My Clarinet is Blown Out - what and how does it get Blown Out ?

Why and How does a Clarinet get Blown Out.
A review of all the technical issues that can create a blown out clarinet. Should you get a complete mechanical refurbishment or get a new clarinet?
00:11 Welcome
00:19 What is Blown Out
00:36 What can Change
01:06 Bladder Pads
01:38 Leather Pads
01:49 Cork Pads
02:13 Any Leak Issues
02:42 Sloppy Keywork
03:17 Older Clarinets
04:47 Stranger Things
05:45 Reason for Blown Out
05:51 Old vs New
06:02 High Quality Work
06:51 Setup Issues
07:14 Register pip
07:31 Intonation and Response
07:37 Opinions
07:55 New Clarinet Advantages
08:26 Your Opinions

[@billducker7404]

Thank you and Stephen for your great videos. I appreciate someone who goes into such detail
Who plays the Mozart at the beginning of your videos - thank you and God bless you - Bill - UK

[@scottishwildcat6485]

Fantastic.... just used this technique with the razor blades to free up a wooden mouthpiece frozen lo these many years on an 1860-1880 Besson Albert system C clarinet.

[@gottalovetheknowledge4749]

I show that technique here too ==> th-cam.com/video/sX1sGAcJ3Hc/w-d-xo.html

[@fotojasoriano]

Muchas gracias; Da gusto ver tus videos tan bien explicados.

[@RatPfink66]

I always believed blowout was a psychic phenomenon, but a powerful one. If new pads often fix it, as you say, that suggests its not intrinsic to the instrument...unless/until the chimneys become porous and bleed air. And that doesn't always happen, even on very old instruments. I play 1930s/40s clarinets and they have held their sound beautifully during the time I've owned them.
Years ago, when clarinet tone wasn't so standardized as now, there wasn't so much talk of blowout. So maybe it just affects the ease of creating that exact pure, neoclassical tone. And have you ever heard of a harmony clarinet blowing out? Eb, alto, bass? I haven't either! Hmmm!

[@degriottier]

Excellent topic, rarely discussed on TH-cam; fully agree, there is always physics that should explain a "blown-out" clarinet. What about micro-cracks in the bore, due to intensive playing?

[@gottalovetheknowledge4749]

Microcracks or deep wood grain? Microcracks is something to worry about especially if it starts expanding into a tonehole. That is one thing I missed in this video. A microcrack that goes through the chimney of a tonehole, that with playing and thermal expansion opens as a microcrack and thus a micro air leak thus affecting response and tonality. Normally this occurs about 10 minutes into playing, and then when cools can disappear until 10 more minutes of continually playing. Thus the reason and instrument can "come and go" in problems.

[@degriottier]

@@gottalovetheknowledge4749 Correct, regarding the bore, it is probably not micro-cracks, but I had the impression that clarinets that have been played a lot had a surface condition modification, showing indeed more deep wood grain. It is difficult to compare though, not having see the clarinet when it was new... But I was wondering if bore surface condition could affect sound (in te same way many mouthpiece refacers affirm that baffle surface roughness and texture change the sound of a mouthpiece used intensely).

[@gottalovetheknowledge4749]

When you play one introduces breathe and water to the bore. This water displaces oil in the wood. This can lead to the wood shrinking a bit causes surface texture changes. Swabbing also very slightly (especially when done a lot) can "polish" and remove very micro surface layers over years of swabbing. Oiling is important to prevent water absorption in to the wood especially in the barrel and barrel sockets and upper part of the upper bore. I mention this elsewhere. th-cam.com/video/tt5pMrCklIU/w-d-xo.html

[@gottalovetheknowledge4749]

And in regards to texture. Yes I believe texture can surface affect tone. I have a video coming in regards to that. I'll be mentioning past tests and instruments such as Cannonball's original Big Bell Global Series that came with 2 necks, one had the internals all roughened up. This lead me to experiment myself back then. I noticed my Selmer sax necks all had texture in them, and cheaper water forms necks were all smooth. So I took a smooth internal neck and roughened it up ... but I need to redo that test and also redo it with barrels. Plastic mpcs tend to be nice and shiny too. This all in regards to high down to low frequencies of sound and how those bounce around or are absorbed by texture or material buildup.

[@boomsplotion]

Any comments, I need help, so im a beginner 6th grader clarinet player I just started in August. So my clarinet is super hard to blow to make high notes like "A" and it's no noise comes out from the note "D" and all the way to a low "G" , is there anyway to fix it?

[@gottalovetheknowledge4749]

It is best to give it to a Clarinet Technician or at least initially to a teacher to evaluate. There are so many possible issues from if you bought it new or used, high quality vs low quality to your techniques/knowledge as a player. One cannot really diagnose issues over the internet.

[@boomsplotion]

@@gottalovetheknowledge4749 ok thanks, will do!