Klarinet Archive - Posting 000748.txt from 2000/10

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Warping Reeds
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 13:09:26 -0400

Diane Karius says:<<When formed, saliva is neutral (or nearly so, during
resting periods) or alkaline (pH ~ 8 during a meal) due to the addition of
bicarbonate. (Ganong, Review of Medical Physiology, p. 467; 1999). The
enzyme produced by the salivary glands include lingual lipase (works on
lipids) and salivary amylase
(works on starches).

Salivary amylase breaks the alpha 1,4 linkages connecting the glucose
molecules that make up the starches (ibid, p. 448). Plant material,
particularly the cell wall, is made up of cellulose, which is glucose linked
together in a 1,4 BETA linkage. Salivary amylase CANNOT work on that and
thus will not attack that part of the reed (thus providing us with the
existence of dietary fiber)>>

So Diane...we're NOT digesting our reeds when we wet them with saliva.

All my )playing) life, I have heard that "acids and enzymes" in saliva act
negatively on our reeds.

We'll probably STILL be hearing this on the list in 20 years.

My question is, who makes up this stuff? Why do we treat it as Gospel?

I have recently cut myself loose from all this STUFF. What I do, reed-wise,
mouthpiece-wise, even repair-wise, is stuff that WORKS for me...not something
some expert told me 25 years ago!!!!

Nice to see you contributing on the list. We need your knowledge Diane!
Walter

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