On 14 Jan 2011, at 11:31, Julia Say replied:
>> ( a while ago i remember there was some discussion of oils. . .)
>
> And then another one, and then another one. Its one of the
> recurrent topics.
It's one of those things that has no definitive answer. Almost every option has
a possible disadvantage as Dorothy Parker pointed out.:
'Résumé'
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
I haven't found the beginning of this thread so I don't know what actual use is
being proposed for the oil. Is it for use in the bore? There are historical
sources mentioning the use of bore oil (almond, I think) but these are for
flutes and recorders as I remember, where an oxidised coating (in a
comparatively large bore) will cause virtually no problem and may actually be
beneficial. The only historical treatise relevant to the present discussion is
Hotteterre's Méthode pour la Musette containing comprehensive maintenance
instructions for this smallpipe, all of which are directly applicable to NSPs.
He makes no mention of oiling either bore or key-pads. I don't think this is
likely to be an accidental omission from such comprehensive instructions. More
likely perhaps, it was thought that the oils then available then were likely to
bring more problems than benefit in a very narrow bore.
I don't know whether anyone has tried playing in an oxygen-free environment.
Nobody has yet commented on this.
Francis
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