Klarinet Archive - Posting 000256.txt from 2000/02

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] mpc cleaning
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 20:57:56 -0500

On Thu, 3 Feb 2000, Hojnacki wrote:

> Im sure your mpc goes in tip 1st so the cork is out of the water !!

Actually, no, I bury the entire mpc - the cork has never suffered. I've
been doing this for about a year.

Also keep in mind that these aren't real dentures. I don't soak the thing
overnight, just for 10-15 min or so.

> How do you get rid of the white crud (eewww) that builds up on the mpc?

Like I said, denture cleanser.

> It's calcium deposits, right?

I dunno. Somehow I doubt it, unless humans secrete calcium in saliva, and
that just doesn't make sense to me.

"I'm afraid to inform you, Mr. Stevenson, after testing your samples, the
lab results show that you have....hard salvia."

> Someone told me vinegar.

That works; I used that in high school when I couldn't find lemon juice.
They both contain a fairly mild acid, which is why they're both used. I
think.

> Someone else said to clean your reeds in hydrogen pyroxide. Isn't that
> bad news for Mr. Reed?

I don't see why it would be, unless you're using an unusually high
concentrate (drug store shelf HP is usually rediculously low). Hydrogen
Peroxide is hardly an acid substance of sorts - it's simply a
disinfectant, similar to alcohol. When I'm really sick, I clean my reeds
in peroxide so that I won't STAY sick by continually infecting myself.
THe peroxide bubbles up in reaction to all the little buggers floating on
the reed, but my reed has never looked smaller upon removal from the
container, nor has its performance suffered detrimentally. Heck, I've had
people say they've extended the life of their reeds by ALWAYS cleaning it
so that the germs can't break the reed down. I don't know if that's true
- for all I know, the germs may be a part of the reed's natural break in
process.

Try it for yourself. I mean, geez, what have you got to lose? Two bucks?

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"If I wanted a 'job,' I'd have gone music ED, thank you very much!"

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