 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: The clarinet wielder
Date: 2015-11-15 11:48
Hi my clarinet is starting to smell bad and my barrel smells REALLY bad.Any help please? My clarinet was bought from amazon and the company who made it is called GLORY and mine was black and had Gold keys.Here is a link to it http://www.amazon.com/160-BK-L-EBONITE-Clarinet-Lazarro-Available/dp/B00M9XUYUW/ref=sr_1_10?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1447573586&sr=1-10&keywords=clarinet+Gold+keys
hi im Gage hinckley and i play the clarinet and play in 6th grade band! Playing clarinet is fun but hard to take care of like the reeds and the pieces to it.
Post Edited (2015-11-15 11:49)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-15 12:37
Could be a few things.
You may be taking proper care of your equipment but just as a check.
Firstly, you must swab out the condensation at intervals while you are playing using a hanky swab (looks like a cotton hanky but has a long sewn section with a weight at the end). Then I'd recommend dutifully taking the instrument apart after each time you play to wipe off the ends of the tenons (bottom of lower joint and both ends of upper joint), as well as wiping out the sockets (both ends of barrel and top end of bell).
You should also wipe out the mouthpiece too. You can do this just pushing a little of the swab through either end (or using the same process for swabbing the horn but the cotton swabs are usually too big to go all the way through so only go until it gets a little snug, then back it out. And do this S-L-O-W-L-Y. You don't want to cause any friction to the parts of the mouthpiece that touch the reed).
It goes without saying that you wipe off any excess moisture off the reed and put it back into it's little sleeve or into a reed case.
The other possible issue is that being made of hard rubber (and not the best grade I would guess at this price point), there may be more leeching of the sulfur content. This would smell kinda like "rotten eggs."
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: The clarinet wielder
Date: 2015-11-15 12:55
No my clarinet has no Rubber on it.My band teacher says its a good looking clarinet but unusual to have gold keys and i broke one of my reeds because my tonguing was to hard on it and bent.usually the screws come undone and i have to screw them back on with a screw driver and i clean my instrument from time to time but i only clean it at home and not at school because we really don't have that much time to clean up and put instruments away so i just take it apart and put it in its case while taking off the reed.
hi im Gage hinckley and i play the clarinet and play in 6th grade band! Playing clarinet is fun but hard to take care of like the reeds and the pieces to it.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2015-11-15 17:57
Chemical smell? Mildew smell? Body odor type smell? I don't have a solution for a chemical smell. For the others here are some ideas.
Put your swap in the wash (tie up the cord with a twisty or rubber band). Or buy a new swab (I like cotton).
Clean out the barrel in the sink with dish soap.
You can also pull a damp swab through the instrument. Rinse out the swab afterwards. You can do this a few times. Hang out the swab to dry after you are done.
Rinse out your mouth before you play to clear out food particles, etc.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-11-15 18:04
Ebonite (hard rubber) clarinets can smell strongly of sulphur giving that classic rotten egg smell. There's nothing much you can do about it, but definitely DON'T wash the barrel or mouthpiece (or any other section at all) in hot water as that will only make things worse.
The only parts you should wash out in cool water with some washing-up liquid are the mouthpiece and barrel if need be - you should just wipe the barrel dry after playing to make sure there's no water collected in the sockets as that will start to smell once organic stuff builds up in there.
http://www.amazon.com/160-BK-L-EBONITE-Clarinet-Lazarro-Available/dp/B00M9XUYUW/ref=sr_1_10?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1447573586&sr=1-10&keywords=clarinet+Gold+keys
Well - it has to be said that's a whopping 82% discount for a clarinet that shouldn't ever cost any more than $90 tops. Once you get better, you should be looking at a much better quality clarinet as this one will only hold you back.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2015-11-15 19:15
You really should have a discussion with your teacher and parents about getting a better instrument. I tell students that they should buy instruments from companies who's primary business is music, e.g., buy a clarinet from a music store.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-15 19:46
Dear "Clarinet Wielder,"
Are you saying you need to use a screw driver to secure the ligature that holds the reed on the mouthpiece?
You should not rely on the ligature to help you push and pull the mouthpiece from the barrel (if that's the case). Put everything together (mouthpiece too) and then put the reed on last. At the end of band practice, do that in reverse order, taking the reed off FIRST before disassembling the clarinet.
There should be no "force" exerted on the mouthpiece/reed/ligature.
Also if you do not wipe off (and out) the condensation (the moisture is mostly condensation but.......), microscopic amounts of saliva containing what you ate and drank that day will remain as well. Your clarinet may wind up smelling like your mom's garbage disposal.
Oh, I just timed myself going methodically through wiping off the wet parts of a clarinet - it takes no more than 2 minutes (going slowly).
When you DO get a better clarinet, those are made of wood (which expands and contracts in the presence of water) and you will really want to be wiping it off after every time you play.
....................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2015-11-15 19:47)
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Author: The clarinet wielder
Date: 2015-11-15 22:47
no i am saying that the screws for the keys can come off sometimes and i screw them back on.My mouthpiece is fine and so is my ligature it just started to smell bad.
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Author: JonTheReeds
Date: 2015-11-15 23:02
For the screws you can use a bit of clear nail varnish on the end of the screw. It'll stop the screw from unscrewing and is easy to remove
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The older I get, the better I was
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-15 23:47
Keys, ok, got it.
Normally I would be opposed to the nail polish idea. Looseness is an indication of need to oil the rods (or pivots). But in the case of a clarinet that is not going to be repairable over any great length of time, I'd go for it.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Ina
Date: 2015-11-16 10:31
I'm not going to lie. I kinda want the light blue and gold one just to mess around with. I've never played one of the cheap Chinese clarinets. Call me curious.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-16 12:15
Just one aspect to that price point is that the springs have little tensile strength. You can't adjust the tension either up or down. If you try, the spring will lose its ability to "spring," or just break.
Another is that within a year you'll need to change out the pads (which you can imagine are not built to hold up very well). But a re-pad will cost much more than the clarinet and trust me, you wouldn't want to make that investment (most good techs will tell you that anyway).
..............Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2015-11-16 12:18)
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