 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: KevinS
Date: 2001-07-28 03:55
Hi all,
I know we covered this before, but I would like to make an observation:
I live in Las Vegas. Relative humidity here is around 12 - 20 percent most of the year. Needless to say, I have to keep humidifiers in all my cases. I just acquired a pair of mid 1970's R-13s from a music dealer in British Columbia. As soon as they arrived, I put a humidifier in the case. (like the one MW describes as a homemade humidifier)
Within 1 week, all the tenon rings and the bell ring were very loose, falling off in fact! The keywork on my Bb started to bind because the wood was contracting. I put another humidifier in the case another week elapsed, with regular practice of about 2hrs per day. The wood was still shrinking and making me nervous about possible cracks.
Talking with the clarinet Prof. at the University, he recommended the old orange peel trick. I was aprehensive about the possible success of this measure, due to previous posts, and having the two humidifiers with no effect. I expected the inevitable cracks that would invade my horns. I decided to give the peels a try, putting the peels from 1 orange in my double attache case.
Within 8 hours, the rings fit tightly and the key mechanisms began to function correctly. The orange peels were dry as a bone, but it looks like they saved my horns!
Any ideas why the humidifiers failed and the orange peels worked?
TIA,
Kevin
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-28 15:59
... because, for whatever reason, they were not putting any _moisture_ out.
While I have no way of knowing what "humidity conditions' your acquired clarinets came from, they were obviously now in a place where humidity IS a problem. I have (the luxury of) a room which is dedicated for storage & practice. I strive to keep a constant humidity at around 42-45%. I take readings w/a digital gauge that I check once or twice a year.
My homemade humidifiers work quite well. In fact, I like to place them "just so", so that they do NOT leak when just sitting there in there case, stored. I mention that beacuse my little humidifiers have a fair amount of water stored in them, held by a sponge. I am not high on orange peel, sorry.
Where rings are loose, particularly Bell rings, a few hours would be too quick for me. I like to bring the humidity up gradually. Say a week. During that time, I check the clarinet daily and note changes in the wood, re: absorption of h2o.
How bad is the case that these recently acquired clarinets are housed in? Are they so old, that the "wind" shoots right through them? The clarinet when housed in its case, should be a somewhat "closed environment".
Best,
mw
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Author: KevinS
Date: 2001-07-28 17:50
Hey Mark,
Thanks for the reply. During the 2 week period I described, I had to fill the humidifiers in the cases about every 3 days. All the cases are in good condition, and I usually don't have problems with wood shrinkage to the extent that I describe here. Your DIY humidifiers work great, I think this was just an extreme case of dehydration. The horns came from the Seattle area, close to the ocean. i would assume a high level of humidity.
Anyway, I was just looking for some clue as to why the peels worked and usual methods didn't.
BTW, the Orange Peels give the case a funky smell too. I hope the humidifiers will work from this point forward.
Thanks,
Kevin
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-28 18:36
A water-soaked, wadded-up paper, Bounty-type Kitchen Towel placed inside a sandwich-size Baggie works as an EXTREMELY quick fix.
I use this ONLY on older instruments in "poor state" re: wood shrinkage. ex: where I don't want to shim a barrel ring with very thich paper, for fear of later expansion of wood. Grapefruits work better than orange, I prefer to stay away from FOOD or substances which decay. In any event, I check the case often.
To me, the Baggie beats the heck out of those rubber dampits (lil green snakes) that contact the wood. They don't hold water worth a hoot, IMO.
I still don't see how your wood was still contracting _AFTER_ you placed the homemade humidifier inside. Either you misdiagnosed the continued shrinkage, had a really bad leaky case, or weren't using enough water. If you didn't contain the shrinkage then, I fail to see how you are doing it now?
Best,
mw
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-28 22:39
Reviewing my thought process .... I did not factor in 2 Clarinets, eg. it was a double case of R-13's, right? Any severe changes in your Nevada weather during that week?
How much Orange Peel did you place in the case? Small piece or the whole orange?
Let us know if you figure anytthing else out.
Best,
mw
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Author: KevinS
Date: 2001-07-29 02:35
I checked the weather.
The week the clarinets arrived, relative humidity was at a higher 30 to 50%, temps were in the low 80's to mid 90s. Following week, humidity at 12%, temps in the 110 to 115 degree range. Relying on AC to keep the house at a somewhat bearable 80 degrees.
I have to assume that this rapid change caused the wood to contract at a rate greater than the humidifiers could provide humidity.
When I put the peels in, it was actually the peel of 1 orange for each clarinet. My guess, based on MW's post is that this would be extreme. The humidifiers seem to be taking care of the situation now, maybe the humidity inside the case has stabilized enough for now. I'll still be keeping an eye on the horn to be sure,
Thanks,
Kevin
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-07-29 02:58
ok ..... NOW ... that makes all the sense in the world.
Kevin, I don't know what your housing situation is. BUT, I would find a 10' X 15' room if I could & I would buy a humidifier at a place like Sears. I use the Kenmore double tank --- holds about 1+ gallons on each side. I can get it to run for 36 hours when the weather in Oklahoma reduces humidity to 10% or so.
[[ the biggest cost of trunning a humidifier is the cost of the filters ]]
I think our weather patterns, unfortunatelym are similar in many ways. We are having a thusnderstorm much rain right now. Haven't had a drop so to speaks in a month or more. Termperature of 105 to 110 is far from unusual, its the norm at 5:00pm the highpoint of our day temperature wise in Oklahoma.
Be careful of placing to much moisture inside a case ... you'll start growing something on the pads. Its an extreme reaction to an extreme environment.
Sounds like you have an excellent handle on it.
Best,
mw
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Author: Wes
Date: 2001-07-29 04:44
Good luck on your clarinets. Humidity in Southern California has been 75 to 80% all the time this summer where I live. It doesn't affect my clarinet but I have to dry out oboe reeds so that they won't be too stiff, unbalanced, and unstable. We have different problems but we have to pay attention and measure the RH.
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