 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Maruja
Date: 2015-12-19 20:29
Hallo
What do posters advise on how little you can get away with drying, when playing in a concert, audition, exam etc -in other words, when you can't do a full pull through or dry off joints because of lack of time? Where should you concentrate? On the MP, barrel, tone holes? What is the most effective for the least time spent?
I find my instrument gets very wet when I have been playing lots of staccato notes.
Any advice gratefully appreciated.
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2015-12-19 21:46
You can purchase pad drying papers that collect moisture from under individual pads or within tone holes. I keep some handy either on the stand or next to my chair so I can be quick about it. It is less distracting to the audience or to players around you than blowing the moisture out.
If you keep having trouble with moisture while playing staccato, you may be using too much tongue on the reed and transferring saliva from there to the clarinet.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-12-19 23:47
I'm assuming that you mean you've just found during playing that a note is gurgling and you want to get the tone hole clear quickly. The only really effective way to clear up a water-clogged tone hole or any other water problem is to take the time to swab the instrument and blot the water out of any clogged tone holes. If a solo passage is coming up and a note (typically RH Eb/Bb, throat A or G# or C#/G#) starts to gurgle, you can
--get through for a very short time by blowing strongly through the hole back into the bore. This will make loud noise that will annoy people and disrupt quiet music, so it's best to do it during a loud passage.
--get a little more time by slipping a piece of absorbent paper (as John suggests) or the corner of your swab under the pad and blotting the water out (it will drip back into the hole but may give you a couple of minutes' playing time).
--in a loud tutti passage just give in and drop out while you swab the instrument and blot the hole.
The best way is preventive - swab the instrument whenever you have time - between movements or pieces, during long rests, etc...
Karl
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2015-12-20 08:37
I will take the barrel off and snack it against my leg. Seems to have a lot of built up fluid there. That can be done during long rest periods of a piece.
Also I flip over the clarinet and tap the tenon against the leg too.
Next steps would be swabbing the whole clarinet, but I find if I swab before the concert, and tap the barrel a few times (and if needed, tenon of upper joint) against my thigh, I can usually go a whole concert without any clogged tone holes.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Una
Date: 2015-12-20 09:24
I find that grabbing the clarinet by the bell and smacking the bell on my thigh usually shakes the moisture around and stops any gurgling.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2015-12-20 21:24
Alexi - I assume before removing the barrel you visually "memorize" it's tuning position, and reassemble to the same position?
I tend to blow into the usual suspect tone holes between pieces, whether they've started gurgling or not, as either corrective action or preventative. This is not ideal. When I do this the band conductor is standing nearby in front of the group announcing the next piece. Me air blasting spit from tone holes does not enhance his communications with the audience.
I've tried blotting instead. I find it a) less effective than blowing, b) hard to finagle under some of the keys, especially if you try to do it with the swab, c) if you use cigarette paper or similar flimsy paper, sometimes the wetted paper tears and leaves a soggy shred adhering under the pad somewhere (eek!) and d) blotting is more time consuming than blowing. I never know whether the announcement of the next piece will be one quick sentence or an anecdotal history; in the past I've had blotting or swabbing cut short by the opening of the next piece.
I asked my dentist once if there was a simple treatment I could use before a performance to reduce salivation. He said yes, but there are side-effects that would prevent his recommending them unless there was medical need.
And then there's this, another of the possible hallucinations from a solitary clarinetist: I think my sound is better when the inside of the instrument gets coated with moisture. Have you ever peered down the inside before swabbing? It's covered with dribbles and drops and filming. I've often wondered what effect that irregular liquid shape has on the vibrations of the air.
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Author: Roys_toys
Date: 2015-12-21 14:00
I once remember reading in an old tutor book a recommendation to make a wax line away from the C#/G# hole with a straw( farmyard not drinking I think ). You drag the straw down from the bottom of the upper bore, depositing a wax trace that encircles the hole to encourage water to go elsewhere. This was to be done before each performance.
In my case I can also suffer from the lowest trill, but this would be more difficult to get to.
Does anyone do this ? Does it work ?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2015-12-22 06:44
Quote:
Alexi - I assume before removing the barrel you visually "memorize" it's tuning position, and reassemble to the same position? Yup. I take a good look at the space between the barrel and upper joint and do my best to match it when I return the barrel. Did it look like a dime's width of space? Less? More, like a nickel worth of space?
It won't be perfect, but it'll be good enough to lip up or down till the next spot when I get a cnhance to slightly rock it in or out (as in rocking the barrel slightly to extend/compress it as twisting tends to pull out too much too fast).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2015-12-23 18:18
I've always been a "wet" player too. My solution has always been to swab the instrument out often. Between movements when ever possible. I just take the MP off, do a quick swab and play. Even when playing bass clarinet, I swab out often using a push through swab for the top joint and cleaning the neck with a hanky type using my finger to push it to clean it. It's just a matter of swabing as often as possible. I've been envious of someone playing half a recital with out swabing when I would have to between many movements. I got it down so I can do it safely in a very short time.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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