Author: Bobo
Date: 2008-11-17 00:33
cj, here's my concept of it:
the problem with buying at the beginning of the winter is that the oboe can become excessively dry and then rapidly absorbs the moisture from playing into the wood, so the variable stresses are much higher than when you're playing on a less dried out, less absorptive piece of wood (you should still swab regularly). the key to preventing cracks is avoiding this dramatic swelling, since the wood inside the oboe gets the water, which exaggerates the differential with the outside wood, causing the stress (compounded by the effect of dramatic temperature changes from going in and out of doors).
that's the logic behind nora post's excellent advice on oiling the bore, which is also why i like to oil around now, when i can actually see how dry the wood in the bore of my bell gets (sort of grays and loses its sheen):
Quote:
Here's the raison dêtre of it all: the oil will help prevent moisture/water from expanding the inner bore. Cracks in the top joint are the result of the bore getting wet and expanding, while the outside remains as it was. The wood's reaction to this stress is a crack, and this is why so many new instruments crack where all that moisture condenses in the upper joint. The second point is playing every other day. The bore of a wooden instrument does not dry out completely in one day. It takes two days. Therefore, if you let it dry completely before playing it again, potential cracks have a chance to close up. If the instrument is played every day, the bore never really dries out, and cracks are more likely to occur.
from Nora Post's website:
http://www.norapost.com/instructions.html
Post Edited (2008-11-17 13:22)
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
