Author: jhoyla
Date: 2010-07-02 06:33
There was an article, a while back. I believe it was an interview with one of the American makers (Covey?). He stated that the extra flexibility of the skin pads could cope with severe changes in humidity/temperature/altitude far better than cork. Nevertheless, I agree with Chris that cork is far longer lasting and can give excellent seal even a decade later, with careful regulation.
The seal test:
Dampen your finger slightly, hold the top-joint in your left hand, seal the bottom with a finger of your right hand and suck all the air out through the reed well, creating a vacuum. once you have sucked all the air out as hard as you can, seal the reed-well with one of your lips. Count seconds until the vacuum gives way (on a semi-automatic octave system, hold open the 1st octave key. It will click open once the vacuum is gone).
And the materials can, and do affect the sound greatly. An instrument repairer I once knew tried putting o-rings into the cups to see if they sealed better, but the difference in sound was too great.
J.
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
