 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: gssweeney
Date: 2012-07-25 19:01
I have the weirdest thing going on with my clarinet. It will only play when it is hot outside. If I try to play inside my house and the air is cold I can't get a sound out of my clarinet. Also during last marching season in the October games I couldn't play our show at all because nothing will come out. I've tried changing my ombrochure many different ways, and switching reeds but nothing seems to be working. In our summer band everything is working perfectly, but when we go inside to play and the instrument is cold I've been having issues. Do you have any ideas what it could be? I have a Bb selmer clarinet with a 5RV mouth piece.
Thank you!
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Author: kdk
Date: 2012-07-25 19:08
Sounds like something is leaking air when it's at normal room temperature or colder but swells and closes the opening when it heats up a little. I've never experienced this, so I can't guess much about what else could be happening. You should probably test the instrument for leaks at normal room temp and see what you can find (or have a tech do it). To completely disable the clarinet would take a pretty sizable leak near the top of the instrument. I'm just having trouble imagining anything on the instrument that would swell so much in what you and I would consider hot temperatures that it would close a leak that large. Maybe a crack in the instrument itself up near the top? What is the clarinet made of?
Karl
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Author: gssweeney
Date: 2012-07-25 20:49
It's plastic and I bought it last year from my friends personal instructor
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-07-25 21:58
Plastic swells and shrinks with temperature changes more than wood. You undoubtedly have a leak, which any repair shop can fix easily and quickly, if necessary by putting the top and bottom joints in a refrigerator overnight.
Ken Shaw
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2012-07-26 06:14
It could be a key getting stuck. For example, I once had the F#/C# key get stuck only when it was a little cold and only that key.
However there aren't any closed pads with long hinges at the top so if the entire clarinet just doesn't play suddeny, that is a little strange. Maybe you can describe the specific issues you have inside?
It could also be you and your reed not getting along when it's colder. It's usually not such a drastic difference, but maybe your reed is too hard for you when it's cold.
Or is this something that just happened recently and was fine before both inside and outside with the same reeds? Same weather? etc.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2012-07-26 23:39
Try loosening (unscrewing) the adjustment screw on the G# key just enough to clear the A key underneath it.. It may be a bit snug on the A key. There needs to be a slight clearance between them. If there isn't, you can get a problem like the one you describe. If its not that, its probably a key binding when cold that works OK when warm. It won't be anything major.
Tony F.
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