 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: CarlT
Date: 2011-11-04 02:21
I have a bit of a strange issue. After playing my R13 for awhile...even after swabbing several times...I get a significant amount of moisture in 1) the very top (and sometime the bottom one) of the 4 trill keys on the right of the top joint (the ones the right index finger play), 2) the A and Ab keys, and one or two other keys of the top joint. The reason I know this, is that I take a cigarette paper (no I don't roll my own) and check each pad in the upper joint, especially before putting up the clarinet for the day. I do this mainly to dry the pads.
It's funny, but when I play my old Selmer Signet Special, I still have to swab about as much; however, I never seem to get any significant moisture in the above keys when checking them with a cig. paper.
I don't oil my 1-1/2 y. o. R13, but I occasionally oil the SSS. Would that be the reason. If so, I thought we were not supposed to oil R13s???
Help!
CarlT
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Author: TJTG
Date: 2011-11-04 02:37
Oiling is a hot button issue. Everybody has their own opinion.
For myself, I will take off the trill key, and oil the hole and carefully, then oil inside the bore around the hole with a q-tip. Be sure not to get oil on the pad, this can cause issue with....(I really don't know what, but don't do it). This process seems to help, while not completely eliminating, the problem. Oil helps repel the water away from the hole.
Some people will purposefully let a drip of water run down their clarinet before playing (avoiding the tone holes). This creates a path for the condensation to run down, and hopefully would help alleviate the problem.
Otherwise, I conscientiously put the clarinet on a stand whenever I'm not playing. The issue of water in the tone holes seems to occur when I lay the clarinet on my lap, allowing the condensation to run into the key holes.
Hope this helps....
-Tim G
PS- Also, make sure your pads aren't worn and collecting moisture within.... If they're not sealing properly that can cause moisture to get kind of 'sucked into' those holes..
Post Edited (2011-11-04 02:43)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2011-11-04 04:27
I have the same problem on my Buffet Bb and A as well as my Selmer Bb. I swab out constantly to limit the about of saliva I get in my clarinets because I play "wet". I even have to constantly swab out the upper joint and neck on my bass clarinet because even they get wet, I'm constantly swabbing out in rehearsals and when I practice. If I practice for a couple of hours it doesn't matter how many times I swab, and I swab very often, even when playing chamber music or a solo piece. Some people just play with a lot more saliva than others and it doesn't matter if it's winter, spring, fall or summer, hot, cold, humid or dry, I have the same problem. It's me not the clarinets or the environment. You probably have the same problem. Just keep swabbing and drying. ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-11-05 23:48
My Buffet RC gets wet C#/G# and Trill Eb tone holes even when I first swab it and then set it upright on its peg --as when I take a short break.
I would think that there is nothing in the bore to flow into a tone hole.
GRRR.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2011-11-06 00:19
Most of the liquid coming from a clarinet is not saliva, but simply condensation from your warm breath forming on the cooler clarinet walls. Some time ago I read an account of some studies done in the US concerning this issue, and the conclusion was that while there are biological elements in the mouthpiece and to a lesser extent the barrel, bolow that it is almost entirely condensate, ie water. Some people will produce a wetter clarinet that others, but this is more a function of the volume and temperature of their airflow than their saliva production. If you look at the quantity of liquid present in a clarinet, it would be difficult if not impossible to maintain that level of saliva production.
With regard to the problem of wet toneholes, I also suffer from this problem in the A tone hole and the upper two trill keys. I've largely overcome this problem by using a q-tip to treat the inside of the tonehole and the area around it inside the bore with a silicon spray normally used for waterproofing outdoor clothing and tents. I make sure not to get it anywhere except in these areas, and it has had no ill effects in the 6 years I've been doing it. I've done it on wood and plastic instruments, it works equally well on either.
Tony F.
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