Klarinet Archive - Posting 000795.txt from 1999/11

From: "Dodgshun family" <dodgshun@-----.nz>
Subj: [kl] mouthpiece slime
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 01:25:47 -0500

I was teaching this morning, and pulled off a reed to readjust it. What did
I find lurking in the mouthpiece? A lot of green and white slimy stuff. The
kid couldn't remember how long it was since he'd cleaned out his mouthpiece,
despite my telling them EVERY week that they must do it every time they
play. Mind you, this is the kid who turned up with a reed which had both
sides black with mould a couple of weeks ago! I then did a mouthpiece check
in my next class, and found another one threatening to walk away on its own!
Worse, when I pulled the clarinet apart, I found three tenon sockets which
were also growing. I cleaned a fair proportion of the muck out, and showed
the two kids the state of their cleaners afterwards.....I don't see how they
could let their instruments get to this state. I sent them home with
instructions to soak the mouthpieces in vinegar to try and get the remaining
gunk out. Does anybody know exactly what this slime/mould/fungus is? I
also had a student turn up with a new mouthpiece, because she had dropped
her old one. This is nothing too unusual, except that her (plastic)
mouthpiece hadn't broken - it had just bent the tip over. I'd never seen
anything like it before - how often will plastic mouthpieces bend rather
than break?

Anna

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