Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-02-12 13:48
>>I don't believe all instruments blow out but I'm sure some do.>>
Over the years, I've seen a few antique clarinets for sale, nearly all of them 19th century boxwood, not grenadilla, that I'd call classic blown-out cases. The wood had deteriorated so much that the *shape* of the bore had changed to an oval, obvious to the naked eye. Usually these badly warped clarinets had major cracking as well.
Maybe we tend to think blow-out is a myth because the concept originated at a time when a significant number of clarinets were manufactured of wood that's more vulnerable than grenadilla to damp and temperature fluctuations -- and also more exposed to these fluctuations than modern clarinets in homes with gas and electricity.
I did see a grenadilla clarinet at the D.C. Big Flea in January that made me wonder if it was a "Katrina clarinet," salvaged from a flooded home. The tattered pads looked as if they'd swollen until they burst, then shrank as they dried. Reeds in the case were black on both sides with dried mold, far worse than the typical grunge on old student reeds. Frozen keys indicated rusted screws. The case itself had swollen (popping the plastic cover loose from the wood) and then shrunk. The case lining had been washed, but it was rotted and splitting, and it still smelled of mold. I wouldn't even mess around with trying to repair a clarinet that had spent enough time soaking wet for this much damage to accumulate, because even good, properly-aged grenadilla will change dimensions if it's left to soak and then dried with all the metal posts and keys still attached.
Some rubber clarinets also get blown out because flea market dealers lay them on tables in hot summer sunlight. The rubber can warp in only a few hours. Sometimes the metal sleeve disconnects from the bore of the upper joint. I don't think it's a good use of a repair tech's time to try to salvage one of these wrecks, since the rubber clarinets are student-grade to begin with.
Lelia
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The Clarinet BBoard
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