 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: davetee
Date: 2016-03-31 23:24
Is it ok to leave my clarinet assembled if I'm not taking it out of the house? Does it cause any problem with grease drying or cork sticking?
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2016-03-31 23:34
Water can collect in joints which will cause corks and wood to rot. Unless you have a plastic instrument with synthetic tenon corks I wouldn't recommend it.
-Jdbassplayer
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-03-31 23:50
Never leave any wood or plastic clarinet assembled as the tenon corks will become compressed.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-04-01 00:41
I think flute players are the most careless people on the planet as they often leave their flutes fully assembled laid on chairs or on the floor during breaks, so very easy for someone to knock or tread on if they don't see them.
Most clarinet players I've seen either use stands or split their clarinets in two parts if they lay them on chairs. I either use a stand or keep my instrument with me during a break.
But if you're not playing your clarinet or any instrument for a long period, then back in the case with it to give the tenon corks time to recover as well as any residual moisture to dry out.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-04-01 01:37
Good cork (rarer these days) has an amazing ability to recover it's original dimensions after being compressed - but only if the period of compression is relatively short (hours not days).
After extended compression it loses virtually all it's resilience and starts to behave like cardboard.
Witness the clarinets kept in those Buffet bouble cases which require the bell to be on it's tenon to fit in the case.
I have had many dozens of these through my workshop over years and without exception the bell tenon cork has become rubbish.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2016-04-01 01:48
I've always been amazed by Buffet's decision to use a double case design that had the bell attached to the lower joint in the case.
To me, it's a little like a Pulmonologist handing out a pack of cigarettes with each visit; lungs and tenon corks being the victims here.
I get that minimizing the case's footprint may have been what motivated this design, but part of the wide end of the (detached) bell could have shared space with sections of either the upper or lower joint to accomplish this footprint minimization.
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Author: davetee
Date: 2016-04-01 02:19
It's Hard Rubber and a student Clarinet...I have a stand for it and somewhere safe to place it. I was just thinking of leaving it out while I'm learning, as I'm more likely to keep picking it up...putting it down throughout the day. I was thinking maybe I could clean and put away just at the end of the day.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-04-01 02:23
No - get used to a routine of assembly, practice, cleaning and putting away each and every time. That is all part of clarinet playing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-04-01 02:31
My clarinets are in one of those double cases where the bell and lower section stay together. I'm not a fan and don't think it's an ideal arrangement, but I've been using it for over 30 years and my tenon corks aren't "rubbish." They are compressed but intact and not decaying. They tend to stick. I take the bells off every so often and re-grease the corks so they don't become permanently attached. But they are still functional - the bells stay on the clarinet and, if needed, can be pulled out part-way to adjust pitch of the long E and B. I'm not sure what else those corks need to do.
I am in no way recommending the arrangement to anyone buying a new case. But I don't feel especially driven to replace my case because the bells must be attached.
Karl
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-04-01 02:47
If you can part undo the bells in Buffet double cases (or any double cases with enough room in them to do so), then that's the best course of action.
I've had to undo frozen bells and also ones where the tenon corks have stuck to the inside of the socket but come away from the tenon so the bells will turn but won't come off, just like the tops on screwdrivers that turn but are fixed on with a circlip inside the top part. This is due to the bells being left in place and never removed, so water gets into the joint and soaks into the cork as well as making the wood swell so the joint binds up solid. Once the bells have been removed, the tenon cork is toast so the bells won't stay on.
Always dry sockets after playing and use a piece of kitchen towel or tissue instead of your pullthrough to do that as you'll get cork grease on the pullthrough which will eventually build up on the inside of the small toneholes on the top joint making the LH and throat notes stuffy and flat.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2016-04-01 16:35
The first responder said "water can collect."
Water DOES collect after only 10 minutes of playing. Mostly between mouthpiece and barrel, between barrel and top joint, and between top joint and bottom joint (the bell socket is usually spared much condensation though you'll see more if you don't swab regularly as you play).
What happens then is that the wood expands and compresses the cork. If you leave the horn together WITHOUT SWABBING OFF THE CONDENSATION AT THESE POINTS, the cork will compress as the wood swells, then the wood contracts as it dries and the cork remains compressed (cork is wood, it won't magically expand as it dries out).
Now if you are a person who insists that the two minutes it takes to pull your clarinet apart is not worth your time, there IS a solution.
Buy a Greenline Buffet (R13 or above), and then replace the real cork with the grey synthetic cork now available (and used on the Divine). I think there is still some expansion of the Greenline material but should not be enough to destroy the synthetic cork's pliability.
Still that does not solve the accumulation detritus left behind by years of unswabbed condensation - yuck.
..................Paul Aviles
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