 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: KayR
Date: 2001-12-05 02:22
My son's band director recommended that the clarinets cushion their thumb rests with rubber tubing. If anyone here has done this, could you advise me on what kind and diameter of tubing works best?
Thanks,
KayR
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rissa
Date: 2001-12-05 02:45
Rubber Tubing is hard.....I prefer pencil grips- they're cheap, very cushion-y, and there are a plethera of colors to choose from!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-12-05 02:58
I've put latex tubing on clarinet thumb rest for students. I don't care for tubing on the thumb rest personally. I use ultra-suede on my thumb rests. The latex can be found in most hardware stores. Also, if you know someone in the medical field you can get access to all types of surgical tubing.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: SALT
Date: 2001-12-05 04:14
I second the pencil grips. I cut off the end of a purple one and put it on my thumbrest, it's helped a lot.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2001-12-05 05:12
I much prefer foam rubber tubing for insulating the Airconditioning pipes between the compressor and the cooling coil, ext. diameter 1", int. diameter much smaller. The logo on the tube: <INDAFLEX 1/4" ID x 3/8" TK 6 x 10>. It is so cheap - you may have to buy 20 yrs supply for $4 in a standard length ( or share it with the other students). A 1cm length slips over the thumb rest. Mine is held in place by passing the post of a Buffet adjustable thumb rest through a small hole punched in one side of the tube. On my clarinet it is very stable, and because of the material, very, very comfortable. And being black, very inconspicuous. Miles ahead of pencil rests and rubber tubes.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2001-12-05 05:16
For some reason the description did not come through: INDAFLEX 1/4"ID x 3/8 TK 6x10.
Karel.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-12-05 11:36
Yes, that INDAFLEX is great stuff.
However, I believe that much of the thumb pain for some players is not because of the hardish thub rest surface, but because there is a load sideways on the thumb JOINTS. thumbs were never designed for this. Making the thumb rest thicker with padding effectively lowers the thumb rest, and I believe that for some players, including myself, this puts the thumb joints in a position to actually suffer worse.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2001-12-05 13:45
I use a piece of automobile fuel line (rubber-coated braided cord line) --- very easy to find in any auto parts store. Buy a few inches of line and cut off about 1/2" to make a thumb cushion.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Fred
Date: 2001-12-05 15:24
I use a clear Tygon-style tubing over my thumb rest and love it. Find a hardware store that carries it (sold by the foot) and find the best match to fit over the thumb rest. It's very cheap to try . . . what do you have to lose? One foot of the stuff could outfit the entire clarinet section. Come to think of it . . . it would be good for the band director to have some on hand!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: LynnB
Date: 2001-12-05 16:14
I agree with Gordon. Any thumb rest cover that adds even a slight degree of thickness, pushes my thumb too low in relation to my index finger and causes more discomfort. At least for me it's a problem.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: John Scorgie
Date: 2001-12-05 20:08
Runyon Products makes a neat little rubber thing which slips onto the typical clarinet metal thumbrest. $2 to $3 at your local music store, or order direct from the nice folks at Runyon. Very simple device but I have a hunch that a lot of careful thought went into the design.
Re the problem of thumbrest being too low, here is a recap of one of my posts on another forum:
Most modern clarinets have a metal thumbrest which is convex as felt by the thumb and which is drilled with two tiny screwholes situated crossways to the axis of the lower joint. With the proper size jeweler's screwdriver you can remove the screws, rotate the thumbrest 180 degrees (turn it upside down), and reattach the screws, thus raising the position of the thumbrest significantly. Problem is now the thumbrest is concave as felt by the thumb (i.e. painful). Solution is to attach one of the rubber rests such as the Runyon or one of the homemade variety mentioned in the above posts.
For those of us with long fingers this simple modification makes a substantial improvement in ease of finger movement and general hand comfort. I see no reason why it should not work just as well for players with smaller hands.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-12-06 09:06
That modification is OK to try but I find it very uncomfortable for the ball of my thumb which then has the bottom end of the thumb rest (and to a lesser extent the screw heads) digging into it.
Just get the thumb rest moved up by a technician if this is a good position.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: beejay
Date: 2001-12-06 18:52
Do watch it for materials made of rubber -- vulcanized materials give off vapors that tarnish silver. I'm not sure about plastic foams.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Karel Vahala
Date: 2001-12-07 02:11
Gordon, there are two separate problems here. As you say, the joint at the base of the thumb (carpo-metacarpal joint) which is affected by the height of the thumbrest, which is why I bought an adjustable rest; and the effect of pressure from the clarinet on the last segment of the thumb, which is helped by Indaflex. Two different problems with two different solutions. But fairly simple to sort out which in a particular player.
Karel.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2001-12-07 20:00
i was introduced to the Rubber tubing solution (VW fuel tube) by a student of Elsa Ludwig, using tube about twice the length of a normal thumbrest this enabled my thumb to aproach the clarinet "from behind" with greater ease (rather than from a right angle). Thus my right hand was now in a more curved shape (it's easier to curve the fingers if the oposing thumb is also slightly curved)- as if i was holding a grapefruit- which frees up my finger motions.
You can test this simply by holding your right hand out and, keeping your hand curved as though you were holding something round, moving your fingers as though you were playing the clarinet. Then, straighten out your thumb and feel how now the movement stiffens up in the fingers. In addition the longer thumb rest enables you to have two points of contact between the thumb and the clarinet- the end of the thumb is on the wood, but the actual contact with the thumb rest is about halfway along the thumb. This has the advantage of steadying the clarinet, but also has a disadvantage- it becomes slightly more work to operate the R-1 E flat/B flat key. Over the years i have known 3 really good (advanced) players who experienced pain in their right hand and wrist and found that after about 5 minutes of using this fuel tube that they were converted- their pain and discomfort was greatly reduced. One player commented that for the first time in a year she could play for half an hour without pain- and this person was doing about 4 or 5 hours practise a day..... ouch (her overall playing position could have been improved by a good teacher.... or even just one who thought about it, as oposed to "point and blow")
Of course, as many clarinet players around the world just get by with the normal thumb rest, this is also an illustration of that old clarinet fact- there is no one way to do anything.... Currently i play about 50% of the time with the fuel tube, and the rest just using the metal thumb rest (no cork or rubber or anything) but working on keeping my hand curved. The security of the longer thumbrest is great when i am performing, but it's also great to work on improving my tech without it.
donald
ps- in 1988 i nearly dropped my clarinet in a lesson when the small rubber thumb rest, and i think it was a Runyon or something like that, slipped off while i was playing. I've never trusted one since.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
