 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: kilo
Date: 2023-07-21 22:16
No, not the Rolling Stones album but a re-occurring annoyance when I play my Royal Global Max bass. I live in a maritime climate and there are times when it's a challenge to slide off the stack keys smoothly. I haven't noticed this so much on my Model 30 (which has a smoother action to begin with). It was never a problem on the soprano clarinet and when I played saxophone I could remedy the situation by wearing thin gloves.
The Max has silver-plated keys and silver is supposed to provide a less slippery surface than nickel but if this is the case it's not very helpful in muggy weather or in the winter when I bring a cold instrument into a warm room. I've tried using unscented, dry antiperspirant on my fingers but this made them feel sort of gummy; I didn't like it. I've kept a microfiber cloth close by and tried wiping the keys down frequently; not successful. A guitar-playing friend suggested a cloth with a little lemon oil wiped over the keys; haven't tried this yet out of caution. Setting up a dehumidifier or even just a fan in my immediate vicinity isn't practical. The intricacies of clarinet fingerings rule out gloves, at least any that I've been able to find.
I don't think my hand sweat that heavily and I can't believe that I'm the only person who experiences this. Are there other players on this board who've had this problem and found a good solution? There are times when the keywork is not sticky at all and the Max is a joy to play but I can't control the atmospheric conditions in the places where I play or perform. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-07-22 17:09
Where I live we're also going about at the moment feeling like spat-out candy.
I just tried your guitar friend's suggestion of the lemon oil, and it does seem to work quite well. My Dunlop brand lemon oil carries health warnings however. No ingestion , not in eyes and wash hands after use.
I then tried rubbing a little Vaseline into the tip of my pinky and that also creates smooth slip.... although possibly too much. It might be worth trying however.
More problems of global warming ( sigh !)
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2023-07-22 17:12
PS. Lip balm strikes me as another possibility.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: smokindok
Date: 2023-07-22 20:09
kilo wrote:
> …there are times when it's a challenge to slide off
> the stack keys smoothly.
Not sure I am understanding the question, perhaps explaining the limited number of responses.
I am only familiar with stack keys referring to the upper and lower stack on a sax, which to my understanding means the inline keys for the left (upper) and right (lower) hands. The other keys being called palm keys, side trill keys, bis key, left hand table, right pinky keys… This terminology certainly can also be applied to a bass clarinet, but in general, there doesn’t seem to be much need to slide off the stack keys.
If other key slides (pinky key slides most commonly) are a problem, the tradition lubricant, particularly among oboe players is sebum, the secretion of the sebaceous glands along side of the nose. The fat molecules in sebum makes the finger tip slide easily, and quite conveniently, an easy-to-access supply is always available.
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: kilo
Date: 2023-07-22 21:30
Appreciate the replies – this morning I rooted around my shop and found a silicone cloth used for wiping down firearms. I gave up competitive shooting over twenty years ago but I remembered having this treated cloth, stored in a plastic tube. I refolded it to expose a clean surface and it worked quite well. I may look around and see if something similar is still offered.
John, I've had the same problem on other key slides but I mentioned the stack keys because of a particular piece for an upcoming performance, where sliding from low D to Eb with the right hand is the best option. The ergonomics of the Max and the other notes in the passage make the left hand D awkward, although in time I may feel differently. Thanks for the sebum suggestion – it had completely slipped my mind and would be great when playing a concert, where wiping the keys with a rag was impractical.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2023-07-25 12:45
"maritime climate" - you can't imagine how beautiful that sounds to a person who grew up by the sea (well, ok, a sound), who is now landlocked.
Elizabeth
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
