 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: jn4jenny
Date: 2003-12-02 12:21
Cracking is very easy to explain because it's just caused by the scientific properties of water and wood. Put shortly, instruments crack because they experience sudden, radical changes in humidity levels.
When you play your instrument, you fill it up with moisture that seeps (inevitably) into the wood and expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity in the environment. This also happens, to some degree, when you move an oboe into a new climate (example: bought it in Minnesota in the winter and moved it immediately to Florida). It can even happen simply because the seasons changed. The water trapped in the instrument, depending on the humidity and temperature level, causes the wood to expand and contract. Because the top joint is the most fragile part of the entire bore, that's where cracks tend to happen.
Proper care will help will help prevent cracks, but at some point, a crack may be inevitable. Store your oboe in a lined outer case that goes around the usual case, not to keep it warm really but to keep it as close to a constant temperature as possible. If you purchased your oboe from outside your geographic area, break it in gently to the new humidity levels by playing on it for 10 minutes a day for the first week or so, then 20 minutes, and so forth until you've "broken the wood in" to your climate. Some people also like case humidifiers or using a humidifier in the room where you keep your oboe, but others claim that this gets your oboe too 'used' to being in those humidity conditions, and when you go to play the oboe in a dry auditorium for a concert--crack.
I've asked several oboe repair experts what they do for their own oboes to help prevent cracks, and they swear by using only FEATHERS to clean your oboe, not swabs. They claim it better distributes the moisture in the bore so that it can dry, even if feathers don't get out as much total moisture as a swab. Personally, I like to swab and then feather, just to be safe.
Some people also claim that using a lot of bore oil will help cracking, but again, the oboe mechanics I've spoken to say it doesn't particularly help--and that if anything, it may actually weaken the bore by softening it up.
Finally, watch out for cracks and nip them in the bud when they do happen. Make a visual scan of your oboe in good lighting before you practice. That way, nobody will know the "usual" grain lines of the oboe better than you--and you'll be able to spot a hairline coming up and be able to get it sealed or pinned before it goes all the way through the bore.
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GMac |
2003-12-02 05:59 |
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jn4jenny |
2003-12-02 12:21 |
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ChrisM |
2003-12-02 14:19 |
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Bucky Badger |
2003-12-02 21:04 |
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