 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RonD
Date: 2001-04-12 02:39
In order to maximize my playing time I would prefer to leave my instrument assembled so that I can practice during the day and evening whenever time is available. It is time consuming to take down and clean my horn but I am concerned that it might be difficult to take apart if left assembled. You can assume that the horn will will swabed out after each session.
So the question is, if I use the new " synthetic" cork grease will it be possible to leave my horn assembled for extended periods of time ( I mean several days or more).???
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Author: Mike Irish
Date: 2001-04-12 03:50
There are times I leave mine assembled.... but only for the day... also have stands for them, and they are in their cases during the night... they also get a swabbing out during ( after ) play time. My clarinet is mine only, the flute and oboe are for my sons and my pleasure.... for instance, today, flute and clarinet were assembled in the morning, both played for about 20 min ea.... at lunch, the oboe and flute were played for about 15 min each.... and then this evening, the oboe was played and put up as well as the clarinet and flute for about 15 min each....
tomarrow, may be same order, or may not use one, if not used, will not be assembled....
I put them up, cause things do tend to go BUMP in the night.... and dont need to have to have a repair cause some one forgot that they were out, and / or forgot where they were, while walking around with the lights out...
cats and dogs are good about that too....
Mike
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Author: Eoin McAuley
Date: 2001-04-12 07:27
If your horn is plastic, it is OK to leave it assembled for short periods, although the build-up of moisture may damage the corks.
If your horn is wood, you must clean it out after use. This does not mean just a swab run down the bore. You must dismantle it, as moisture will collect in the gaps between the tenons and the sockets. This moisture will ruin your clarinet as it will get into the ends of the tenons and cause them to swell, eventually cracking your clarinet.
After you have dismantled and cleaned your clarinet, you can assemble it again and leave it ready for use.
Be careful of answers you get to this question - the behaviour of a wood clarinet depends very much on the temperature and humidity. These vary enormously around the world. They must be taken into account when interpreting the answer. I come from a cold wet country myself.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-12 09:32
Thanks for the fine answer Eoin. All in all I think that many of the posters on the BB are assimilating a lot of the knowledge imparted by the many experienced people that answer the questions posed on the BB, adding their own knowledge and experience, and posting some really good quality stuff. As Eoin pointed out their can be an accumulation of water in the joints even if the clarinet is swabbed out after use which can cause the wood to swell (this goes back to wood treatment, oiling the wood, and other questions too lenghty to approach here). The cork is also left in a compressed state when you leave the horn assembled. Depending on what cork treatment that you use, the cork will rebound when disassembled and no harm no foul. Petroleum greases will cause the cork (over time) to loose these compressibility and rebound characteristics and you will end up with loose joints (see previous thread posting by me - of photomicrograph studies of normal and compressed cork treated with natural, synthetic and petroleum based cork treatments). Certain natural cork treatments and certain synthetics will retain this compressibility and rebound potential for a much longer period of time. All this being said I would still disassemble and swab out the tenons after use. I am sure that all of us can do this job in less than 30 seconds - I can still remember how to field strip, clean, and reassemble an M-16 blindfolded in less than 30 seconds so the clarinet routine is a snap and much better for the horn in the long run.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-04-12 15:53
Another thing to consider. If it is left assembled more dust collects on the mechanism, especially where oil is present. This then wicks the oil out from where it should be and evaporation is more rapid. This leaves the pivots more prone to rust. I consider rust protection to be the main reason for the oil being there. So if you leave it out it may be a good idea to make a dust cover of some sort, say a long skinny plastic bag so you can still see the instrument and be inspired to play, which I suppose is the main reason for leaving it out. It was for me.
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