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Re: plastic to wood

Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-10-08 23:00

No but it depends on the model. Buffet intermediate models E-11 and E-13 are for example more free blowing than Buffet R-13 or most other professional models. But keep in mind that it mostly depends on your setup(reed and mouthpiece) that is if your setup suits the clarinet. Some people want resistance in the clarinet others in the mouthpiece/reed combo.

What you have to be careful about is if the clarinet is new you need to brake it in properly otherwise it could crack. And remember that swabbing is much more important for wodden clarinet as when the wood gets wet and then dries out it is expanding and shrinking and that could result in a tension in the wood that lead to a crack.

So the first week you play something like this two times a day for 15-20 minutes one in the morning and other in the evening and be sure to swab it at least 2 times during that time. Then increase it to 30 minute session the next week then 45 min and finally the 4th week an hour and then just normal.

Usually when I'm practicing for 4-5 hours a day I keep two swab and alter between them and swab around 3 times per hour. This will also help avoiding water in the tone holes. Other tips are to smear vaseline in the corners of the tone hole. But the best thing is like before a concert to warm up for like 10 minutes and then Swab. Then you can also take some cigarette paper and swab onto the stage and use it between piece/movements.

Then when you finish playing you take each part of the clarinet and swab it two times and be sure to wipe the tenons and sockets as the water can expand the wood as I said and your parts could get stuck.

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