Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Hi guys (girls)Want to know the right way to care for your clarinet? :)Steps1.Remove the reed after playing and store it in a reed case to dry. Put the rest of the clarinet in a safe place. Don't stand it on end, unless you have a clarinet stand (It holds your clarinet upright, and can usually be folded and stored in the bell), since it can fall over. 2.Use your polishing cloth to wipe fingerprints off the ligature and keywork. Then, carefully place the cloth back in your case. Don't use any kind of metal polish (unless the clarinet is all metal, ie: silver) or other substance on your instrument , except for key oil. Key oil makes the keys move more easily. 3.Pick up the clarinet and take the mouthpiece off. Drop the swab into the top of the barrel joint. Wait for it to come out the bell and gently pull the swab through the clarinet. You may have to do this several times. Take the pieces apart and dry the tenons (these are the places where the joints of the horn fit together.) Then, fold the swab and store it in your clarinet case.4.Get out some cork grease. Grease the corks by rubbing cork grease on them with your fingers. Cork grease comes in many different forms, but the most common looks like lip balm. However, lip balm is not an appropriate substitue for cork grease, and cork grease can be poisonous if ingested, so do not confuse the two. You don't need to do this EACH time you take your clarinet apart, or even very often, as too much cork grease will weaken the corks and make them prone to breaking apart. Just examine your corks regularly and apply cork grease as needed depending upon the dryness or wear in the cork. You may need to grease them more often in the dry winter months. 5.Take out your cleaning cloth and polish the keys to remove fingerprints and grime. Then you may, if necessary, take out your dusting stick. Dusting sticks are long, twisted, thin, wire, with a small, broom-like thing at one end, and a little thing that looks like a tooth cleaner at the other end. Gently clean between and under the keys with the mouthpiece-brush end, and brush the dust off with the broom end. Pay close attention to the tone holes that your fingers cover as they often collect gunk and grime from your fingers. You may wish to polish the instrument again after doing this. This would also be a good time to oil the keys, if necessary. 6.Place the mouthpiece cap over the mouthpiece, then store the clarinet in its case. Put the case in a safe place. Well hey! We've been playing the clarinet for months now. Who doesn't know these? Haha.
Here are some tips on how to take care of your clarinet :
It's a good idea to soak the mouthpiece in luke-warm/room temperature water every once in a while, and occasionally to use a cleaning solution to dissolve calcium deposits.
You don't always have to grease the corks. If you do, they will rot and you will have to replace them.
Regular polishing, swabbing, dusting, and oiling will make your instrument last longer, but obsessive polishing and dusting will wear down the finish on your keywork.***** Do not leave the reed on the mouthpiece. Removing the reed may seem like a waste of time, but if you don't let it dry after each use, it will get really gross and possibly stick to the mouthpiece. Who wants to deal with that? YUCK D:
FOR THE JUNIORS :It's better to know now than to embarrass yourself later on! Hee :DPrepare the reed. Place the base or stock (the back, unsliced half) of the reed into 1/2 to 1 inch of water. The capillary action of the reed will pull water from the base to the tip, despite gravity. As the water reaches the middle of the reed, where the slice begins, take the reed out and quickly wet the end into which you blow. You should experiment with how saturated you let the reed get, and see what produces the best resonance for you. (Two minutes before band practice starts is not the best time for this experiment.) While the reed is soaking, you can complete the other steps.
Grease the corks if they seem dry. Most of the time, cork grease comes in a tube that looks like lip balm. You could probably use it on your lips, (Don't! It's petrol; it's highly poisonous!) but that would neither feel nor taste terribly pleasant, nor would it do much for the reed (or your love life, for that matter).
Remove the upper and lower sections from the case. Holding the upper section in your right hand and the lower section in your left, press down on the tone hole rings on the upper section.
Use a gentle pushing and twisting motion to attach the two sections, aligning the bridge keys, press on the tone hole rings of the Upper section and hold the bottom of the Lower section, so you don't bend any keys.
Holding the LOWER section, Continue the same pushing and twisting motion as you attach the bell to the bottom of the lower section.
Gently attach the mouthpiece to the barrel. Make sure that the hole is facing the back of the clarinet, not the front!
Attach the mouthpiece and barrel to the Upper section.
Put the reed against the mouthpiece- the side with the hole. Do not tap the top of the reed and try not to touch the front of the reed because the pores will get dirty and not play as well. Look at the side of the mouthpiece for reed placement. Line the tip of the reed vertically equal to the tip of the mouthpiece. You should ideally try to see a fingernail width of mouthpiece above the reed. Hold the reed in place with your finger and play. Move it around a little. Different reeds have different "sweet spots". Perfect alignment with the table (hole) in the mouthpiece is not always best.
Place the ligature (metal or fabric band that holds reed in place) over the top of the mouthpiece, being careful not to chip your reed. Tighten the ligature over the middle of the base, the back, unsliced half, of the reed. (There should be two lines or sets of lines engraved on your mouthpiece, line it up evenly between these.) If you have a metal ligature, the screws go on the same side as the reed. If you have a leather one, the screw goes on the back with leather against the base of the reed. Do not over tighten for fear of breaking the ligature, leave it a little loose for best vibration, it's a matter of feel and practise to get it just right.
Keep your clarinet well polished by using a soft cloth and rubbing it gently. Never use any type of metal polish or liquid on the instrument! It will ruin it.
**** Remember to swab your clarinet after every use. This is especially important for wooden clarinets.
9:30 PM
- SJC Clarinetist :)
