I’ve played the whistle for my own enjoyment for some 20-30 years, and throughout my career, so to say, my biggest problem has been saliva. Not breathing, not learning tunes but the water that gathers inside my mouth, and clogs the mouthpiece and makes the instrument splutter if not swallowed every now and then, in most cases awkwardly in mid-tune.
Most other whistlers seem to find this more like a minor annoyance, but for me it is by far the most pressing problem, especially if I’m leading the tunes in a session. Yet I can’t imagine I’m the only one harassed by it.
Lately I’ve got so desperate that I’ve started wondering if there are remedies, natural or otherwise, that have the effect of making your mouth dry. Anybody have any ideas, or even results from experiments?
My mouth is always dry because of medications. I did have a question. Is your mouth extra wet because the whistle is in your mouth? Would you have this same problem if you were playing a flute?
The whistle should not be “in your mouth”. The beak should rest on the lower lip. The tongue should not be involved much either.
I can understand issues with condensation but saliva isn’t something I’ve seen as a problem, especially after 20-30 years of playing. It’s been postulated that new players might need to overcome a conditioned response that produces saliva from placing an object in the mouth but I would think that to be gone after 20+ years of playing.
Is there any chance that you might play other wind instruments, like clarinet or sax?
Plus he’d probably end up with little chunks of Cheetos or Doritos plugging up the whistle instead of just saliva…
Seriously, I find that different materials stimulate different amounts of saliva in my mouth. But, as Feadoggie commented, most of the moisture I struggle with these days is condensation so warming the whistle before playing is crucial. I’ve not found that soap solutions, duponol, or even wax floss helps for very long although YMMV. Sucking back, as you’ve suggested, is the best choice. If you watch video of players in concert, you’ll see them clearing the mouthpiece between pieces and even during tunes in several ways: shaking it at the bodhran player , covering the window and blowing, and sucking back. The only one of these that can be done at speed when playing is sucking back. I do it automatically now.
I am a new whistler so I don’t speak from experience, also I can’t say I have much of a problem with saliva (so far) therefor it’s just an idea, never tested.
We all know that alcohol takes lots of water to be processed by our bodies, this is the reason why we have dry mouths (and are generally overly thirsty) the morning after a good old drinking night.
Now I’m not suggesting to get drunk before playing, although some of us might have already been down that road, but I suppose that thoroughly washing the mouth with some strong spirit (I would suggest vodka since it is neutral in taste) could be of some help in drying the mouth.
Further suggestion: buy some cheap spirit if you’re planning on spitting it out!
P.S.
Tonic water, as suggested by Flexismart, sounds very promising to me!
I indeed do have a flute of sorts – it’s made of an aluminum tube, a former table leg the chap who made it said, but it plays quite well. The same phenomenon does exist when I play the flute, but it’s not so much of a problem since I don’t have the lungs and skill to play fast tunes on the flute anyway, and with slow ones I can always find the time to swallow. So I’d say it’s not caused by sticking something into my mouth. The heads of my favourite whistles are the usual plastic anyway, and I try to keep as little of them between my lips as possible.
And the moisture I’m talking about is definitely not condensation but saliva, as it seriously floods my mouth before making it to the instrument, despite my efforts of keeping it out. Combing the net I have seen several players searching for an answer to this same problem, but solutions it seems are not easy to find.
Antihistamines I am taking irregularly due to various allergies, but it seems I don’t suffer the side effects (or in this case bonuses). Old age is supposed to make your mouth dry, but it seems that’s about the only thing for which I am not that old. Well, I guess it’s nice to have something to look forward to.
Cannabis and cinnamon I think I’ll forgo, thanks. I hear that also the latter can be toxic in pure form, so take care.
Drinking, I’ve found, while wetting your mouth, seems also to cut down your saliva production somewhat, maybe because your body thinks there is not so much need for extra moisture. So coffee and tonic water are worth a try, and why not a vodka mouth flush as well. Thanks for those.
I have very active saliva glands. I know this because when I’m at the dentist my mouth fills up and he has to suction it out. Put anything in my mouth and they start cranking.
I recently (few months ago) purchased my first flute and I was surprised that my mouth is not wet at all. I guess you have to have something in your mouth to trigger the saliva glands. I really love whistles but I also really enjoy flute as well. And it’s not has hard as I feared. So I think it’s a good idea for those with extra saliva. Better than taking medications just to make your mouth dry.
Sloe would be the same as blackthorn, right? That might be worth looking into – according to web sources the tannins in it have rather a strong effect. The plant does not actually grow at these latitudes (I live in Finland) but fortunately extracts are available.
, covering the window and blowing, and sucking back. The only one of these that can be done at speed when playing is sucking back. I do it automatically now.