sticking windsavers
When practicing I do warm my chromatic up before playing, but it seems when I practice too much spit from my tb is getting into the harmonica making the windsavers moist and stick.
What can I do to prevent from that. Does it mean I have to open up the chromatic every time or do I just let it dry?
What happens after it dries out?
if the valves are OK, then you just need to let it dry (see below for some tips).
If the valves stay stuck together after they dry and need cleaning, then you might rinse out or even brush and floss before playing, maybe drink some warm water before playing to rinse away anything thick or sticky.
Your luck may vary on this, but I find I can gently rinse a NON-WOOD chromatic in warm-ish water by running a bit of water into the mouthpiece holes, tap it out thoroughly as described below, then immediately play it vigorously by rapidly altnerating blow and draw chords through the entire range while wiggling the slide in and out. The playing is partly to get the water out and partly to keep the valves from sticking. Play it for awhile and then dry it out 9again as described below).
If the harp is just getting wet from long playing sessions, then I guess you could either play shorter prtactice sessions, or have a second chromatic to swap out when the first one gets wet.
To dry out a wet chromatic, you could tap each cover against the palm of your hand just to loosen things generally, then tap the holes out on your hand to remove moisture. Do this first with the slide out, and then with the slide pressed in, to take care of the other half of the holes. Then, to allow for air drying of all the holes, press the slide halfway in and use a wooden matchstick or something similar to keep it propped open and let it sit exposed to the air for awhile (maybe a half hour).
i was having similiar issues and have found that since i began the practice Winslow describes in last paragraph there is no more problem. i usually leave the matchstick in for a good long time.
What happens after it dries out?
if the valves are OK, then you just need to let it dry (see below for some tips).
If the valves stay stuck together after they dry and need cleaning, then you might rinse out or even brush and floss before playing, maybe drink some warm water before playing to rinse away anything thick or sticky.
Your luck may vary on this, but I find I can gently rinse a NON-WOOD chromatic in warm-ish water by running a bit of water into the mouthpiece holes, tap it out thoroughly as described below, then immediately play it vigorously by rapidly altnerating blow and draw chords through the entire range while wiggling the slide in and out. The playing is partly to get the water out and partly to keep the valves from sticking. Play it for awhile and then dry it out 9again as described below).
If the harp is just getting wet from long playing sessions, then I guess you could either play shorter prtactice sessions, or have a second chromatic to swap out when the first one gets wet.
To dry out a wet chromatic, you could tap each cover against the palm of your hand just to loosen things generally, then tap the holes out on your hand to remove moisture. Do this first with the slide out, and then with the slide pressed in, to take care of the other half of the holes. Then, to allow for air drying of all the holes, press the slide halfway in and use a wooden matchstick or something similar to keep it propped open and let it sit exposed to the air for awhile (maybe a half hour).