As we come deeper into fall weather, my students and I are experiencing more water-in-the-keys issues than we did during the summer. I have addressed how the seasons changing can affect the oboe, but I haven’t directly mentioned some of the strategies that really help when you have chronic water-in-keys happening.
Why does water get trapped in keys?
The simple answer is: moisture from the air you blow into the instrument condenses inside the oboe and is more likely to stick where there is dust or debris. The holes in your instrument are most likely to accumulate dust and debris, which can then attract moisture as the instrument is played. The more dust and debris in a pad, the more it holds onto moisture and causes water problems.
Another answer: the oboe is slightly out of adjustment and not all the pads are sealing as they should. Here’s my non-repairperson understanding of this: the pads on the oboe should not only seal all the way around but in a particular firmness getting stronger the farther down the oboe the pad is. By strength I mean how strongly closed the vents are held. If there’s a leaky pad or a vent that doesn’t close strongly enough it could cause air to escape and where air goes so too does moisture.
Another answer: the angle at which the instrument is held at rest determines where the moisture inside the instrument will go. If you hold your instrument keys down even slightly, the moisture will be pulled by gravity into the tone holes.
How do I make sure the water doesn’t stay?
This is the most important part of cleaning the instrument after each time you play - getting the moisture out, to the extent that you can. When water sits under a pad or inside a tone hole, it can damage the pad and the tone hole, even of a plastic instrument where cracking isn’t a concern.
First: Swab the instrument fully. Even when I was using a feather as a swab, I would swab the instrument with a silk swab if it had water in a key.
Second: Blot under the pad with the paper.
Third: Instead of blowing the water out of the holes, plug all the holes and the bottom of the joint and suck the water out of the tone holes. (This really only works with the top joint, but has been a really effective tool to manage octave and trill key water for me!)
Fourth: Prop the affected pad slightly open with a small piece of cardboard and put it inside your case.
I think the theory behind propping keys open is that this will allow the pad AND tone hole to fully dry inside the case more effectively. It’s been a really effective method of preventing water in keys for me.
Have you tried sucking the moisture out of keys? Do you have another method I might not have tried? Comment below and let me know!
Did you find this article helpful? You can get short, weekly tips like this from me by subscribing to my free newsletter Oboe 101. Click here to subscribe!
Comments