 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dave
Date: 1999-06-22 18:11
This is a topic I'm sure has been discussed before but I need some advice. I just purchased a used (but appears new -still wrapped in plastic -perhaps demo) Yamaha wood clarinet and need information on the break-in period. What special precautions should I take to avoid cracking? This is my first wood instrument. I think there was some controversy over the use of dampits.
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Author: Jennifer
Date: 1999-06-22 21:38
I also was wondering the same sort of thing, but if there is anything different with a bass clarinet ;-)
jennifer
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Author: mike
Date: 1999-06-22 23:13
new used wood instruments should be broke in....recommended
5 min a day for a week (not more..)then increase to 10 min a day... then up to 15min and so on untill you have the time frame you are looking for....if it has been stored for a wwhile.... you will need to start over again.....ensure that the humidity and temp are fairly stable.....
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Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 1999-06-23 10:54
mike wrote:
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new used wood instruments should be broke in....recommended
5 min a day for a week (not more..)
Mike-
Your claim is so unreasonable I don't believe you. It sounds like the kind of ridiculous claim a company might make in order to avoid paying for normal warrantee repairs, since virtually no one would adhere to such a schedule.
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm">MMB</A>
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Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 1999-06-23 14:00
As one of the many engineers who frequent this board, I am curious about why breaking an instrument in is necessary, if it is. What, physically, is happening? (By the way, when I got my new bass clarinet early this year, I didn't follow any break-in schedule. No problems so far.)
--Don
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-06-23 16:58
For what it's worth, the WW/BW catalog has a big chunk of a page dedicated to breaking in wooden instruments, especially oboes. They had a very conservative break-in schedule, along the lines of what was listed in the posting above.
Many of us know the risk we take with varying the temperature and humidity too much on a wood horn. The greater the difference between the horn's temperature/humidity and the existing atmospheric conditions, the greater the risk of a catostrophic crack.
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Author: Rich C
Date: 1999-06-23 23:06
I'm not sure if you really "break in" an instrument, but you DO have to get used to the feel of it...I had to adjust when I bought my new wooden Yamaha. Nothing phsycially changed, but after some spending some time with it and getting the feel of it, it seemed to play more naturally than when I just bought it. The best way to get the feel of it is to simply practice on it a little bit each day.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-06-24 00:44
Fred McKenzie wrote:
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Your claim is so unreasonable I don't believe you. It sounds like the kind of ridiculous claim a company might make in order to avoid paying for normal warrantee repairs, since virtually no one would adhere to such a schedule.
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Fred,
going on memory here, I think Mr. Kloc of Buffet recommended 5 minutes the first day, 10 the second, etc. until you were up to your regular schedule. Now, the warrantee said nothing about this; it was his recommendation only. He felt (from experience only, no empirics to back it up) that the clarinet would be less likely to crack _and_ that it sounded better after being broken in this way - _possibly_ something to do with humidity acclimatization and saliva blocking the pores. No scientific survey has been taken - it's his feeling only. I have no idea, except that if I got a new instrument I'd probably do something like this since it couldn't hurt, and might help.
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