I enjoy asking students this question when they return to school. The response is always mixed, ranging from "I've kept up my practice" through to "I didn't get my instrument out at all".
The frequency of playing is great, because your a lot of different things remain quite fresh. Your memory, your fingers, your breath and control of it, embouchure, the instrument, and even your instrument case. This post is going to focus more on the last couple of items I just mentioned, and hopefully you can take some of these pointers on board as you get back into playing and learning for 2018.
Above is my clarinet in its current condition. No, I haven't gone into a fit of madness and ripped apart my whole instrument. This is something I get the chance to do during the holidays when I can strip the instrument right down, oil screws, oil and rejuvenate the wood of the instrument, and reconstruct for the next year of playing.
No, I'm not advocating that all students should complete deconstruct their instruments in order to maintain them. It's a great practice to learn and understand with your instrument if you're really involved with it, but we're going to look at a lot of simpler things to do to keep your instrument and case as fresh and healthy as possible.
Play your instrument
It seems really obvious, but it is a basic form of neglect that I have encountered with different students over the years. Keeping the instrument trapped in its case and not allowing the air to circulate is a great breeding ground to create mould. All it takes is for a little bit of moisture inside of your case or living in a humid climate, and if the instrument hasn't seen daylight for a few weeks the science begins. If it isn't obvious on sight, you may get a whiff of the smell!
For reed players, your reeds may develop a furry or a blackened mould if air circulation is really poor. I'm normally an advocate for throwing your reeds if this is the case, but there are some cases of using alcoholic wipes and very fine sandpaper if you can intervene soon enough and improve air circulation.
Clean your instrument immediately!
Again it should be obvious, but it is very easily missed if a student is forgetful or a bit lazy. I've had a couple of lazy moments with my saxophones where I haven't been motivated to clean them, and a little bit of deterioration has occurred. It's something I regret, but not as much as what I have seen with other students' instruments.
A pull-through cloth is all that is required to clean out the moisture/water afterwards, but make sure to take that extra little bit of time while cleaning. No moisture should be left on the interior walls. Clarinettists should always wipe out the tenon joints that connect the parts together.
For the musician that wants to keep up the shine of their instrument or keys attached, use a silver-polishing cloth or old rag/shirt to clean the finger oil after playing. That's my biggest regret with the clarinet over the years of playing.
With these first couple of basics established, we can look at further ways of keeping your instrument and case fresh.
Pull-through cloth
Above is my pull-through cloth after a year of playing. Long gone are the days when it was initially fresh white with the distinct red and blue Buffet Crampon markings, but now the permanent stain of wood grain in the cloth. After a year of hard work, a pull-through cloth deserves a bath or cycle in the washing machine to commend it for its service.
Some students use pull-throughs made of a chamois material that local shops often sell. I'm not the biggest fan of these since they can get stuck inside instruments a lot more easily, and over time can deteriorate into a fine powder or sponge that can get messy. Cloth materials that can be washed are a lot more desirable in my opinion.
If you have a silver-polishing cloth, do not put this in the washing machine. You will wash out the polishing material within the cloth, rendering it ineffective.
Instrument case
This tip I found was rather simple from my local serviceman, Geoff Speed. While the lemon disinfectant fragrance of your instrument case is quite refreshing, we don't need to wait until then to have the interior of the case freshened up or rid of potential mould growth.
Remove everything from your instrument case. The instrument, mouthpiece, reeds, pencils, pull-through cloth (that's in the washing machine, remember?), and any other little accessories. Then simply leave your instrument case open for 2-3 hours to get a zap from the sun and a fresh breeze. Just don't leave it out there if it rains. If you noticed the musty fragrance from your case beforehand, you'll notice the difference after it's had some time in the sun.
In the event of water getting into your case some way or another, drying up the excess water and leaving the case in the sun is a great way to halt any mould growth in its tracks.
Mouthpiece
This is where the sound starts, and where a lot of moisture sits when we play. Before going into the cleaning method, this is an opportunity to remind reed students that you always take your reed off after you've finished playing! Leaving the reed on is an easy way to develop a science experiment underneath the reed or in the chamber and bore of the mouthpiece. And whatever breeds inside of that mouthpiece will always go inside of your mouth when you play!
A simple mixture of warm water and chloroxylenol (Dettol) and letting the majority of the mouthpiece sit in this (tip down) is very effective. Don't get the cork at the bottom of the mouthpiece wet, and use a soft cloth material to wipe out the chamber and bore.
Don't use boiling water, since this could potentially warp the shape of the chamber of the mouthpiece. It's also a safe precaution to avoid burning yourself.
Tone holes
I've worked with some students privately or at camps who sometimes produced muffled notes as part of playing the clarinet. Upon inspecting their instrument, I would notice a brown-grime build-up inside the area of the tone hole. You could physically pick out the grime gently with a narrow screwdriver, and the difference it made on the sound produced was incredible.
All that the grime build-up is is the oil off our fingers. This can happen if it's been a hot day, or we've been active and haven't cleaned our hands before playing.
The easiest method to clean out tone holes is to have a mixture of soapy warm water, get some cotton buds to dip into this mixture and clean out those tone holes. You probably won't go through as many cotton buds as I did in the picture above, but you may notice how much grime you can collect in the process.
These basics should be sufficient to help give you a fresh start to your playing for the new year. Enjoy!
