. I believe I just put it under the pad and twisted the excess together over the top.
It can also work as a temporary fix for a secure but leaky pad. (Use two layers if necessary.)
Now you have me wondering why I don't carry a bit of plastic cling wrap in my case.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2005-07-11 22:28
I use a product put out by DAP called Fun-Tak.....and also keep a couple of rubber bands in my kit. I also use "Rose" color plastic film by Reynolds. There are stories of old time players using chewing gum along with the "tinfoil" that it used to be wrapped in.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Bob A
Date: 2005-07-12 03:22
David B...said, in part:On the Bass Clarinetist with the Riverside Sym. I used toothpaste to hold his pad in place.
Question: How would it work with the stuff I use to hold my teeth in???
Bob A
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2005-07-12 04:15
thanks for that bit of advice, Mr. Pay. I have not heard this and probably am going to start carrying around seran wrap and poster putty with me! Well, maybe.
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Author: ned
Date: 2005-07-12 05:23
Tony,
I'd be keen to know your thoughts on cork grease anyway...........perhaps you are working on this very issue, as I write.
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Author: GoatTnder
Date: 2005-07-12 06:00
David B - Riverside Sym, as in Riverside, California?
-Andy Cabrera
a.l.cabrera@gmail.com
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-07-12 12:02
Riverside Symphonia - Lambertville, NJ
That was the same train stop that Bonade's students used for lessons with him.
Dave Hite told me that.
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