Saliva problem

Flageolet · Post by **Flageolet** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:52 am

When I'm playing the whistle for longer than a couple of minutes I have to stop playing to swallow the saliva that accumulates in my mouth. This is really annoying because it takes just a bit longer to do that (something like a second) than when you stop to take a breath, and it breaks the music.
Is this a weird problem or does it happen to everyone?
Is there any solution to this?

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 8:05 am

Sometimes that has happened to me. It seems to mostly be when I am looking slightly downward while playing. Maybe the saliva runs down my throat when I am holding my head more straight up. If my mouth feels quite wet, I suck the saliva real hard to the back of my mouth and swallow before I start playing.

In Grey Larsen's book he mentions that one can salivate more if you are playing soon after eating I think.

This doesn't happen often to me though. I can see that if it did it would be a problem. Do you put the tip of the whistle in your mouth farther than it needs to go? Could it be starting a salivation response? I'm sure others will come along with some good suggestions.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 8:34 am

This happens to me every now and then...mostly at the worst possible time. Like when I'm nervous becaues I'm soloing a new tune at session. It's not like anyone picks up the slack for you if you screw up, when you're the only one playing!

I'm not sure what the solution is, other than drinking something with tannins, like tea..they seem to help to dry me out a bit. Though in an internet search, I found that cannibis seems to also have this effect. I wonder if you could get a "medical marijuana" perscription for that...

jb · Post by jb » Tue Apr 26, 2005 10:11 am

I have this problem too. The only solution I have found is to let it flow through the whistle and let the flute player get the blame.

Jennie · Post by **Jennie** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 11:08 am

Or you might try a whistle with a different material mouthpiece. Are you playing plastic or metal? Some materials might cause more of a salivary response in some people.

I notice more slobber if I've recently eaten or am around food.

Or maybe you've somehow developed a conditioned Pavlovian response to the sound of the whistle.

Jennie

stratochicnic · Post by **stratochicnic** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 1:40 pm

When this happens to me, usually after eating too, it usually stops after a while. But then I have the problem where if I play too long, my throat gets a bit dry

Flageolet · Post by **Flageolet** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:51 am

Jennie wrote:Or you might try a whistle with a different material mouthpiece. Are you playing plastic or metal? Some materials might cause more of a salivary response in some people.

I play Susato, so it's plastic, but I don't know how it could affect it since it's not inside my mouth. I tend to hold it just with my lips.

I have a tendency of looking downwards when I'm playing. Maybe it has something to do with that, as Cynth said. I will have to experiment then with different positions. I will let you know how it goes.

notus · Post by **notus** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:26 am

I have heard that in some species, saliva is a naturally occuring phenomenon...

(Sorry, I just woke up and found this lovely thread. Couldn't resist the oh-so-obvious.)

Hip O'Potamus · Post by **Hip O'Potamus** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 10:28 am

I rigged up an emesis basin with a harness, similar to the one's for harmonicas. I just keep my mouth relaxed and the excess saliva runs out the corners of my mouth and drips into the basin.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 10:56 am

This sounds rather similar to the so-awful-it-was-good Drool Bucket Irrigation System episode on Saturday Night Live. I saw very few of those shows, but I have never forgotten this one.

toughknot · Post by **toughknot** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:14 am

Go to the main page of this website and scroll down. Dale has kindly put together some very good info on the saliva effect. The link is there and is humorous as well as helpfull and informative. So often we overlook the wisdom of our founder

syn whistles · Post by **syn whistles** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 2:12 pm

A couple of years on with Syn whistles, I've had a couple of whistles come back for tweaking that have shown very obvious detrimental effects due to saliva. I'm coming round to the opinion that whistles should be washed quite regularly, perhaps even more thoroughly than the occasional dip into a glass of beer. That's one of the reasons for the little brass pin on syn whistles that some people have commented on. The whole head can be dismantled and cleaned properly, by you or by me, depending how confident you feel.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 3:02 pm

I started out on a Susato. I drank coffee while practicing and never cleaned out the head of the whistle. It got very gummed up in a fairly short time and you could hear that there was a problem. Luckily, it was easily taken apart and cleaned.

I now play a Burke whistle. I drip quite soapy water through the mouthpiece with a dropper bottle after every practice session (this is also supposed to serve as a surfactant [or would that be anti-surfactant?] to prevent clogging). I rinse my mouth thoroughly with water before playing and drink only water while playing. My whistle is staying as clean as a whistle. Good thing, because I don't think this head can be dismantled safely (at least by me).

I totally agree with syn whistles about the benefits of cleaning your whistle regularly.