 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-03-03 00:30
On another thread I saw a discussion of 1-piece clarinets. That reminded me of a period of time I left my (Leblanc Dynamic) Bb clarinet assembled for weeks/months at a time, stored vertically inside a closed cabinet. I would just get it out each day, play for an hour or so, swab and wipe, and put back in the cabinet. Mainly this was for pure laziness sake, to save the assemble/disassemble time and make my sessions a bit more efficient. I even looked at cases available on eBay that will store a clarinet that way (not sure whether you have to remove bell, barrel, or mouthpiece). I was imagining having horn ready to whip out and play at a moment's notice.
But one day I found that the extended period of assembly and play led to whitish deposits at the junctions- I presume from accumulated moisture the swab didn't get, and resulting disgusting biological activity. So I abandoned the whole idea, did some cleanup, and that was the end of that. I did not want to put this (wood) instrument at risk. Of course, my Arisoso or any other rubber clarinet would not be in any danger.
Anybody else ever operate this way?
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2014-03-03 00:35)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-03-03 00:41
No. Never leave your clarinets assembled for any longer than they have to be.
Also wipe the sockets dry with a piece of kitchen towel to dry them after playing - DON'T use your pullthrough to do this as you'll end up getting grease and fibres building up in the toneholes which is a bugger to clean out and will also make your throat notes stuffy.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-03-03 01:17
Chris P wrote:
> Also wipe the sockets dry with a piece of kitchen towel to dry
> them after playing - DON'T use your pullthrough to do this as
> you'll end up getting grease and fibres building up in the
> toneholes which is a bugger to clean out and will also make
> your throat notes stuffy.
Interesting observation- I've always used the pullthrough on the open end of the barrel which always has a lot of H2O. I do try to launder my swabs fairly regularly (I have 2 which I use on alternate days so I'm always using a dry one), so any cork grease etc transfer should be minimized. I will consider adding yet another little permutation to my routine. I can't imagine a band student doing a proper disassembly and cleanup in the allotted 60 sec before next class.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-03-03 01:29
If they can't get that done in the 60 seconds before their next class, they can always do it at the start of their next class.
Bounty/Plenty (lost track of what it's called now!) is ideal as it doesn't break down like regular tissue paper and one sheet will last for a reasonably long time - fold it in half and in half again to make a thick strip which is a quarter of the original width, then fold that in half at the centre of the strip and roll it into a cylinder shape as that will fit all the sockets well. When it gets all tatty, chuck it out and get a new bit.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ThatPerfectReed
Date: 2014-03-03 02:03
Stan
(With humor)
Known by the FBI as "the clarinet bandit:" (a thief on their top 10 list, wanted for country wide bank robbery where my M.O. is to play and dance a clarinet jig while the teller collects the money for me) I often find disassembly of my instrument messes with the time needed to get away before the local "five-oh" arrives on scene. ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
========
Joking aside http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq9nuIZo_wE Ricardo Morales likes to keep the "industrial blue paper towel" with him given its absorbancy.
Maybe that's the stuff Chris is referring to above.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-03-02 22:22
When you stop to think of ALL the problems you avoid when disassembling and wiping your horn, the extra thirty seconds to tear down and thirty seconds (or less) to put it back together seems pretty reasonable to me.
...........Paul Aviles
P.S. Almost forget: we COULD all save some time by buying a pair of Rossis :-)
Post Edited (2014-03-03 03:23)
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