 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2016-02-25 08:47
I've always been curious how busking clarinetists handle the various temperature/humidity/wind conditions, etc. I've busked before, but usually in summertime or during warmish periods. I switched to a non-wooden clarinet in order to have more flexibility in these situations.
However, I've seen buskers in the subways (bundled up in winter jackets), and even on the streets during downright cold weather - still playing their wooden clarinets. Likewise, I've noticed many people in our local outdoor community band (which plays during some windy 45-50 degree F summer evenings) also play on their "concert" wooden clarinets.
Is there some trick to "knowing" what a safe temperature is? I would think humidity (or lack thereof) along with the wind's moisture-sucking nature would also play some role.
Do you busk with your wooden clarinet? How cold is "too cold" for you to risk your concert clarinet for playing outside?
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-02-25 11:23
Hi Fuzzy,
I've used a wood clarinet for busking, but we don't experience the extremes of low temperature that you do, although our highs can get pretty high. I'd use a plastic instrument if the temperature was going to be much above, say, 35C or below freezing or if the humidity was exceptionally low. I've seen a hard rubber instrument bend like a banana on a market stall on a very hot day. I also have a nice old metal Selmer that I use for busking, more for appearance than anything else.
Tony F.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-02-25 14:06
I don't busk. In fact I had to look that up. But I can tell you that the biggest problem is that you put 98 degree fahrenheit air down the bore of your instrument (this is most concentrated at the top). The greater the differential with the outside temperature, the greater the stress on the wood.
Now perhaps horns that are older and more stable (having been put through the mill) may (and I say MAY) be more stable and less susceptible to those stresses.
I personally would not want to play a wooden instrument in ambient temperatures bellow 60 degrees fahrenheit (and that might be pushing it).
For me, the rule is, if you could be comfortable in short sleeve shirt, your instrument is fine.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2016-02-25 19:28
I often play my backup wooden clarinet outdoors and in cold indoor spaces when conditions suggest I shouldn't use my primary wood instrument. I am very diligent about bore oiling, and haven't had a crack develop yet.
Even if I did, I have a identical backup to the backup for replacement joints, and could buy more backups on eBay for around fifty bucks each.
The entry-level wooden instruments of decades ago (Normandy, Selmer Signet, wooden Bundy, et al) seem ideal for this. If they haven't cracked by now as the result of careless handling by students and years--maybe decades--of improper storage, they probably aren't going to crack in a 62 degree F rehearsal hall.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-02-25 19:40
Our community band has a tradition of playing Christmas carols at the annual town tree lighting, and years ago the band would then visit several "rest homes" and play carols outside for the residents inside. I used my wooden Buffet (inherited from my grandfather) for this, and later a wooden Selmer. My high school teacher also used his wooden Selmer. Some years, this being Vermont, it was cold. I mean, below freezing, where fingers got to be a major problem. No cracks that I was aware of, but I shudder to recall. I have a plastic clarinet for this function now.
Apparently some wooden instruments can "take it".
I also remember summer concerts in wind so strong you had to hold the music stand with your feet to keep it, with the music firmly clothespinned all around, from blowing away. And parades in drenching downpours . . . . memories.
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Author: MarlboroughMan
Date: 2016-02-25 20:17
I don't take any chances. When it gets chilly outside, I make sure I have a plastic clarinet--no target temperature, but if it feels colder than I let my studio get, that's bad enough. My horn of choice is an old Vito V40...actually a very good sounding horn with a decent mouthpiece.
In Cleveland we don't tend to get temperatures too high, so that's not generally an issue for me, though I did have a wooden horn crack in a New Orleans heat wave once. I still can't figure out whether it was the heat, the crazy levels of humidity, or an air conditioned hotel room that did it.
Eric
******************************
The Jazz Clarinet
http://thejazzclarinet.blogspot.com/
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2016-02-25 20:54
Back in the dark ages before we were aware there were any options other than metal or wood, my older brother and then I used a wooden pre-WWII Kolert for high school band. That included football half-time shows and rehearsals (often approaching freezing) and the State Fair (often near 105 F/40+ C). The one year that our high school careers overlapped, I used the Kolert and my brother used his second hand Centered Tone. There was no way we could have afforded a back up instrument for either of us. To her credit, mother was a stickler on maintenance so both instruments had their bores oiled with the best olive oil mother could find and the key work was always kept clean and dry. Although both instruments are essentially now retired, with continued TLC and The Doctor's help, both are very much alive and well with secure homes until either we or they crumble into dust.
At this point, there is no way to tell whether their survival was due to old growth wood, good olive oil, regular maintenance, or pure luck. However, I do know that using a wooden instrument in somewhat extreme conditions does not necessarily ensure its demise.
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Author: moma4faith
Date: 2016-02-26 19:37
I'm not a busker, but I did play a wooden clarinet in my college marching band. Summers were hot and humid, winters were windy, icy and cold. At one point, my clarinet sat upright in the passenger seat of my car, strapped in and ready to grab so I could make it to marching practice in time. That old wooden horn never cracked, but boy did it play horribly. It was an old Yamaha 34 that had been put through quite a bit even before I bought it.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2016-02-26 20:43
I have an ancient boxwood clarinet with only a few brass keys. It lived in our family's outdoor shed for around 50 years. Temperature probably ranged between 110 F and -30. It's not cracked, though for other reasons it needs extensive work to be made playable. I moved it indoors some years ago.
I wonder how boxwood differs from African blackwood in its susceptibility to crack.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-02-26 21:32
The problem is not necessarily with the instrument going through periods of extreme temperatures (and allowed to move back gradually). The issue is PLAYING (blowing 97 degree air down the bore) an instrument while surrounded by cool or even frigid temperatures.
My favorite personal story was a gymatorium gig in New England in the middle of a very cold winter. The band was positioned right next to large double doors leading directly to the great outdoors. For some inexplicable reason, the doors were whipped open immediately following the last note of the concert. A frigid wind rolled across the band and there was a very loud popping sound from the clarinet section. One of the clarinets developed a massive crack right down the back side when exposed to the ice cold air immediately after having been played.
I have since tried to be careful with wooden horns with respect to cold temperatures.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: fuzzystradjazz
Date: 2016-02-28 02:01
Thanks to everyone for the great responses!
I appreciate the wide range of viewpoints and experiences! Many of the responses made me chuckle.
Back when I played a wooden clarinet, I became paranoid of temperature changes. In the summer, when I'd play with the community band on Wednesday evenings in the park, those cold breezes would come as the sun began going down - wind chill could be around 35-40F, and I would grimace and keep playing - knowing those on either side of me seemed to play along unflinchingly on their wooden instruments. Then, during trips to NY or New Orleans in the spring/summer/fall, I feared the heat and humidity, and became reluctant to play outdoors there.
However, I've never had a wooden instrument crack. I understand the principle Paul describes of warm air down a cold instrument, and it makes sense in every possible understanding - but how many people here have actually experienced an older instrument break due to such cold/hot stress - even when pushing the limits?
Does oiling matter? (I must admit that I never once oiled any of my wooden instruments, and I can see the benefits that oil would provide in deterring water absorption).
Understandably, due to the cost of instruments, we live in fear - but how much of that fear is justifiable (especially for older instruments which have been around for a while)?
Fuzzy
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2016-02-28 21:42
With no scientific evidence and only what may or may not be logic, my feeling is that once an instrument becomes "of a certain age", if it hasn't yet cracked it is unlikely to crack even under some fairly extreme conditions. Cracking is caused by uneven stresses within the wood that can be made worse by extreme conditions. An instrument that has been around long enough to have been exposed to those stressors (probably multiple times) and not cracked probably has few enough internal stresses of its own to be relatively immune. Those who have turned enough wood on a lathe know the experience of having your masterpiece crack just as that last little bit of grain is removed -- and that under nearly ideal conditions. I know of a number of instruments that have cracked within a very few years of leaving the factory. However, I have come across only one old barrel that had severely cracked. And that almost surly due to severe abuse and neglect.
In college, I was the Eb clarinet section. I used a new LeBlanc for concert and an OLD no name for marching (both wood). At one football game, the rain stopped just long enough for us to do our half-time show. During one tight formation, the instrument was knocked out of my hands and marched into the mud. After a good cleaning and some key oil, it was none the worse for wear. That, even though I was unable to start the work until after we returned home from the away game.
Yes, I am aware that there are some directors who believe that to be appropriate treatment for an Eb. ;^)
Post Edited (2016-02-28 21:47)
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