The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Sudden weather transition

Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-11-23 09:07

I live in southern California where the humidity and temperature are pretty moderate (with the exception of occasional El Niños like the last couple of days, where it becomes hot and dry — it was about 80° out and my case hygrometer measured somewhere in the 35-40% range.) This winter I will be doing a lot of traveling in the Northeast for college/conservatory auditions. I have never had to deal with clarinets in "real" winter weather, and I'm a little concerned about the sudden transition from SoCal to NE.

I'm aware of the basics of cold weather playing: don't play in very cold environments, let the instrument warm up to room temperature, warm the outside first before blowing through the bore, etc. But does anyone have any advice on how to make the sudden transition from SoCal weather to Northeast weather without running the risk of cracking, key binding, etc? It would be very bad if my instruments stopped working right before an important audition. I have a Humistat — should I keep using it? Some of my Northeast friends from Tanglewood recommended getting one. Is bore oiling recommended for cold weather?

(If it's at all relevant, my A/Bb instruments are R13 prestiges. The A is about 10 years old and has a small repaired crack, the Bb is about 5 months old, purchased at the NY Buffet showroom this summer. I figure the denser wood and tenon rings will help.)

Thanks,
Max

Post Edited (2015-11-23 09:12)

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics