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Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ page). Below, we have tried to answer the most common questions visitors to this our Web site may have. If you find that your question is not answered on this page, please email us repairs@blowwindrepairs.com.au or call us at 07-33681106. Q:HOW OFTEN SHOULD MY INSTRUMENT BE SERVICED? click here.
Place upper joint into the palm of the left hand and wrap the fingers over the ring keys. This will lift the bridge key away from the lower joint Care of a clarinet Pull the instrument through with a good quality pull-through, preferably chamois as this dries all moisture and gently polishes the bore. Never use cigarette papers to clean sticky pads. They are surprisingly abrasive and will tear the pad skins, resulting in a very expensive repair job. Quite often the cleaning process, apart from being of therapeutic value after a hectic rehearsal, can alert the player to any problems waiting to happen i.e. Corks missing or falling off, cracks or torn pads.
1/Choose a good quality oil. We recommend either Ailsyn synthetic oil which, after much scientific research, is regarded as the best in the world, or sweet almond oil – second best.
Regular maintenance is highly recommended. It keeps the Instrument in good playing order and stops minor problems becoming major ones. How often a service is needed depends on how much use the clarinet gets, but as a rule of thumb it should be checked over once a year. If a clarinet has had a good service record it holds its value better.
Keep Your silver plating Clean 1/ Silver plating need extra care as the plating can deteriorate due to acidic perspiration. We consider the best cloths to use are microfibre cloths made by the Selvyt or Altus companies. These are simply a very slightly abrasive cloth that removes any dirty marks on the clarinet keys although they sometimes require a little moisture (breath) to remove some marks. These cloths will not remove Black/brown tarnish. This should be removed when the instrument is completely disassembled by a competent repairer with specially design polishes. Buy an Instrument Stand
Never hold the key work of a flute when assembling it. Always try to hold the flute with one hand wrapped around the barrel (where the flute brand name is), and the other around the lower end of the foot joint, avoiding all contact with the keys. Take care that you do not get the instrument out of its case by pulling on the key work. Insert the headjoint into the barrel using a careful ‘twist and punch’ action, making sure that the body and headjoint are held in a straight line to avoid ‘rounding off’ the tenon. Then, holding the body of the flute around the barrel, put the footjoint into the palm of the other hand with the thumb on the E flat key. Do not press on the C, C# or D# touchpieces as they have no support and will bend. Holding the parts in a straight line with each other, ‘push and twist’ as you did with the headjoint. If you don’t put them together in a straight line you will ‘round off’ the tenon and your footjoint will become loose. Care of the Flute Avoid leaving cleaning cloths and rods inside the flute body as this will keep the inside of the flute moist and cause the pads to go mouldy. Case covers are a good place to keep cleaning cloths. Never oil the mechanism on your flute. The oils used are of a special type and it needs to be applied in the correct amounts in the correct places. Over-oiling and incorrect oiling can cause disasters
The headcork assembly seals the headjoint. To check its position, carefully insert the end of your cleaning rod, the end you don’t put the cloth through, as far as it will go. The groove on the cleaning rod should be in the centre of embouchure hole. If it is not then the assembly needs to be moved, either by your teacher or repairer. If the head cork moves freely, then the cork needs replacing immediately, as air will escape at the walls of the headjoint.
We recommend that all musical instruments are insured. Many instruments will be covered by a standard household contents policy but always make sure there is adequate cover for the instrument at school or on trips. Always insure your instrument for the replacement as new value, not its current second hand value. We are happy to advise upon or arrange comprehensive insurance if required.
Place upper joint into the palm of the left hand and wrap the fingers over the key cups. Keep the tenon corks clean and well greased with a good quality grease. Some low grade greases do not permeate the cork and therefore smear off then the joints are assembled. Other greases permeate the cork, but over time destroy the glue holding the tenon cork.
Brass Instruments - What's on the surface? Brass
The dilemma of relacquering an Instrument Bare Brass exposed to the environment will eventually corrode away to nothing (over a long period, as the copper leaches out into the atmosphere), so it is recommended that the bare brass be protected in some way, however, when an instrument needs to be relacquered, it must first be polished to a mirror finish, this includes removing all dents and scratches. Polishing in this manor reduces the thickness of the brass (keep in mind the brass is less a millimetre thick) which therefore affects the sound. There is no real answer to solving the need to relacquer an instrument against the danger of doing so! Wiping the instrument with a cotton cloth after each playing, and making sure it is kept dry will go some way to protecting the existing lacquer, However those instruments with no lacquer at all will probably start to get thinner, although maybe not considerably in your lifetime.
Our thoughts on Oiling the bore When we talk about oiling the wood this is the oiling of the bore only, mostly because the bore is the part most suseptable to the elements. Oiling the bore will also condition the Timber helping it last longer. THE TIMBER: Many different types of timbers are used in the construction of the clarinets/oboes, all of which are dark, dense and resistant to cracking. The best and most popular timber used is Grenadilla or African Blackwood, part of the Rosewood family, This is one of the densest Timbers of all, placed in a bowl of water the timber will sink. Due to it's density, stress and natural oilyness, it is very stable (won't warp) and is almost impervious to water. HOW THE WOOD CAN CRACK: The largest concern is that without oils, the grain opens and the wood tends to soak up the water during playing time. In doing so, the wood goes through a process of expansion (when moisture is in the bore) and contraction (when the bore is drying out). Changes in temperature have a similar effect causing expension and contraction of the timber! The timber movement mostly occuring in the bore of the instrument will cause the outside of the instrument to open slightly, particulary in the case of the oboe where the bore is so small in the top joint, and there are many ‘weak spots’ ie tone holes to help encourage the hairline cracks WHY THE WOOD CAN CRACK: We can only make informed decisions about what to do with our instruments based on the evidence around us. Many studies have been carried out on tone woods in the last 10 years, ranging from general environmental effects to the biological make-up of the wood. They give us many good indications of which methods are better, best or (possibly) worse. But, again, there is nothing conclusive. Most studies include recommendations but there are no complete solutions to the problem. Water (condensation) and Temperature changes are a great enemy to our wooden instruments! Many of the recommendations given in studies hinge on the fact that wood always has a small amount of moisture in it. Depending on the type of wood, the moisture content can sit at around at about 15 –20% and will vary according to the weather or the climate of its surroundings. In more humid climates, the moisture content will be greater, and in dry climates, the moisture content will be less. Most researchers now believe that there should be some moisture in the wood and that the moisture content should remain fairly constant. Oils made from petroleum products should not be used in the bore since this strips the wood of all its natural oils, and changes the natural moisture content. AVOIDING CRACKS: Some players, believe that oiling the bore changes the sound of the instrument, and they avoid doing it. Over years of seeing the results of not oiling an instrument, we firmly believe that oiling has no effect on the sound, but however it will help to protect an instrument from cracking. Keeping an instrument dry will prevent the slow soaking that can happen in areas where the water sits. A good quality Chamois cloth will dry moisture better than any other cloth. Temperature changes are also to be avoided. If, for example, you are in a extremely cold environment, and suddenly blow air down the clarinet at 37 degrees, then the timber is going to expand very quickly from the inside out. This can potentially crack the instrument. So the instrument should be allowed to sit and become acustomed to the environment before any hot air is blown into it. Likewise, leaving an instrument in a hot place (car boot) will also cause extreme expansion.
What type of case is right for my instrument? To us, this question is so simple to answer, everyone needs an instrument case that protects the instrument from any knocks or bumps on the outside, and a firm cushion to protect the parts from each other on the inside. There are so many cases around that don’t seem to offer this protection, and people are somehow taken in by soft case gig bags. As repairers we should really be recommending these types of cases, as we would then be very busy, however, ethically we need to warn people who are tempted to buy a soft case - please reconsider. There are some very fine cases that are light and very protective. |
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