 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley91489
Date: 2008-12-17 23:02
He said one of the best things to do for grenadilla wood is to put orange peels in the case for a little while (not a permanent thing in the case). Has anyone done this? Any specifics I should know about prepping it beforehand or taking care of it afterwards?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-12-17 23:25
Do a search. People use it all the time to keep the wood from becoming too dry. Just keep changing out out the peels. I personally don't. I just wipe the clarinet of all saliva, then lay my cloth on the clarinet in the case to keep it humid. Gross, I know, but it's been working for me so far . . .
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2008-12-18 00:12
It was an old Hans Moennig trick that worked....but Dampits work as well as does cut up sponges put into an old film cannister (pre-digital cameras) with holes in it.
The trick is to keep humidity around 40%. If you do more, you stand the chance of having mold, etc.
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Author: cxgreen48
Date: 2008-12-18 01:43
Funny how my parents just bought a big box of oranges...
Anyway, I've heard of this idea before too. I just put some orange peels in ziploc bag with my reed cases in it just yesterday.
Alexi, I lay my swab on the clarinet too after swabbing out my clarinet (with the idea of using it as a humidifier). And it's not really gross, since most of the liquid is just condensation.
Post Edited (2008-12-18 01:44)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-12-18 02:55
I'm assuming your repair person is an old timer, or at least trained by one. That's what they did in past years to keep humidity in the case but they really had to change it every other day to keep it effective. I, like many players today, use a dampit and check it daily to make sure it's moist. You can also put a small sponge in a small case with holes in it, that will react like a dampit. A small dampit is a lot easier. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457
Listen to a little Mozart, live performance.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-12-18 09:32
Orange peels get moldy in the case......and the mold gets into everything that's in the case including your pads and reeds and swab...and
Bob Draznik
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-12-18 10:48
I wouldn't put orange in my case - no way.
That can make your bell ring turn black (did it to my Buffet in High School)
Humistat is what I like as you add water to it (much more than the dampit) and it releases it over the next week or so.
http://www.humistat.com
I know the owner from being a customer, but no affiliations to the company business wise.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2008-12-18 12:50
Bob Draznik wrote,
>Orange peels get moldy in the case......and the mold gets into everything that's in the case including your pads and reeds and swab...>
True. Some of the nastiest, stinkiest clarinets I've found at flea markets and yard sales have had the remains of orange peels in the cases -- usually along with insect remains. The aromatic and then rotting peels attract the insects as the case slowly deteriorates and starts to leak air. The tiniest crack will let critters in. If you do use orange peels and you're actively practicing or playing with a group, you'll probably change the peels often -- nobody would deliberately leave rotting fruit peels in a case -- but I think the trouble starts because hardly anybody makes a conscious decision to quit playing, or to quit playing that particular instrument. Someone buys a better clarinet and just sort of forgets about the old one; or means to get back to practicing any day now, but the day just sort of doesn't arrive. Meanwhile, the orange peels turn into rotting garbage. I think it's safer to use a Humistat or a Dampit with plain water, not something with sugars and aromatic compounds in it.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2008-12-18 13:25
" I just wipe the clarinet of all saliva"
It ain't saliva, sfalexi, at least for the most part it is water condensate -- one of the products of your breathing, along with carbon dioxide. Brass players who talk of a spit valve are doubly guilty -- it's properly a water key -- not a valve and not spit!
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2008-12-18 17:51
Orange peels (kept fresh) can help humidify a clarinet case.
But they are not very effective. They will only raise the humidity a bit.
My trusted tech recommends a 60% relative humidity level; and that is very, very difficult to attain. A single clarinet-sized Dampit won't even come close. More like 2 bassoon-sized.
I use two sponges soaked and set in plastic bags --leaving only one of the 6-sides open. This raises the RH in my double case about 20% above the room reading.
Bob Phillips
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2008-12-18 20:55
Ask the repairman how he'd feel about keeping orange peels in his car. That might be a hint........
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-12-18 21:14
My experience is that 60%rh is too high and invites mold. I have nothing against Techs but I doubt that most know anything about what is the "right" humidity....
Bob Draznik
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Author: sbrodt54
Date: 2008-12-19 00:12
OUCH!
BobD, those were my toes. :-(
The orange peel thing has been around forever but it usually leads to your clarinet case smelling like garbage, funny thing. Please imagine how much water you could squeeze out of a humistat vs an orange peel, there's no comparison. Eat the orange and toss the peels, then get a humistat.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-12-19 02:09
[qoute]It ain't saliva, sfalexi, at least for the most part it is water condensate -- one of the products of your breathing, along with carbon dioxide. Brass players who talk of a spit valve are doubly guilty -- it's properly a water key -- not a valve and not spit!True. It is really mostly condensation. But when I swatted my little sister when I was younger with my silk swab, it was SPIT!!! lol.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: kdk
Date: 2008-12-19 02:29
I don't know why so many responders have had problems with orange peels. I've used them interchangeably with dampits over several decades and never had a mold problem with the orange peels, never had a garbagy smell from them and never had insects or bugs of any kind come after them in my case. Once they've dried out, I throw them out and replace them with new ones. I am careful not to leave any pulp attached to the peels - I don't know how fermenting pulp would turn out. I've even forgotten them occasionally in my E-flat case and they've been dry but otherwise harmless after weeks. I agree that dampits are easier - for one thing you have to buy and then eat the orange first if you want the peels - not a bad thing but takes a little planning. Dampits have only to be re-wet when they dry out and they're good for another day or so.
Karl
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-12-19 10:51
Squeeze an orange peel over some polystyrene foam, and watch the foam melt into holes where the droplets land on it. It's the citrus oil that does it.
My guess is that the vapour of citrus oil does the same thing, but rather slower. So if you have polystyrene foam in the lining of the case, the vapours may gradually disintegrate it - turn it to mush.
Not something I would risk, quite apart from the mould and the stinks, and the very poor supply of actual moisture. (There is possibly more oil than moisture.)
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Author: Ed
Date: 2008-12-19 12:16
I use the humistat products now. Over the years I have used the orange peels with no problems. The odd thing is that there were times that when I had orange peels in the case the rings were more snug than the times I used dampits. I have no scientific basis for this, just my experience.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2008-12-19 13:04
(Disclaimer - I sell humidity control products, indicators, and hygrometers)
So, how do you know how much humidity to add or take away? Unless you have a hygrometer or chemical indicator strips in the case you are shooting blind !!! It is hard to maintain a 40%-50% (I would not go too much above 50% because of potential mold growth) in ultra-dry, dry heat environments so you need to know what the actual humidity is before mucking around and just dumping water into your case.
I like the Humistat because it is controllable and dripless but the sponge dampened in the film canister works well too. Orange peels are messy, have the potential to attract vermin, not very effective at humidity control, and you risk the limolene (volatile citrus) vapors damaging your case or clarinet as mentioned - just not very practical given modern and more efficient and controllable methods - in my book.
Do not get yourself crazy over maintaining an exact range of humidity for your clarinet but be smart and attentive to long term conditions that are either too dry or too wet !
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2008-12-19 14:36
Not to worry, Bob D!
I can't get to 60% unless I wet the entire lining of my case! I "settle" for 50% RH because that's all I can muster with my two sponges.
Bob Phillips
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-12-19 17:27
Sorry, Scott, if your toes were in the way, certainly no offense intended to you.
Karl, you probably never had a mold problem because you removed the peels before the mold started to grow. Today there better things than orange peels to make your case smell good. It was after a prior BB exchange that I tried some orange peels as an experiment and was greeted with orange mold.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2008-12-20 03:33
I have a small storeroom which is adjacent to my studio/workshop. I keep all my clarinets in there on shelves. In this storeroom, I run an inexpensive humidifier all during late fall, winter, and early spring. I have a humidity gauge so I can monitor the % humidity. The clarinets seem to do best in the 40 to 50% range.
Works great.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
World Class clarinet mouthpieces
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-12-20 04:31
>> The clarinets seem to do best in the 40 to 50% range
I'm curious to know, in what way do the clarinets "do best" and how can you tell? What happens if the humidity is more or less than the 40%-50%?
Thanks.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-12-20 11:06
just my opinion and experience: Hard to get over 50 as someone else remarked but at the upper levels the corks seem to get "sticky". Low humidity results in loose bell ring first then tenon and barrel rings....then loose joints...then....
Of course, you were seeking Walt's comment tho
Bob Draznik
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2008-12-20 21:38
The suggestion of 40%-50% RH is just that a suggestion - based on circumstantial evidence that mold can grow in environments where the RH is greater than 50% (won't necessarily hurt the wood but case and pads are the concern). In the old days when Grenadilla wood was air dryed it was stacked and allowed to age in wharehouses in regions of the world where the average RH is around 40% to attain the steady state before manufacuring. Nowadays the process may be in some cases accelerated by heat and vacuum "kiln" drying but the final product ends up in a similar condition at about 40% RH. Below 40% RH will promote water loss from the wood and shrinking - albeit slowly, and greater than 60% - 70% will promote slow water gain in the wood and swelling. Grenadilla wood gains and looses water slowly because of the oil buffering capacity of the wood which moderates water gain and loss but many have experienced shrinkage in extended dry environments. So, IMHO 40% -50% many be a good range to maintain.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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