 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-03-14 03:14
I got into an interesting conversation with one of my fellow group members in our clarinet choir where we both agreed that it was an urban myth that if you age wood that has been cut off from a young tree, it is going to crack. Regardless of whether you let the age sit for years on end. If you look at a tree's age, there are more rings in the stump, and the older it is, the more rings. so therefore if you have an older piece of wood, it is less likely to crack as it has a density that doesn't fluctuate as new woods do.
but there's always an exception to that rule, neglect etc etc.
so what do you think? will new clarinets withstand crackability?
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2008-03-14 13:04
I don't think that's an answerable question. There are too many variables we have no way of knowing about. The number of rings on the tree doesn't tell you how well-aged the wood is, because some sap does rise through a living tree's old wood, and meanwhile the new wood, growing, puts pressure on the older growth, while adding or sucking out moisture as the seasons change. For purposes of talking about lumber, ageing starts after the wood is cut: after it's dead. If the wood was cut very green and then not aged properly before being made into a clarinet, then it might shrink, warp and crack whether anybody plays the clarinet or not.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2008-03-14 15:06
"we both agreed that it was an urban myth that if you age wood that has been cut off from a young tree, it is going to crack."
It's exactly the opposite. The longer you age the wood BEFORE it is machined into becoming a clarinet the more stable the wood will be.
Never heard that urban myth.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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