Don't let water in your clarinet tone holes ruin another performance!

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Clarinet tone holes full of water has ruined many performances. Don't let it happen to you! Learn how to avoid the dreaded gurgle in your sound
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[@whoitisnot]

"Ruined by the fact that I got water in my a-hole" 🤣 (feel frree to delete)

[@mikesaxclar]

I also would add, don't lay the instrument in your lap as it's going to direct the water into the tone holes.

[@CindyBartz]

Another trick is at the beginning of your practice, after playing 5-10 mins, swab out 2 -3 times. Not sure why this works but there's never an issue throughout the rest of rehearsal, concert, etc.

[@clarinetninja]

Yes! The preemptive swab:) swabbing early and often is key

[@caroleneary7935]

During the first part of your playing the instrument is much cooler than your warm breath, and that is what causes condensation (water drops) to cling to the inside of your instrument. As you play, the instrument warms up so less condensation forms.

[@mozarte]

Yamaha do have a cleaning paper for water blobs. I would use that or the BG drying pad for tone holes. But not the powder paper. Cause it will leave powder mixed with saliva residue in the long time. And causing sticky pad.

[@ilanmetoudi]

Thanks for the great advice!🙂

[@johnkotches8320]

You mentioned using Yamaha Powdered paper. I have found that the pad cleaning paper (with no powder) is effective for cleaning. For water in the toneholes I use Key Leaves' Spit Sponges. Quiet and much less instrusive.
While I sometimes get water in the A key tonehole, I mainly get it in the Eb/Bb pad/tonehole between LH 1+2 and the lower Bb/F pad between RH 1+2.
I do agree with someone who said that if it's becoming a more continuous problem that it might be time to oil the bore. I generally do twice a year in Colorado, Fall and Spring as the winters are quite dry.

[@bonniem.pederson7105]

I knows there was a better need for Grandpa's cig papers👍👋😃

[@Linkchu]

I've heard someone say that this happens more with a clarinet that hasn't been oiled in a while as the water tends to get stuck more within the instrument. Not sure if that is true though

[@clarinetninja]

I have heard that too…I am not confident enough about it to state it as true:)

[@mozarte]

My technician says, it will leave a saliva trail caused by the nasty things in the saliva. Like the 'cheese' on the mouthpiece if not washed for a year. 😂

[@whoitisnot]

Oh for sure. I oil my clarinets every time gurgles suddenly become a more substantial issue and it always resets things. My students report the same. It clears those paths that the moisture starts to follow. Conveniently this is maybe a couple of times a year, which is about how often I might oil them in our climate anyway. Some people also get in there with a long q-tip and "paint" around the problem holes. I haven't tried that. Just general oiling is simpler and easier.

[@paulcaruso1042]

What about a drop of bore oil down the upper joint-angled away from the pads on the right?

[@clarinetninja]

I have heard of that working, but I have never done it myself. In cases like that, I err on the side of not talking about it. I don't have any direct experience with it. I am curious to know if you have tried it and what you think of it

[@paulcaruso1042]

Just oiled the bore with a stuff it swap. Covered my pads with aluminum foil first. Solved my gurgles for now.

[@clarinetninja]

@@paulcaruso1042 great work!

[@LBRandlePhD]

At the end of a concert or practice session I have a puddle of water on the floor. Any suggestions to reduce this?

[@clarinetninja]

Yes. Swab much more frequently and earlier in your concert or practice session

[@RemunJ66]

And what about the temperature of the instrument in relation to air humidity? My advice would be to acclimatize the instrument as much as possible. Make sure you have a good suitcase if you go out into the cold.

[@clarinetninja]

My experience has mostly been that when the venue is cold there is a higher likelihood of water. I grew up in Alaska and spent a fair amount of time in the cold.
Without a heat source, the inside of every case gets pretty cold with not much heat to insulate inside. The main issue with a cold instrument is allowing it to get to room temperature before playing it so that there is less of a chance of cracking.
For sure hot instrument + cold venue = more condensation.

[@RemunJ66]

​@@clarinetninja Then building a heater in your clarinet case should be a brilliant idea don't you think? 😉 I recently heard that the Gulf Stream could come to a standstill or change direction due to climate change, which might cause the mild climate here in the Netherlands to change to a colder climate. Good for a possible Elfstedentocht but not for my clarinet. 😌 Thanks for all the informative videos. 👌😃🎶

[@mmcreative7058]

Thanks for a good video on a largely ignored topic 👍

[@TheTabwinner]

Spit Sponge by Key Leaves

[@user-ri9hk9mv6z]

That water do be bad

[@clarinetninja]

well said

[@manmi5856]

What works muuch better than cigarette paper is plain old kitchen roll paper

[@clarinetninja]

I can imagine how effective that would be. My logistical concern would be how thick it is and the speed in which one needs to use it and how I would manage carrying it in my case