Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-01-24 07:59
bmcgar wrote:
> I admit that my own opinion on humidifying clarinets has been
> extrapolated from my experience as a woodworker, and that I've
> never seen an instrument crack for reasons that I could
> definitely attribute to moisture "shock" -- though I have seen
> clarinets crack from temperature shock.
Taking an instrument from an area of higher humidity to one of lower humidity won't suddenly change the moisture content of the wood, and the changes in dimensions that result from drying or humidifying a clarinet don't happen quickly. The expansion of wood from blowing warm air into a cold clarinet happens much more quickly and from the inside out, causing sudden stress against the outer wood. I don't know what kind of wood you saw crack from moisture "shock" or to what dimensions it had been milled. The properties of the wood you worked with may not have been comparable.
>
> The second question is, "does it do any good?" I'm not
> convinced that it does.
>
I can tell you from first-hand experience that I've picked up a seldom-played clarinet more than once and found that the rings were loose and a couple of keys were binding between their screw posts, and that leaving them in their closed case for several days with either Dampits (re-moistened as needed) or orange peels caused the rings to tighten and the keys to free up. It probably took some time for the shrinkage to develop (these were not clarinets I play regularly) and, as I say, the benefit took several days. I don't, BTW, humidify my everyday clarinets as a rule.
> Anecdotally, of all the accomplished clarinetists and pros I've
> known in my nearly 60 years of playing, I've only known one who
> humidifies (with orange peel), and he does that to keep his
> skin pads from shrinking and coming loose, not to avoid
> cracking.
I've known several players, first among my teachers and later among colleagues, who kept Dampits or orange peels in their cases. This wasn't done generally (nor do I humidify my clarinets) to avoid cracking, but to avoid the kind of mechanical shifting that I've described as the wood moves. Desiccated, shrinking pads might be another symptom - one I've never personally experienced, but it's possible.
If you've never had a problem, then there's no need to add humidity. But the loose rings that Jessica (jrain54) wrote about in "Silver bands are loose on clarinet.." are a classic symptom of the dryness that added humidity can cure. I would do that before I'd think about shimming rings (especially if more than one are loose).
Karl
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