 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-10-08 21:56
The other thing of urban legend is the supposed 'spit trail' that gets formed through playing and takes years to form.
Now, with proper maintainance after playing (ie. using a pullthrough to remove excess condensation from the bore and distribute the remainder more evenly) and through oiling the bore which will keep condensation on the bore surface in droplets (instead of soaking into the timber) until they become unstable and run down the bore, a 'spit trail' can only really be formed by not using a pullthrough at all or havign an extremely dry bore that has never seen a drop of oil since the day it was made, and leaving the bore wet after playing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2007-10-09 09:35
Wasn't that one of Gene Autry's movies?
Bob Draznik
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-10-09 10:43
Doesn't using a swab (as we call it on this side) increase the loss of material in the bore?
Also, the way I think of it, if we never swabbed then the bore would become smaller over time as the 'gunk' builds up.
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Author: kilo
Date: 2007-10-09 16:53
skygardener wrote:
> Doesn't using a swab (as we call it on this side) increase the
> loss of material in the bore?
If your swab is made of "Scotch-Brite", sandpaper, or steel wool it might. Really though, a piece of silk, moistened and lubricated by condensation in the bore is unlikely to abrade the surface of grenadilla. I doubt that even continually rubbing a piece of silk over a piece of soft wood like pine would show much loss of wood even if the experiment was done for an extended time; even less so in a wood as durable as grenadilla.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2007-10-10 00:03
Then I have a question- why is it bad to use a swab on the mouthpiece? Most would say it slowly erodes the details of the chamber and facing. So... why would this be untrue for the clarinet aswell?
And it still seems to me that NOT swabbing would make the bore smaller, not larger.
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Author: kilo
Date: 2007-10-10 02:50
Hard rubber is much softer seasoned grenadilla. I think if one is sensible about it, little or no harm will come from carefully swabbing a mouthpiece — I have a special piece of chamois for this. When this subject appeared here before one of the concerns was that the weighted end of the swab could damage the mouthpiece. While I think this might be questionable, it certainly doesn't hurt to treat your mouthpiece with an exceedingly delicate touch.
And yes, I agree with you, an unswabbed bore would slowly decrease in size but before this caused a change in acoustics I'd guess that other problems would appear, like sticking pads, tight joints, and partially obstructed tone holes.
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Author: Caco185
Date: 2007-10-10 02:52
I don't know about that Chris. I oil my bore when needed and pull a silk swab through multiple times while playing, and after playing. I still have a "water trail" that goes directly to the C# key on the upper joint... any idea why?
Dale Huggard
Clarinet Performance Major, Michigan
Buffet R-13 - Silver plated
Genussa Excellente
Spriggs Floating Rail Ligature
Vandoren V12 #4
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Author: SVClarinet09
Date: 2007-10-10 03:08
Dale,
If memory serves correct it has to do with the oil in the wood. There was a thread on here but I don't know what to search that spoke of it. Usually whenever I have a key that leaks alot of spit, I oil that joint and it usually is gone.
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