 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2018-10-13 01:18
In recent months I have noticed a tendency for my tone to often become less distinct and veiled.
After some analysis I discovered that there was a tendency for my fingers, and especially RH 1 and 3 to creep closer together, resulting in a microscopic leak at the edge of the toneholes.
Now at age 81 I do anticipate some growing difficulties with playing the clarinet. However the other evening, as I was helping my wife get up out of her chair, she remarked "your hands feel very slippery."
This set me thinking and I found that indeed the skin on my hands and fingers seems abnormally smooth. This results in a lack of friction between my finger tips and the tone hole rings, exacerbating the tendency for them to creep closer.
Has anyone else noticed this problem, and know of any solution.
Sand papering my finger tips doesn't sound like a wise thing to me !!
I suspect the answer may be to try and find a decent plateau model clarinet as at the moment the "slippery" problem does not affect my playing the bass clarinet or basset horn.
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Author: Windy Dreamer
Date: 2018-10-13 06:11
I have a vague memory of having to play with disposable rubber gloves in the past . I think it was due to injured fingertips from onè of many spastic falls.I just tried it now and had no trouble getting a seal. The gloves are very thin , come in many sizes and cost as little as $6.00 for a box of 100.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2018-10-13 10:35
At 79 I'm finding the same problem. My fingerprints seem to have vanished. So far I've not found a workable solution, but a whole new career as a master criminal beckons!
Tony F.
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Author: Windy Dreamer
Date: 2018-10-13 16:28
Although my long term memory is not bad my short term memory is a disaster. While reading Tony' s post I remembered circulatory problems occasionally leadiing to shriveled fingertips that do not seal tone holes while playing.I successfully resolve that problem by double gloving.It adds meat to the bones while closing and masking the gaps.Solutions that do not work are scotch tape and bandages
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2018-10-13 18:12
With regard to the idea of a plateau clarinet, I bought one when I had carpal tunnel syndrome a few years ago. It worked for that and enabled me to continue playing, but doesn't work so well with slippery fingers. My solution to that was to buy some mother of pearl discs the same diameter as the keytops, thin them to wafer thickness and glue them in place on the keytops. It provides more grip than the polished metal finger pads and also adds a certain "Bling" to the instrument.
Tony F.
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2018-10-13 18:58
There are technicians who can replace the keys that have holes in them with solid keys. I have a very arthritic old right thumb that sometimes just doesn't do a good job at covering the entire hole, resulting in a very poor tone or none at all. I am going to have the ring on that tone hole replaced with a solid piece so there will be no more air leaks. Lohff & Pfeiffer can do that for you. They can be reached at info@lpwindsusa.com Their website is www.ipwindsusa.co Their work is not cheap, but it is excellent.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2018-10-14 20:07
Make sure that your Clarinet keys aren't slippery from finger oil.
Take an Alcohol Swab like the Doctors give a shot with and rub the keys with it making sure not to hit the wood. That will remove any finger oils that are left after using a cloth to remove general smudges and debris. Don't do it often, but it will make a HUGE difference of grip feel
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: djschwartz ★2017
Date: 2018-10-14 22:02
My LH little finger tends to slip off the keys (less when I clean the keys with an alcohol pad, but again after playing a while). Rather than a glove, I find a finger cot on that finger works perfectly while retaining my tactile sense on the keys. For one or two fingers, I find them way more comfortable than a glove. They come powder free, latex or nitrile (latex-free), sm-med-lg-xlg and inexpensive on that site or a local pharmacy.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2018-10-15 00:08
Some interesting suggestions there.
I have a large stock of thin rubber gloves remaining from my days as an instrument repairer, so will try the effect of wearing the gloves and also of perhaps snipping the finger bits off and just using those.
Incidentally a long time ago I built up the RH pinky F#/C# and E/B and LH F/C touch pieces on my Leblanc LLs which resulted in much less slipping off those keys and also ergonomically made the whole RH cluster much more user friendly.
Only yesterday I did the same thing to my Bass clarinet.
I borrowed the concept from Swenk and Seggelke when I was working on some of their reform boehm instruments. There is absolutely no reason why the lower F#/C# and E/B keys should be shaped the way they are on 99.99% of clarinets. In 60 odd years of playing I have never yet found a need to slide across them.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2018-10-15 00:28
To go about this from a different angle...
I have also noticed (at 71 years old) the same tendency for my 1st and 3rd fingers to pull toward each other, and the small leaks that result have seemed to be a much greater threat to my playing ability than embouchure failure. But the fact is that I never had a problem with this when I was younger, my fingers haven't become shorter, and I don't feel pain in them that would suggest worsening arthritis. So, I've started actively working on hand-stretching exercises to try to regain the finger range that I simply took for granted when I was younger. I've incorporated spreading my fingers into a couple of mat exercises (e.g. planks, back stretches on all fours) in which my hands normally press into the mat, and I've started to stretch each pair of fingers (using fingers on the other hand to push them apart) sometimes when I'm not doing anything else.
I haven't been at it long enough to know for sure if it's doing any good, but I don't think it can do any harm, and if it does end up helping, I think it beats plateaus.
Karl
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