Clean that wind instrument
August 23, 2016 11:50 AM Subscribe
A new case study of a 61-year-old bagpipe player who died of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, a chronic inflammatory lung condition, found that it was likely caused by fungi growing inside his bagpipes. The study also notes that "there have been previous case reports of HP in saxophone and trombone players attributable to isolated fungi and Candida."
"Clinicians need to be aware of this potential trigger for developing HP, and wind instrument players need to be aware of the importance of regularly cleaning their instruments to minimise this risk. "
Rest assured: Dr. Metersky, author of Trombone player's lung: a probable new cause of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, says the vast majority of wind instrument players will not get it. "When they do, dry cough is the most common symptom. Others include shortness of breath and fever."
"Clinicians need to be aware of this potential trigger for developing HP, and wind instrument players need to be aware of the importance of regularly cleaning their instruments to minimise this risk. "
Rest assured: Dr. Metersky, author of Trombone player's lung: a probable new cause of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, says the vast majority of wind instrument players will not get it. "When they do, dry cough is the most common symptom. Others include shortness of breath and fever."
You're supposed to 'season' bagpipes regularly - that means taking them apart, cleaning them and adding a special compound that softens the leather and, these days, usually contains a fungicide. This chap clearly didn't bother with all that nonsense.
Anyone who plays a wind instrument should learn how to keep it clean, or this kind of thing happens. Admittedly, with bagpipes, it's more of an issue because you're basically puffing drool into a big leather bag - if you don't keep it clean, you'll even get maggots after a while.
posted by pipeski at 12:10 PM on August 23, 2016 [9 favorites]
Anyone who plays a wind instrument should learn how to keep it clean, or this kind of thing happens. Admittedly, with bagpipes, it's more of an issue because you're basically puffing drool into a big leather bag - if you don't keep it clean, you'll even get maggots after a while.
posted by pipeski at 12:10 PM on August 23, 2016 [9 favorites]
MetaFilter: basically puffing drool into a big leather bag
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:17 PM on August 23, 2016 [30 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:17 PM on August 23, 2016 [30 favorites]
You're supposed to 'season' bagpipes regularly ...
Traditional bagpipes made from hide, yes. King Sky Prawn's link is interesting because it points out that's a key difference with the synthetic ones, which are popular precisely because they (supposedly) don't need the same cleaning regimen. The piper in that article did indeed use a synthetic bag.
posted by fraula at 12:18 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Traditional bagpipes made from hide, yes. King Sky Prawn's link is interesting because it points out that's a key difference with the synthetic ones, which are popular precisely because they (supposedly) don't need the same cleaning regimen. The piper in that article did indeed use a synthetic bag.
posted by fraula at 12:18 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Can I just say, this would make an excellent plot for a locked-room mystery. An instrument of murder, if you will...
posted by prufrock at 12:18 PM on August 23, 2016 [14 favorites]
posted by prufrock at 12:18 PM on August 23, 2016 [14 favorites]
And I thought schmutz on my Strat's fingerboard was gross…
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:19 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:19 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
Proper nasty, good that they're warning people. That said, there was a random street-piper interviewed on the BBC earlier and his main takeaway was that he already cleaned his instrument regularly because taking care of it was important to him.
Kind of wish you hadn't mentioned maggots though pipeski. No sleep for me tonight!
posted by comealongpole at 12:28 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
Kind of wish you hadn't mentioned maggots though pipeski. No sleep for me tonight!
posted by comealongpole at 12:28 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
This is why the bellows-blown uilleann pipes save lives. It's just common sense.
posted by misterpatrick at 12:29 PM on August 23, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by misterpatrick at 12:29 PM on August 23, 2016 [7 favorites]
oh god why did I read this while eating lunch?
posted by epersonae at 12:48 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by epersonae at 12:48 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
When I started saxophone in 6th grade, our music teacher told us the cautionary tale of a former student who neglected to clean his mouthpiece until one day, no sound came out at all, because...maggots! I don't know if it was true or not, but it was enough to scare me for the last 32 years. I always remove and store my reed and run a bristly brush through the mouthpiece. Am not as good with the full swab down through the neck and bell though.
posted by candyland at 12:56 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by candyland at 12:56 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
I am so worried about all my old favorite ska bands now
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:03 PM on August 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:03 PM on August 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
My French horn remains in its case, year after year. Year after year I grow more terrified of it. This does not help.
posted by Vendar at 1:07 PM on August 23, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by Vendar at 1:07 PM on August 23, 2016 [12 favorites]
The Fungus in the Bagpipes and other Lovecraft stories.
posted by Splunge at 1:36 PM on August 23, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 1:36 PM on August 23, 2016 [11 favorites]
Watch and listen for symptoms of illness: dry cough, fever, shortness of breath, playing of bagpipes.
posted by hal9k at 1:41 PM on August 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by hal9k at 1:41 PM on August 23, 2016 [6 favorites]
Danny boy, the pipes are ::cough::
The pipes ::cough:: ::cough:: ::hack::
posted by Splunge at 2:51 PM on August 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
The pipes ::cough:: ::cough:: ::hack::
posted by Splunge at 2:51 PM on August 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I hate to be the guy to bring this up, as I cant think of a way to phrase it without it sounding like a local news scare story.
It's fairly common (AFIK) for school music departments, high schools in particular, to have a few of the larger or at least less common brass instruments around for use by the students for use in marching or concert bands. For example, sousaphones, tubas, euphoniums, and the like are usually too expensive for the average parent to buy for their musically-inclined child. So rather than wait for a student to come along and bring their own, or convince a parent every few years to spend anywhere from $1500 to $3000 or more for one, schools will often have a few of these on hand, and odds are these have been around for a decade or more.
Consider the average effort a teenage brass instrument player will put into properly cleaning the insides of their own instruments on a regular basis. Now consider how much effort the average teenager will put into maintaining a somewhat beat up old instrument they don't own (often lower brass players will be shifted from their own instrument to these large instruments when needed) and don't bring home with them on a regular basis, and may only be used occasionally during the year (a sousaphone during football/marching season, for example), and left in their cases for months on end. Add to that all the various antics of teenage high school music students (oh, the random things that get thrown into the bells of sousaphones and tubas), water coming in from playing/marching in bad weather, and being played when the user has a cold or flu, and then multiply that by the age of the instrument.
It's one thing to maintain the easy to clean parts, and get most of any liquids out via the spit valves, mouthpieces, keys and bells, after a sudden rainstorm or basic rinse cleaning and such, but it can take a lot of effort to thoroughly dry out the insides or completely remove the dried, sticky residue left over from a sugary drink that somehow found it's way into the business end of a tuba hours or days before (it can happen - those large bells are challenging targets for thrown drinks by unruly folk).
Depending on the level of staff/funding for the music departments, and/or workload and forethought of the music director/teachers, the frequency of which these instruments are professionally cleaned can vary wildly. Some of these school-owned instruments can easily be forgotten about after they are needed until the next year and the cost of proper cleaning and maintenance can be a significant drain on that department's budget. It's worthwhile for parents of students that play these instruments find out what their school's policy is. If the cost of regular cleaning/maintenance is a problem, most high school music departments I know of have yearly fundraising drives that might be a way to help.
While the problem certainly is not deserving of a "Is your school's sousaphone a threat to your child's health?" scary news headline, it's at least worth asking about if your kids are in the school band.
posted by chambers at 3:15 PM on August 23, 2016 [12 favorites]
It's fairly common (AFIK) for school music departments, high schools in particular, to have a few of the larger or at least less common brass instruments around for use by the students for use in marching or concert bands. For example, sousaphones, tubas, euphoniums, and the like are usually too expensive for the average parent to buy for their musically-inclined child. So rather than wait for a student to come along and bring their own, or convince a parent every few years to spend anywhere from $1500 to $3000 or more for one, schools will often have a few of these on hand, and odds are these have been around for a decade or more.
Consider the average effort a teenage brass instrument player will put into properly cleaning the insides of their own instruments on a regular basis. Now consider how much effort the average teenager will put into maintaining a somewhat beat up old instrument they don't own (often lower brass players will be shifted from their own instrument to these large instruments when needed) and don't bring home with them on a regular basis, and may only be used occasionally during the year (a sousaphone during football/marching season, for example), and left in their cases for months on end. Add to that all the various antics of teenage high school music students (oh, the random things that get thrown into the bells of sousaphones and tubas), water coming in from playing/marching in bad weather, and being played when the user has a cold or flu, and then multiply that by the age of the instrument.
It's one thing to maintain the easy to clean parts, and get most of any liquids out via the spit valves, mouthpieces, keys and bells, after a sudden rainstorm or basic rinse cleaning and such, but it can take a lot of effort to thoroughly dry out the insides or completely remove the dried, sticky residue left over from a sugary drink that somehow found it's way into the business end of a tuba hours or days before (it can happen - those large bells are challenging targets for thrown drinks by unruly folk).
Depending on the level of staff/funding for the music departments, and/or workload and forethought of the music director/teachers, the frequency of which these instruments are professionally cleaned can vary wildly. Some of these school-owned instruments can easily be forgotten about after they are needed until the next year and the cost of proper cleaning and maintenance can be a significant drain on that department's budget. It's worthwhile for parents of students that play these instruments find out what their school's policy is. If the cost of regular cleaning/maintenance is a problem, most high school music departments I know of have yearly fundraising drives that might be a way to help.
While the problem certainly is not deserving of a "Is your school's sousaphone a threat to your child's health?" scary news headline, it's at least worth asking about if your kids are in the school band.
posted by chambers at 3:15 PM on August 23, 2016 [12 favorites]
... the dried, sticky residue left over from a sugary drink that somehow found it's way into the business end of a tuba
That applies to both ends, since kids are often consuming said sugary drinks then blubbering residue into the mouthpiece as well.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:52 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
That applies to both ends, since kids are often consuming said sugary drinks then blubbering residue into the mouthpiece as well.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:52 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wind player and marching band veteran chiming in...
There is a story that goes around about a local miser who owns a music store. No one in the long history of the store who could live on what he paid proved to be as good a repairman as he thinks he is. He tormented me in my jr. and sr. high school years because he charged a nickel less for everything and my dear old dad was convinced the other store in town was ripping him off. Every time I needed a repair or adjustment he (the store owner) lectured me about whatever it was I was supposedly doing wrong in assembling, playing, and caring for the instrument.
There is a method of testing for leaks on a clarinet that involves closing all the toneholes and pads with your fingers (in effect, pressing the right keys to make the lowest note on the instrument), stopping the end joint against your leg, and sucking on the barrel (like you were using the clarinet as a big slurpee straw). If you can pull a vacuum, the thinking goes, you have no leaks to amount to anything.
(Meanwhile, in the 20th and 21st century, all the good repair techs I know use a light that you fit down the bore of the instrument, which has the virtue of giving you a clue as to WHERE the leaks might be, but I digress...)
Some musician friends of mine say that when this method was applied, by said store owner, to a clarinet that had been in a case for years, harboring generations of insects in all stages of birth, life, development, and decay, said store owner/miser/meany/idiot supposedly sucked up a mouthful of maggots.
I don't know if the story is true.
But I hope it is.
posted by randomkeystrike at 4:24 PM on August 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
There is a story that goes around about a local miser who owns a music store. No one in the long history of the store who could live on what he paid proved to be as good a repairman as he thinks he is. He tormented me in my jr. and sr. high school years because he charged a nickel less for everything and my dear old dad was convinced the other store in town was ripping him off. Every time I needed a repair or adjustment he (the store owner) lectured me about whatever it was I was supposedly doing wrong in assembling, playing, and caring for the instrument.
There is a method of testing for leaks on a clarinet that involves closing all the toneholes and pads with your fingers (in effect, pressing the right keys to make the lowest note on the instrument), stopping the end joint against your leg, and sucking on the barrel (like you were using the clarinet as a big slurpee straw). If you can pull a vacuum, the thinking goes, you have no leaks to amount to anything.
(Meanwhile, in the 20th and 21st century, all the good repair techs I know use a light that you fit down the bore of the instrument, which has the virtue of giving you a clue as to WHERE the leaks might be, but I digress...)
Some musician friends of mine say that when this method was applied, by said store owner, to a clarinet that had been in a case for years, harboring generations of insects in all stages of birth, life, development, and decay, said store owner/miser/meany/idiot supposedly sucked up a mouthful of maggots.
I don't know if the story is true.
But I hope it is.
posted by randomkeystrike at 4:24 PM on August 23, 2016 [8 favorites]
and sucking on the barrel
oh god
I can't keep reading this
I have to keep reading this
this is the worst grossest thread and I have no idea why I am finding musical instruments containing secret foul horrors so fascinating but more stories plz
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:30 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
oh god
I can't keep reading this
I have to keep reading this
this is the worst grossest thread and I have no idea why I am finding musical instruments containing secret foul horrors so fascinating but more stories plz
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:30 PM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
Anecdata: I was in jr. high/high school/college bands (concert and marching) for a total of 5 years, and while we had some pretty grody horns, not one person encountered any maggots. Mold and stank, yes, but no maggots. FWIW.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:42 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:42 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
I had a bagpipe practice chanter once - it's just a melody pipe without the drones or the bag, with a quieter reed, that you use for practicing fingering. Everything in it is synthetic, but after a little use it started smelling like death and never stopped, no matter how much I cleaned it. I soaked everything in alcohol, bleach, you name it. Still smelled like death.
None of my other woodwinds ever smelled like that. Just the ol practice chanter. Anyway, it kept me from playing it, which probably made my family happy.
I wonder if I still have it...
posted by teponaztli at 4:51 PM on August 23, 2016
None of my other woodwinds ever smelled like that. Just the ol practice chanter. Anyway, it kept me from playing it, which probably made my family happy.
I wonder if I still have it...
posted by teponaztli at 4:51 PM on August 23, 2016
As far as brass... My friend Joe was playing a trumpet in highschool. He was a musical genius. Piano was his main thing. His parents had a baby grand in their living room. He played several instruments. But he loved his trumpet.
And so I learned of the spit valve. Joe would play the trumpet. And we were in the attic of his home. So he's playing really well. And he says, one sec. And he presses on this little button thing. And blows. Hard. And something that looks like snot comes out of the bottom of his trumpet. Onto the floor.
Me: The fuck?
Him: Spit valve. It builds up there. The sound starts to go bad. So, spit valve.
Me: On the carpet?
Him: Yeah. Why?
So my childhood had the smell of valve oil and spit as a major part of it. And I love it.
posted by Splunge at 5:57 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
And so I learned of the spit valve. Joe would play the trumpet. And we were in the attic of his home. So he's playing really well. And he says, one sec. And he presses on this little button thing. And blows. Hard. And something that looks like snot comes out of the bottom of his trumpet. Onto the floor.
Me: The fuck?
Him: Spit valve. It builds up there. The sound starts to go bad. So, spit valve.
Me: On the carpet?
Him: Yeah. Why?
So my childhood had the smell of valve oil and spit as a major part of it. And I love it.
posted by Splunge at 5:57 PM on August 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Although it's called a "spit" valve, I promise all you freaked out non-brass-players that a trumpet (/trombone/euphonium/tuba) player who's any good is NOT blowing spit into their horn! 99.9% of what comes out of a spit valve is moisture from the player's warm breath, that hits the cold tubes and condenses.
If one doesn't empty the valve for long enough, the horn starts to make a rather amusing gurgling noise.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:24 PM on August 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
If one doesn't empty the valve for long enough, the horn starts to make a rather amusing gurgling noise.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:24 PM on August 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
teponaztli : Still smelled like death.
Cellulose Acetate Butyrate perhaps?
http://dwarmstr.blogspot.ca/2013/02/why-toolboxes-and-tool-handles-stink.html
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 9:41 PM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
Cellulose Acetate Butyrate perhaps?
http://dwarmstr.blogspot.ca/2013/02/why-toolboxes-and-tool-handles-stink.html
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 9:41 PM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am suddenly exceedingly glad that I play a string instrument.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 10:42 PM on August 23, 2016
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 10:42 PM on August 23, 2016
I just ordered a small bagpipe ("Hümmelchen") and after this thread I'm even more excited.
posted by Slothrup at 11:07 PM on August 23, 2016
posted by Slothrup at 11:07 PM on August 23, 2016
I am suddenly exceedingly glad that I play a string instrument.
All that dead skin buildup on the fingerboard ewwww that you're constantly touching EWWWWW
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:12 PM on August 23, 2016
All that dead skin buildup on the fingerboard ewwww that you're constantly touching EWWWWW
Sure, but at least I'm not licking it.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:17 PM on August 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
Sure, but at least I'm not licking it.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:17 PM on August 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
Never have I been so grateful to have played the flute in band class, an instrument both easy and pleasant to clean. Urgh, these stories! Bleagh.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:22 PM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:22 PM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
My friend sent me this item this morning. I am curious, do trombones send air back into your mouth when you, er, slide? Suddenly those plastic trombones seem much less appealing...
posted by Standard Orange at 12:00 AM on August 24, 2016
posted by Standard Orange at 12:00 AM on August 24, 2016
Bagpipe fungus? Now there's a missed opportunity for an episode of House MD.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:02 AM on August 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:02 AM on August 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Bagpipe fungus? Now there's a missed opportunity for an episode of House MD.
He needs bagpipe fungus to live!
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 12:08 AM on August 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
He needs bagpipe fungus to live!
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 12:08 AM on August 24, 2016 [6 favorites]
Yakity hacks
posted by middleclasstool at 5:10 AM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by middleclasstool at 5:10 AM on August 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
As the owner and occasional player of a 150+-year-old Tibetan kangling, this gives me pause.
posted by remembrancer at 9:52 AM on August 24, 2016
posted by remembrancer at 9:52 AM on August 24, 2016
I am suddenly exceedingly glad that I play a string instrument.
Past tense for me, but OMG YES.
posted by epersonae at 11:57 AM on August 24, 2016
Past tense for me, but OMG YES.
posted by epersonae at 11:57 AM on August 24, 2016
My friend sent me this item this morning. I am curious, do trombones send air back into your mouth when you, er, slide? Suddenly those plastic trombones seem much less appealing...
The big vector for air from inside the instrument to get in your lungs is when you breathe. You unseal your lips from the mouthpiece and breathe very deeply, very quickly, to get more air, but your lips don't get very far from the mouthpiece and/or reed...
gads, this IS an unsanitary habit of mine...
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:01 PM on August 24, 2016
The big vector for air from inside the instrument to get in your lungs is when you breathe. You unseal your lips from the mouthpiece and breathe very deeply, very quickly, to get more air, but your lips don't get very far from the mouthpiece and/or reed...
gads, this IS an unsanitary habit of mine...
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:01 PM on August 24, 2016
a 150+-year-old Tibetan kangling
I wouldn't worry about it. You'll probably get kuru instead.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:13 PM on August 24, 2016
I wouldn't worry about it. You'll probably get kuru instead.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:13 PM on August 24, 2016
Anecdata: I was in jr. high/high school/college bands (concert and marching) for a total of 5 years, and while we had some pretty grody horns, not one person encountered any maggots. Mold and stank, yes, but no maggots. FWIW.
I WANT TO BELIEVE
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:16 PM on August 24, 2016
I WANT TO BELIEVE
posted by randomkeystrike at 2:16 PM on August 24, 2016
"You've got to inspect your horn, boy. And wash it every day."
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:28 PM on August 24, 2016
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:28 PM on August 24, 2016
Turns out bagpipes can be used to make actual music.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:04 AM on September 10, 2016
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:04 AM on September 10, 2016
Hairy Lobster: "Bagpipe fungus? Now there's a missed opportunity for an episode of House MD."
It's never bagpipe fungus.
posted by Splunge at 6:57 AM on September 19, 2016
It's never bagpipe fungus.
posted by Splunge at 6:57 AM on September 19, 2016
If one doesn't empty the valve for long enough, the horn starts to make a rather amusing gurgling noise.
Ah memories. I played french horn which had a spit valve but when that gurgle pop started to get bad a lot of times you'd have to turn the thing over and sometimes around a couple of times so the 'spit' would either come out the bell end or the mouth end.
posted by Jalliah at 7:19 AM on September 19, 2016
Ah memories. I played french horn which had a spit valve but when that gurgle pop started to get bad a lot of times you'd have to turn the thing over and sometimes around a couple of times so the 'spit' would either come out the bell end or the mouth end.
posted by Jalliah at 7:19 AM on September 19, 2016
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