 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kawallace91
Date: 2010-05-23 23:13
I've been playing on a Buffet E-11 for almost 4 years now, and yesterday I went and tried out a bunch of R-13s. We've narrowed it down to 2 that I've taken home with me to try out further. One thing the shop owner and my professor kept talking about was humidifying clarinets. He even stuck one of those Dampits, which I've never used before, inside one of the cases. I'm really not as familiar as I should be with how humidity affects wooden clarinets, but I do live in the New England area of the US, so we get four distinct seasons and some pretty unpredictable weather in between. It's starting to turn to summer now.
This is where I started getting confused. Some of the clarinets had really loose rings. On one of them, you can actually spin the ring around the end of the bell, and the one on the top of the bell and one on the barrel could actually be pulled off easily. On the other one (the one he put the Dampit in), the end of the bell was the only really loose one. Now, putting the Dampit in should make the wood expand, making the rings tighter, correct? Or am I way off? lol
Sorry if my post isn't very clear, but I guess I'm interested in hearing anything about humidity, clarinets, and loose rings! I'm just a bit nervous because I'm sort of on my own with these two clarinets since the shop is about an hour and a half away, and my professor is out of town (although I have contact info for both of them). My professor and I are going to get together again to make the ultimate decision. I just hope I can handle this whole humidifying thing correctly so a) I can make an accurate decision over which clarinet I like best and b) I don't cause any damage to either of them!
I can say though, every R-13 I tried felt and sounded much better than my E-11, so I think anything will be an improvement!!
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2010-05-23 23:54
kawallace91,
The reason that the rings on your clarinets are loose is because they are new horns, or horns that haven't been played in some time. The wood has dried (and shrunk a small bit) so the rings will spin.
After you pick one of them, I suggest you search the BB here for the many opinions that exist on "breaking in" a new clarinet.
As the wood becomes rehydrated, the rings will tighten as David says above.
Here in VA I only use the Humistat during the winter, but obviously where you live things are quite different.
Congrat's on the new instruments!
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-05-24 02:03
Once you buy a new clarinet have them tighten the rings, it's as simple as putting some thin paper between the wood and the ring, I use newspaper when I fix one, so the ring is no longer loose. The rings help prevent cracking. I use dampits in my clarinet cases, I use the slightly thicker ones so I don't have to fill them every day. I only use them when I need to use my furnace. Of course I have a humidifier on my furnace too but I need the dampit when I go out and in the concert hall. You could get a humidistat to check the humidity in your home, it should be at least around 40, 50 is even better, then a dampit is not always necessary. That's a matter of opinion of course. You don't want the clarinet to feel damp or get mold in your case so monitor it of course at this time of the year if you feel the need to use one now. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: jasperbay
Date: 2010-05-24 03:30
My apologies for disagreeing with the consensus, but I have, play, and have restored 20+ intermediate and pro-level wood clarinets, and my opinion is that you can treat them pretty much like a hard rubber or even a metal clarinet. Pretty much the way you treated your old E-11, in fact.
The only proviso (wood is after all not as dimensionally stable or water resistant as hard rubber, or metal) might be to avoid very extreme heat,cold or dryness, and don't store in the case without drying the bore and exterior. In any case, never assemble a wood clarinet if the rings are loose, best way to crack the wood I know. I like to let dry wood soak up all the oil (I use a urethane -fortified tung oil sealer) it wants to, and buff off any surface buildup in the bore or on the exterior. Does this clog the pores of the wood? Sure hope so. Hope the absorption of moisture in the bore is slowed also. If a ring is still loose, I wick in some CA glue with a toothpick.
To date, I've not had a single problem with a single instrument. Then again, I maybe free to try these techniques knowing I don't have $2000 tied up in an R-13. Also, I don't play hours on end, at the concert level, with moisture dripping out the toneholes, etc. You guys may really have to treat your woodies in a different manner to avoid problems, and maintain that sweet sound.
Clark G. Sherwood
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2010-05-24 15:27
I've put up several notes on how temperature and moisture gradients can crack wooden clarinets. Here's a summary.
If the clarinet is hotter inside than outside and/or wetter inside than outside, the bore will try to expand. That expansion will try to stretch the exterior. It does not take much temperature or humidity difference to crack the wood. My estimates show that normal carelessness can readily bring the cross-grain tension in the wood to its failure point.
THEREFORE: do not let your bore get (much) hotter or damper than the outside.
For temperature gradient, don't blow body temperature and humidity air into a cold clarinet. My teacher will hold the upper and lower sections of his clarinet in his armpits before playing on a cold day!
If the rings are loose, that tells you that the wood is dry. When its "normal" moisture level is recovered, the wood will swell, and the rings will become tight again. You need to get this equilibrium slowly so that the moisture can work its way from the bore outward through the wall of the clarinet.
In addition to the moisture and temperature gradients, the sockets also get expanded from the inside by the compression of the sealing corks --making them even more succeptable to cracking than the rest of the bore. The rings keep the sockets from splitting under these extra loads. When the rings are loose, this safety system is not effective.
It will help if you can "moisturize" the outside of the instrument, and "get it wet" from both sides. That's why you need a moisture source outside the instrument.
Here's a link to the thread where I explain what I do:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=268357&t=268320
The effect of oil in/on the wood must be to slow the water intrusion, but I doubt that it will prevent water from getting into the wood. I'm no expert on diffusion, but I imagine that even with a hydrophobic oil coating that water vapor will diffuse into the wood.
Take it easy. Don't play the instruments long enough to saturate the bore with water. Let them come to equilibrium through-moisture condition slowly enough to avoid cracking.
I wish you good luck because small differences in acclimation and variations in the wood strength can conspire to crack you instrument with the best of care; so luck plays a role here.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2010-05-24 15:29
Clark, I can't speak for others but I've been doing what I've been doing as long as I can remember. Never had a crack in a single clarinet or clarinet part, my rings have never come loose, oh sorry, I use Backun barrels and bells, no metal rings.
Of course you're right about using common sense in caring for your instrument. ESP
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2010-05-24 19:31
(Disclaimer - I sell plant derived bore oil and genuine Grenadilla oil)
Clark, I am a believer in - whatever works for you - but I have a couple thousand players and lots of technicians that have used my plant derived bore oil with no complaints about untoward results.
I also believe that you should let the wood transpire (be able to move moisture in and out) and not attempt to seal the wood of the bore from moisture - because you won't be able to do it completely and some areas therefore will be more wet than their neighbors inducing stresses.
The wonderful thing about plant oils is that Nature designed them to interact with water, and although oils, they are able to add shells of water to their outside hydrophilic triglycerides and removal takes a fair amount of energy. The last layer of water (layer of hydration) takes a huge amount of energy to remove. In this way plant oils buffer the water balance in the wood from large swings in moisture content. If the wood is allowed to transpire it can compensate for moisture differences.
Each part of your clarinet probably came from a different tree and therefore has different oiling and water needs and therefore I oil pieces and not the whole clarinet. Some clarinets never need oiling while others loose oil more quickly. You have to become intimate with your clarinet and know all of its moods and conditions.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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