 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: BassClarinetBaby
Date: 2011-03-15 11:48
This forum constantly warns against the dangers of wood clarinets in cool, dry climates and advocates for the correct care to minimise these dangers. But what care should be taken for instruments in a warm, humid climate? I've already discovered quite quickly that the joints will swell and be hard to take apart (sometimes stick)... especially on my brand new R13.
Never Bb, sometimes B#, and always B natural! ♫♪
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-03-15 14:38
Tight joints on new Buffets seem to be endemic. Perhaps when you get those taken care of, you won't have further problems with swollen tenons.
Wood swells when wet and expands when warm. If one side of your clarinet is wetter and/or colder than the other side (bore vs exterior), there will be a stress in the material. The warm, damp inner bore will try to expand against the cold, dry exterior, and tend to pull the wood apart on the outside of the instrument.
When the stress exceeds the strength of the wood, it will crack.
I have tried to calculate how much of a temperature gradient or moisture gradient is likely to crack the wood. This depends on knowing the strength of the wood, its coefficient of thermal expansion, its stiffness (Young's modulus) and how it shrinks and expands with moisture content.
Thus far, I have not found those data for clarinet materials.
Using data for ebony, however, I conclude that ordinary carelessness can easily crack a clarinet. Blowing 98-degF saturated air into a dry ebony clarinet at 50-degF can be expected to cause a crack.
If I lived in Australia, with a new Buffet, I would definitely monitor the in-case and in-the--playing room humidities to understand what is going on.
In general, though, I'd guess that a warm damp climate is not as risky as a cold dry one where "player breath" can cause dangerously high stresses in a clarinet.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2011-03-15 16:20
A warm damp environment is no place for a good wooden instrument of any type including Clarinet and Oboe. In the tropics for example, one would definitelly go Ebonite or Plastic.
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Author: weberfan
Date: 2011-03-15 18:26
Recently returned from a business trip to New Orleans. Almost without exception--and there are exceptions--many really good street musicians and those who play in decent clubs in Bourbon Street or Frenchman Street play on plastic/Ebonite instruments.
At Fritzel's jazz club on Bourbon, I spoke with Tom Fisher, a clarinetist fronting a quartet who plays an old Conn, with Rico Reserve No. 3's and a Vandoren 5JB mouthpiece.
In front of St. Louis Cathedral, I ran into "Ricky," a wonderful street musician who plays an old plastic Selmer with a "no-name" mouthpiece and a No. 2.5 Rico Royal reed.
Both cited the temperature and humidity as reasons to shy away from a wood clarinet. Altho Ricky told me, "I have a Buffet at home."
Listening to them play reminded me that chasing after the next great piece of gear really takes a back seat to breath control, embouchure and technique. These players sounded great.
Post Edited (2011-03-15 18:36)
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Author: 2E
Date: 2011-03-16 05:02
BassClarinetBaby, I'm in Brisbane too - its so hot at the moment! My clarinets (bass included) and reeds are getting played for hours and hours each week but I wouldn't worry about the wood cracking too much. I just pull them through after playing and make sure I don't leave them in the boot of a car or anything, keep your storage space dry and cool (for reeds also) and it shouldn't be a problem.
Did you go to the recent buffet summer clarinet festival at jazzworx?
2E.
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Author: BassClarinetBaby
Date: 2011-03-16 10:37
That's what I've been doing, but was just awaiting confirmation that this was the safest action to take I'm still very protective of my baby.
I'm not actually in Brissy (although all my posts say I am?). I'm up in North Queensland where it's even hotter and more humid!
Never Bb, sometimes B#, and always B natural! ♫♪
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