 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: KristinVanHorn
Date: 2006-07-18 02:20
Hello again all. i hope you don't mind if i ask another small question. a freind told me i should get blader pads on my clarinet. she said they would make it easier to play. so what are these pads?
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2006-07-18 13:56
Bladder pads are the standard ones made from a disk of felt, with cardboard backing, all covered with a membrane resembling sausage skin.
As opposed to "leather" pads (i.e. leather covered instead of membrane-covered), or (solid) cork pads, or solid pads of synthetic material (of a variety of different sorts).
The membrane is from the gut of an animal, usually bovine, and has traditionally been called "goldbeaters skin" because it was interleaved with thin sheets of gold, and then beaten, in order to make gold leaf.
The membrane has also been somewhat mysteriously called "fish skin" About 40 years ago I bought "goldbeaters skin" for repadding flutes, and was told by the now-defunct local supplier that it was processed (locally) from the air bladder of a certain fish. If this was indeed another source for the membrane, then it could explain the term "bladder" pad, and also the term "fish skin". I note that Sturgeon have a significant air (or "swim") bladder.
I'd be interested any further information on the possible connection between fish and bladder pads.
Post Edited (2006-07-18 13:59)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-07-18 18:31
What clarinet have you got, and what colour are the pads? If they're smooth and white (or off white) then you already have bladder (or skin) pads.
If anything, I think skin pads (the same as bladder pads) are the worst kind to use as they don't last all that long, hard to seat and they tear or split easier than any other kind.
That's why I never use them on clarinets or oboes as I prefer to use cork and leather pads instead which are infinitely better than skin (or bladder) pads in several ways.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-07-18 21:15
They already have skin (double bladder) pads fitted as standard, as do the majority of Boehm system clarinets, so your friend hasn't a clue what they're talking about.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2006-07-19 12:28
To provide a different perspective from Chris's on leather pads, which are currently in vogue in certain quarters:
I encounter a few clarinets which people have padded the large keys with leather pads. In my experience, the sealing is quite a lot less reliable than with bladder pads.
This is because when leather pads are used they are have to be of smaller diameter than bladder pads, so often the sealing line around the pad is very close to the edge of the pad, where the leather gets rather little support.
This situation is made a lot worse when the key cup is not concentric with the tone hole, which is common, even on top model instruments.
This problem is less for cork pads (which also are of smaller diameter than bladder pads), because there is a sharp edge at the edge of the pad, which is reasonably well supported by the firm structure of the cork.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-07-19 13:08
I completely agree that sometimes bladder pads are better exactly for the reasons that Gordon mentioned, especially but not only in student instruments.
Disclaimer: I'm not a professional clarinet repairer (although I was able to repair problems the professional repairmen in my area, people who studied in Buffet and Selmer, were not able to repair or even find).
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