 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: iboice
Date: 2011-12-26 12:31
Hi,I'm a beginner. I got a problem that bugs me. There is always liquid,which i believed it is saliva,leaking out of my clarinet. This happens 30 minutes or so after i started playing. I believed it is because of my tonguing. I did a small experiment on whether those liquid are saliva or condensed water.
I used the barrel and the mouthpiece only. I blew air into it for around 10 minutes and check whether there is any droplets formed on the inner part. There isn't any droplets formed. However,when i tongue in quavers,triplets and semiquavers for a while,surprisingly,there are a lot of droplets formed. I continued tonguing and soon,the water started to flow down,making a stream. Can someone help me solve this problem? Is it because i tongue too hard or what? Even when it doesn't leak,there will be gurgle sound which sounds really ugly,especially when i am playing soft.
Thankyou!
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Author: miclew
Date: 2011-12-26 12:47
It is a combination of both. The air you blow out into the clarinet is very warm and humid. The clarinet itself is much cooler so the moisture in your breath condenses on the inside. The action of moving your tongue up and down produces more saliva (you body thinks you are eating!) So it is a double whammy Just swab out your clarinet from time to time while practicing.
michele
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-12-26 12:52
If you're only playing on just the mouthpiece and barrel, you'll be holding onto the barrel and the heat from your hand transferred to the barrel will warm it up enough to reduce the amount of condensation forming in it.
As you're playing the instrument normally, you're not holding onto the barrel but only making contact at certain points - toneholes and the lower joint under the thumbrest. Now if you check inside after you've been playing for a few minutes, you'll notice the areas (patches in the bore) where your fingers are in contact are the ones with the least condensation on them - they're around the toneholes and where your right thumb is supporting the instrument.
Best thing to do is rinse your mouth out with water before playing. You will learn in time to control the amount of saliva accumulating in your mouth while playing. If after playing and you haven't wiped your sockets dry, you'll probably find the next time you assemble your clarinet (the next day after putting it away for the night) there'll be a dried film or deposits in the sockets if any saliva is running down the bore.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: huda
Date: 2011-12-26 14:49
regardless of what its from, thats fact- clarinets, saxes, and a bunch of others have condensed whatever caught in the horn. just ignore it, ang clean it out after each use.simple.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2011-12-26 15:24
Pull a swab through every 10 minutes.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: iboice
Date: 2011-12-31 08:52
Thanks for all your advices! I do swap time to time but what happen during a performance or a competition? I can't swap during them so i really need a solution for this :(
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-12-31 13:33
Some music might not have enough long rests for swabbing out, but I've often seen professional clarinet players swab during concerts. I've seen both orchestra clarinetists and soloists do that. Swabbing during a performance is not considered unprofessional. It's inconvenient, but a lot less inconvenient than water in the tone holes.
To avoid the reed getting off-kilter when you're in a hurry, leave the mouthpiece on the barrel and take them both off together by gripping only the barrel. After swabbing the rest of the instrument, mop out the inside of the barrel from the bottom, before putting it and the mouthpiece back on the clarinet, once again by gripping only the barrel.
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: alanporter
Date: 2011-12-31 19:54
I have a cane, a little longer than the clarinet and with a lengthwise slit in the end. I put a piece of chamois in the slit and swab out the horn from the bell end. No need to disturb the mouthpiece. I use a normal swab in the usual way after the session has ended.
tiaroa@shaw.ca
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2012-01-01 17:59
alanporter wrote:
> I have a cane, a little longer than the clarinet and with a
> lengthwise slit in the end. I put a piece of chamois in the
> slit and swab out the horn from the bell end. No need to
> disturb the mouthpiece. I use a normal swab in the usual way
> after the session has ended.
>
Great suggestion! ![[up]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley24.gif) One can do the same thing with a universal gun (rifle) cleaning kit for less than $10 (WalMart or Sporting Goods Store). It will have a long rod (in 2-3 detachable sections) with handle, plastic eye attachment (to thread a swab), some small cloth swabs, and a series of different sized "mops". (Or you can pay a lot more for a "clarinet" one, with less attachments, but which looks very much like the same thing.) This also comes in handy for oiling the bore. When using this set up one must take care not to scratch the bore, so if the attachments have any metal tips or sharp edges they should be wrapped in masking tape for padding. Another thing that occurs to me is that to avoid pushing the rod through the reed mark the desired maximum depth on the handle with a piece of tape.
Of course this procedure needs to be tested at home before attempting it during a concert. A too large piece of cloth would get stuck when attempting to pull it out. ![[mad]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie9.gif) [Alan, what size cloth works for you?] For testing purposes try it with the full length of rod, without barrel or mpc. Once pushed to the end (not out) of the clarinet, start pulling it back very gently and slowly. If it feels like it might get stuck, stop, push it all the way out the top end and the cloth can be removed by hand. Try smaller swabs until the right one is found.
Disclaimer: I don't get fees from Wal Mart, or any Sporting Goods store. I am not a hunter, although the deer that eat our fruit trees and graze in our vegetable garden have almost pushed me to it.
Laurie (he/him)
Post Edited (2012-01-01 17:59)
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2012-01-01 19:57
I have no connection to The Doctor other than being a very satisfied customer. He sells (as an accessory with his oiling rig) fabric squares. These are big enough that you can get good wiping of the bore, but small enough to not get stuck. The oiling rig rod is not long enough to use on an assembled instrument, but the fabric squares could be used on the end of a cane or rifle cleaning rod. The fabric is quite absorbent and, if you allowed it to dry between sessions, one square could be used for some time together with careful swabbing at the end of the session (The Doctor also sells a great silk swab). You could buy them as needed (they come in packs of multiples) or use your first purchase to get a pattern (size) to use in cutting up an old t-shirt. Whatever method you use, minimize the chance of your swab getting stuck by not reversing direction while any portion of the swab is over the speaker tube or the left thumb F/C tube in the bore. Basically, you would be looking at a flute cleaning rod on steroids.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2012-01-01 20:32
Some people salivate more than others. Some really good suggestions here.
When I remove the mp/bbl combo I tap the open bbl. end on my thigh to move some of the condensate downward.
Now I'm envisioning a conventional Bb clarinet "stand" with a longer peg and some absorbent cloth wrapped around it. With a length just short of allowing the stick to hit the register tube. And a short "mouse" inserts into the top down to the register tube.
Bob Draznik
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-01-01 23:20
Since the original poster writes he/she is a beginner, then the problem might exactly be this - being a beginner. When I started, having a piece of plastic and bamboo in my mouth was quite a new concept for me, and accordingly I started salivating immediately. Over time I got used to the foreign blob of material and only when tonguing I got a watery mouth. Within three months my snout finally got the hang of it and ceased all pre-meal preparations.
Hint: Do not imagine biting into a lemon while playing. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
--
Ben
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Author: iboice
Date: 2012-01-12 12:10
Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate it (: When i plays,there will be white foams formed on the end of the barrel. I guess it is the saliva right? & i think the problem is getting worse :/
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Author: AC0FC
Date: 2012-01-12 15:56
I also believe it is a "beginner" thing. (Beginner not referring to the quality of play) The body reacts to situations in a predictable manner and will "learn" new responses.
Put something in your mouth - the body thinks it's being fed and responds. Thank ol' Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and his dogs for identifying responses like that.
After a while the body will learn that it doesn't need to prepare for a meal when you start playing and things will normalize. The drip will never completly go away, because if the moist breath condensing on the inside of the horn and a bit of moisture from the tip of the tongue being propeled past the reed, but there won't be a flood.
BTW, it isn't just us woodwinds that have this problem. Many brass instruments have little "spit valves" and others, like french horns, rotate their horns to dump it out.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-01-12 16:03
This has been answered many times on the board, some agree, some don't. I have the same problem, good experiment by the way. I have to swab constantly while some of my colleagues don't. And I agree, it happens more when I'm tonguing a lot. Just swab out often as suggested and don't worry about it. I don't think you can do anything about it. ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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