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Horn problems

Author: Gerald
Date: 2002-03-30 03:47

Hello everyone,

I'd like a little advice if I can get it.

I have a rather old Leblanc Symphonie, Which I got from a very reputable person who restores instruments. The horn plays fantastic, and has the most even tune of any horn I've tried. The sound is warm, rich, and mellow, the keywork fits me quite well, and I can bend the sound around when I want to have some fun. I love this horn.

However, I have been progressively having some problems with it. I've been repairing a lot of cracks. I just repaired #4 tonght. Two initially on the bell, one on the upper joint, and tonight one on the barrel. None of these cracks were all that bad, though I did wrap carbon fiber for the one on the bell. After repair, all the cracks are invisible now. None have re-opened (keeping fingers crossed).

I was thinking perhaps the wood was dry, so I oiled it. It looked like I took 30 years off of its age! It looked practically new. But, it played differently. It got more free blowing, louder, but not quite as mellow. Anyone else had this experience?

Anyway, a couple of evenings ago, about 15 min into playing, the sound started to change. There started to be a little dissonance in the sound. Then, it started jumping registers on me. I swapped reed/mouthpiece, to no effect. Tried my other horn, and it wasn't me. I located a new small hairline crack starting on the barrel, so I thought that might be it. Swapped a barrel, so I know that wasn't the problem, or at least not the source of the dissonance and register hopping.

I have not located another crack. and I've tried pushing on the pads while it is shifted up, and not located any pad problems. Any suggestions?

Also, if anyone else has had cracking problems like this, I'd appreciate suggestions. I love this horn, and want it to stay around for decades to come. There were no cracks when I received it, and no evidence of previous crack repair. I took my time to break it in, and I keep it in a humidity controlled area.

Thanks in advance,
Gerald

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RE: Horn problems

Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-03-30 08:20

Gerald, you have almost brought tears to my eyes. Your description of the Symphonie's playing characteristics so parallels mine it is uncanny, and I have not had mine for many years. I've been looking for an instrument just like it for a long time.

Personally, I would probably want to oil the daylights out of that thing, and do it in a quick hurry. But before going off the deep end, please advise the general ambient humidity and temperature when you play, and what is it in the controlled environment where you store the Clarinet?

Also, you should do a search on sneezy for oiling, cracks, and the like to get clues from past threads of this often-discussed topic. However, your particular instrument's prob;lem sounds unique relative to comments and questions I've seen in the past.

Regards,
John

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RE: Horn problems

Author: Bob T
Date: 2002-03-30 19:13

Is there a minister who does exorcism in your neigbourhood ?

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