 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: orchestr
Date: 2009-10-06 22:34
Someone just told me the other day that silk swabs supposedly deteriorate the bore of wooden clarinets. This was the first I've ever heard of it. Anyone know if there is truth to this?
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-10-06 22:51
No. If that was actually the case, why would symphony players be using them, as well as top-ranked soloists, whose livelihood depends on their instruments functioning properly?
Jeff
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Author: Ed
Date: 2009-10-06 22:57
I have used one for years with no problems
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2009-10-06 23:05
I use them and recommend them. I love them, they never get stuck.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
Buffet 1193 Bass Clarinets
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-10-06 23:18
I was told it doesn't matter if it's silk or microfiber or whatever else material as long as the swab is not completely dry it can be stuck. That's why I always have two swabs and alter between them.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2009-10-07 00:08
My Black Legend silk swab got stuck in my upper joint while on tour in the Middle East. Quite worried as I didn't fancy have to transpose all of La Boheme at sight for the A. Luckily it came free with some poking and pulling and no bore damage as far as I can/could see.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Dileep Gangolli
Date: 2009-10-07 00:30
I had a nice silk swab that worked great but due to the recession I now have to use it as a tie for my concert appearances.
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Author: BandieSF
Date: 2009-10-07 02:01
I was told early on that silk swabs were the BEST kind to use and that it was OTHER materials that deteriorate the bore. :/
-----
Current set-up:
Classical:
Strength 4 1/4 Legere Signature Series
Vandoren M13 Lyre
Jazz:
Strength 3 3/4 Legere Quebec
Pomarico Jazz*
Clarinets:
Buffet E11 Student Model
Buffet R13 Greenline
<http://operationhighschool.blogspot.com
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-10-07 06:30
--"I had a nice silk swab that worked great but due to the recession I now have to use it as a tie for my concert appearances." --
I had cotton swabs that were fine, but due to the huge bonus from our investment bank I now use expensive silk ties instead.
Steve ;-)
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Author: kilo
Date: 2009-10-07 10:20
Quote:
Someone just told me the other day that silk swabs supposedly deteriorate the bore of wooden clarinets.
Two flags are immediately raised — "someone" and "supposedly". I'd be tempted to find that someone, give him a piece of grenadilla and some silk and tell him to start rubbing and to contact me as soon as he notices deterioration in either the wood or the swab.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2009-10-07 12:38
>Someone just told me the other day that silk swabs supposedly deteriorate the bore of wooden clarinets.
>
Let me guess.... The "someone" is a trombone player. Or, no -- a drummer!
I nominate kilo's suggestion as the best:
>>I'd be tempted to find that someone, give him a piece of grenadilla and some silk and tell him to start rubbing and to contact me as soon as he notices deterioration in either the wood or the swab.
>>
Dileep Gangolli wrote,
>>>I had a nice silk swab that worked great but due to the recession I now have to use it as a tie for my concert appearances.
>>>
LOL! Has a guest performer ever done this stunt at a ClarinetFest? Somebody should.
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: orchestr
Date: 2009-10-07 14:06
Hmm. So no one else has ever heard this claim, apparently. I figured maybe it's something they treat the silk with, or maybe that the silkworms themselves have enzymes in their threads that break down organic matter, or something, but then again, I'm sure similar enzymes are in the air we breathe through our clarinets every day.
It is a specific "someone", but I didn't want to mention names. I'll try and work backwards and see where they got their information. Too bad they just bought a microfiber swab to replace their silk swab that was probably doing just fine.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-10-07 14:44
Microfiber swabs work well, too. In fact, that's what Peter Eaton recommends and provides with hsi custom clarinets. But there is asolutely no reason not to use a quality silk swab. One caution from personal experience: Make sure that the eight at the other end of the string is properly enclosed so as not to scratch the bore. I bought a cheap silk swab vial mail order once, and never used it for that reason.
Jeff
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-10-07 16:30
I've used a Gigliotti silk swab for years. It has a long tab on the bottom that I can use to pull the swab out backward if it gets stuck on the register vent (which it never has). (Oboe swabs have the same feature.)
Ken Shaw
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Author: Jonathan U
Date: 2009-10-07 16:55
Either work fine... in my experience, though, microfiber tends to absorb moisture better.
Also, a tip I learned a month or two ago - if your swab gets stuck, rather than trying to pull and force it out, twist it around (a lot!) while *gently* pulling until it comes free. You may have to do a lot of twisting... even turning the clarinet itself it that helps - but on the occasion that my swab got stuck in my wonderful new clarinet, it was nice to have a way to get it out without worrying about bore/register tube damage - or swab damage, for that matter!
- JU
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2009-10-07 17:42
If silk fibers had enzymes that break down organic matter there would probably be a lot less silk used in clothing (That big ulcerated area? That was caused by my fancy silk underwear.).
But seriously. . . .
I have been extremely satisfied with my Black Legend. It is less bulky than a microfiber would be and does an outstanding job of drying the bore. The large size of the light silk means that, even on a slobbery night, no part of the swab gets too wet to do its job. I use it on a Selmer Centered Tone, Series 9, Series 10, and pre-WWII Kohlert. I make sure it feeds in smoothly and it has never even given a hint of getting stuck.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-10-07 19:16
Silk is used on oboe swabs mainly because the bore is conical and you need a material that compresses down easily as it passes up through the bore, which silk does well.
For clarinets this isn't a neccessity and a simple cotton swab is far more absorbant (and cheaper) than silk.
You pays your money and makes yer choice!!
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-10-07 20:28
My silk swab has never jammed in a clarinet, which is something I can't say about the cotton ones.
Jeff
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2009-10-07 23:02
(Disclaimer - I sell the Black "Legend" Silk swab)
Cotton and even microfiber can leave a lint (because of the length of the fibers used to make the cloth) that can accumulate with oil in the wood in tone holes over time. Silk threads woven into fabric are long continuous strands that do not leave a lint. Silk is the most absorbent natural material - more so than cotton.
Many silk swabs however have a "sizing" used on the silk fabric which makes it lay flat for clothing manufacture. A good quality silk swab is treated to remove this sizing film which makes the silk more absorbent. Design of the swab has a lot to do with potential jamming and a well designed swab should rarely jam. Design of the swab also will influence the amount of fabric in contact with the bore to remove moisture and the thickness of the silk will affect the moisture content removed.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-10-07 23:47
Omar -
The Black Legend looks nice. I assume you have removed the sizing.
Ken Shaw
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2009-10-08 02:03
The silk in the Black "Legend" Swab has been treated to remove sizing.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: crampy
Date: 2009-10-08 16:18
Who would've thought the science of spit removal could be so intriguing.
And I'm still laughing about Dileep's tie.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2009-10-08 17:21
Countess Mara http://www.countessmara.com/essence.htm is teaming up with http://www.doctorsprod.com/ to produce the ultimate in clarinet swabs that double as ties.
Soon available at Neiman Marcus and other fine stores.
OK...disclaimer, the above is not true.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
Post Edited (2009-10-08 17:22)
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2009-10-10 13:09
Ken wrote
"I also have a surgeon's forceps to grab the swab from below. http://www.amazon.com/Forceps-Straight-12-Curved/dp/B000W22YYG"
For anybody interested, a long one of this sort of thing reaches up a lot further:
http://www.krystalkut.com/1520f44d0.jpg
"Crocodile forceps"?
Personally, I use a "biopsy forcep", modified to a small plier at the end, which can reach most of the way up an oboe.
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Author: lrooff
Date: 2009-10-10 13:37
Gordon (NZ) wrote:
>
> Personally, I use a "biopsy forcep", modified to a small plier
> at the end, which can reach most of the way up an oboe.
Interestingly, I have a set of those forceps (long story, but I won't digress with it), and had never thought of using them that way. How did you modify the tip so that it doesn't just bit little snippets out of the swab?
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2009-10-11 10:52
lrooff wrote:
"Interestingly, I have a set of those forceps (long story, but I won't digress with it), and had never thought of using them that way. How did you modify the tip so that it doesn't just bit little snippets out of the swab?"
I removed all of the snipper part, and used a dental micromotor with burs etc to cut tiny jaws/teeth in what remained. It would be less efficient in a clarinet than a complete crocodile forcep, but I needed/wanted it small enough to operate as far up an oboe as possible, with no chance of damaging the bore.
It will open just enough to grab cloth in a 6 mm diameter hole. Quite a few oboe players have been most grateful, even though their pull-through was ripped to shreds..
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Author: Claire Annette
Date: 2009-10-12 01:21
What Omar said about the lint from cotton swabs is what the guy who overhauled my clarinet (from Muncy Winds) told me. I've been very satisfied with my silk swab for the two years I've had it.
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