 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: leehwd
Date: 2012-07-26 23:45
I am new to the clarinet. I use a humidfier for my acoustic guitar, made of nice wood. Do I also need to maintain relative humidity within a certain range for the clarinet (of course, made out of wood)? If so, what do you use for that purpose? Please advise me on this. Thank you.
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Author: alto gether
Date: 2012-07-27 00:20
A small guitar humidifier would do. Or a slice of apple for emergencies. When I was in Colorado last year I was scrupulous about not letting my good mandolin dry out. My (plastic) clarinet started leaking at every pad in three days, so I dunked it in a bucket of water. You want to be more careful with a wooden clarinet. I've heard that oiling them makes them more stable with changing humidity, so I hereby open that particular can of worms. I vaguely recollect that small guitar humidifiers are called worms anyway.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-07-27 12:01
I use a dampit in my clarinet cases. That's what most string players use, they were created for them. I don't suggest placing them inside the bore though as suggested. I just keep them damp and place them in my case. I use the medium size for my double case and the larger one for my bass clarinet. The real small one, suggested for a singer clarinet or oboe is so thin but will work, just has to be checked more often. I only use them in the winter when the indoor heat begins to be used since that's what dries out the air. I also have a humidifier on my furnace, which is a good idea for ones health as well.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: William
Date: 2012-07-27 14:50
Dunking one's clarinet--plastic or not--in a "bucket of water" is not a good idea for the life of your pads and the key action. I'm not altogether convinced that humidifiers in closed cases are very effective due to restricted air circulation. It's hard enough trying to adequately humidify a home with its sophisticated heating and cooling systems, much less a closed, well-padded clarinet case. With stringed instruments, due to their large body construction, a humidifier would be much more effective. But with clarinets and their individual compartments storages, restriction of air circulation should make uniform and effective humidification much less possible. I've never used a humidifier in any of my clarinet cases and have never had any repairperson tell me my instruments were drying out. Thats 55 yrs of clarineting fun.
My recommendation, humidifiers--forgetabout'em.
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