{"id":44135,"date":"2015-11-28T09:39:56","date_gmt":"2015-11-28T17:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=44135"},"modified":"2024-06-21T09:52:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T16:52:51","slug":"mouthpiece-brushes-why-you-need-them-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2015\/mouthpiece-brushes-why-you-need-them-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Mouthpiece Brushes: Why You Need Them – Or Not"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t know how I stumbled across this particular item on eBay<\/a>, but the description of these saxophone mouthpiece brushes made me laugh so hard, that I decided that I had to share them with you…<\/p>\n

A seller who specializes in children’s musical instruments is flogging multi-coloured mouthpiece brushes for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.<\/p>\n

\"mouthpiece<\/a>
Source: Little-Kids-Instruments on eBay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is how the seller describes these little gems:<\/p>\n

Soprano Saxophone Mouthpiece Cleaning Brush – This powerful cleaning tool helps remove dirt & grime build-up inside your mouthpiece, which is unsightly and detrimental. The tapered shape of this stiff bristled nylon mouthpiece cleaning brush enables thorough cleaning, and will help you maintain an unobstructed airflow making for better tone production. This tool is an essential accessory for all Soprano Saxophone Players.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Unsightly and detrimental”. I know I am always worried about what people might think about me if my mouthpiece was unsightly on the INSIDE. But isn’t that a bit like people snooping through your medicine cabinets when at a party at your house. WTF are people doing looking at the inside of your mouthpiece? Or are you just leaving it around on the dinner table for others to handle? Really? That’s just gross on a lot of different levels!<\/p>\n

As far as “dirt and grime” building up inside your mouthpiece being detrimental; how so? Sure, your mouthpiece is a haven for bacteria and fungi, but is that really what they mean? Let’s take a closer look.<\/p>\n

The sellers claim that their mouthpiece brushes allow you to clean your piece so that you’ll have “an unobstructed airflow making for better tone production”. WTF! Just how much bacteria do they think we have growing inside our mouthpieces so that they become obstructed?<\/p>\n

My curiosity was now piqued, so I started taking a look at all the mouthpieces I have, and I noticed something: perhaps Little-Kids-Instruments has a point.<\/p>\n

Ever since I quit smoking 15 or so years ago, I started chewing gum. Yes, I have been known to chew gum when I play sax. Well looky here… this is where some of my used gum is… \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"saxophone<\/a><\/p>\n

OK, so you know that was a joke, right? I don’t really have gum stuck to the inside of my saxophone mouthpiece. That said, if I did, these saxophone mouthpiece brushes certainly wouldn’t do the job of getting it out.<\/p>\n

Mouthpiece cleaning: saxophone mouthpiece brushes not required<\/h2>\n

There is no disputing that cleaning your saxophone mouthpiece is an important part of the overall aspect of instrument hygiene. After all, you don’t want to end up with saxophone lung<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That said, mouthpiece brushes have never been a favourite tool of mine for the simple fact that they can scratch the inside of the mouthpiece. For as long as I’ve been playing I’ve done the following, and it has worked for me.<\/p>\n

Materials needed:<\/h3>\n