 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bandfreak
Date: 2008-08-04 14:20
I am from California and am going off to college in New Orleans. My pride and joy is my Buffet Festival and I am curious if the high humidity may have an adverse on my wooden clarinet. I know it will effect my reeds but I am not too concerned about that because I have grown very fimmiliar with the Rico Reedvidalizer over the past few years. I there is a possible negative effect on my clarinet what is it and how do I prevent it?
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Author: William
Date: 2008-08-04 15:04
Clarinets must deal with all sorts of environmental issues around the world, and most do just fine if given reasonalbe TLC but their owners. Swab after every use, occassionally wipe the keys and body with a soft cloth, clean the tendon joints with a separate cloth--not your swab, avoid rapid temp changes before and after playing, etc. You know, the usual stuff we all do--or should do. Cracks cannot be predicted nor necessarily be prevented, however, if the "wood is good", with normal use and good care, your "pride and joy" should do just fine.
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Author: RAB
Date: 2008-08-04 15:56
I would start to add some humidity to your case a little at a time. I would get a humidity gauge to place in the case and use a dampit in the accessory compartment to bring up the level over a period of time. This way your instrument would be slowly acclimated to the humidity condition you are moving to. Also I would swab ever 10 or 15 minutes while playing
Just a few thoughts
RAB
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Author: BflatNH
Date: 2008-08-04 17:34
What kind of humidity gauge (dial, paper strip, ?) is best to keep in the case, and where can I get it?
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Author: William
Date: 2008-08-04 18:42
"That will help keep it from the springs rusting."
Never had that happen to any of my clarinets or saxs over my 50+ yrs of performing. Personally, I think dehumidifiers and humidity gauges are good for cigars, but not necessary for the clarinet. Just avoid playing in the rain or snow, swab after every use and keep it stored safely in its case between sessions. Your clarinet will aclimate to its new environment all on its own.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-08-04 19:03
Personally, I haven't either
However, I have gotten from Ebay a Clarinet (Pro Yamaha about 2-3 years old and "new") which was a display model that the springs were rusted big, big time.
Humidity did it. It can and does happen in the "right" climate.
It came from way down south where it is hot and humid, not unlike N.O.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-08-04 21:59
The original question asks whether the high humidity might have an adverse effect on his WOODEN clarinet.
This implies to me that he thinks it will damage the wood. Very unlikely, in my view, but never mind. If he was worried about rusting of the springs, presumably he wouldn't have mentioned that it was a wooden instrument.
So maybe we could have some answers:
- Can the wood be damaged by being kept in a humid environment?
- Can the mechanism ditto?
- Can the case ditto?
In my wholly ill-informed view, I would have supposed that, given that a clarinet is rarely dried very thoroughly before it is put into its case, the humidity inside the case would be near 100% whatever was happening outside. All the more so if the clarinet is put in its case in a warm room, then stored in a rather cooler one. (Note for the non-scientists amongst y'all: The same amount of water will produce a higher relative humidity at low temperature than at a high temperature.)
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2008-08-04 23:15
(Disclaimer - Doctor's Products humidity stuff)
Well today it is 94 degrees F and 85% RH here in Atlanta - most of you guys and gals are not exposed to these conditions and New Orleans from first hand experience is worse. I have seen several students here that have left clarinets in trunks of cars or in un-air conditioned spaces for weeks on end with cracked horns and rusted springs (extreme sure but just an accelerated study) - it does happen here in the sub-tropical South. Air-Conditioning, dehumidifiers, and temperature control are a must. Mold will grow on clarinets, reeds, and cases readily with high temperatures and humidity - again, first hand experience. It is prudent to control temperature and humidity.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2008-08-04 23:41
L. Omar Henderson wrote:
> Air-Conditioning, dehumidifiers, and temperature control
> are a must.
So, what did all those New Orleans jazz musicians do early last century?
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Author: bandfreak
Date: 2008-08-05 07:23
Thank you to everyone that replied to my post. I already swab after every use as well as wipe it down with a separate cloth on a regular basis. I will definately purchase a humity guages and keep my clarinet in a room with a dehumidifier. If anyoone has any more suggestions I will definately read and consider them. I would especially like to thank all of those that posted multiple times.
-Thank You
Post Edited (2008-08-05 09:22)
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2008-08-05 15:33
Wet wood swells, hot wood swells. The moisture content of wood depends upon the surrounding humidity and temperature and takes time to come to equilibrium.
A gradient of temperature and/or humidity through the thickness of the wood causes stress, and quick worst case calculations show that it is pretty easy to exceed the strength of the wood --say by taking your clarinet out of the trunk of your car on a snowy day and blowing warm air into it.
A key (given that the wood is sound --no pun-- in the first place) is to make changes to the wood's temperature and humidity slow and gentle. It can take hours, maybe days for a clarinet to come to uniform moisture content through the thickness of the wood.
NOTE: the details of the transient stresses in a real clarinet would make a tough engineering problem with all the stress concentrations (holes, tenons, sockets, ...) and anisotropic wood properties --different coefficients of diffusion, thermal expansion, stiffnesses, and strengths relative to the (not straight) grain.
Just take it easy, and know a good crack fixer.
Bob Phillips
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-08-05 16:17
Bob Phillips wrote:
> A gradient of temperature and/or humidity through the thickness
> of the wood causes stress, and quick worst case calculations
> show that it is pretty easy to exceed the strength of the wood
> --say by taking your clarinet out of the trunk of your car on a
> snowy day and blowing warm air into it.
>
Exactly--same reason you don't pour icy cold water into a hot glass straight out of the dishwasher. It's a *change* in environmental conditions that causes stress.
Fortunately, our woodwind instruments seem to be somewhat more tolerant of differences in temperature/humidity than stringed instruments are. String players are supposed to keep their instruments at around 50% humidity because too low a humidity can result in cracks and too high a humidity starts causing damage to the varnish and glue. So I guess if you want to be really nice to your instrument, you can do that, too.
Thinking back, I moved from a very humid climate (Houston) to a relatively dry climate (Dallas) and never had to do anything about humidity (and my 20-year-old clarinet is still in very good shape)--however, what I did was gradually move to places with increasingly drier climates over a period of about 7 years, which probably made things easier on my instrument. Houston->College Station->Austin->Dallas.
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