Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
Wow! I suppose when one thinks about it, it is pretty obvious really that bugs would be lurking within a wind blown musical instrument. You pipers out there, get thinking!
This story reminded me of my days in junior high and high school when I played brass instruments in the band (tuba and baritone). These instruments, unlike woodwinds or even the bagpipes, aren't simply blown into. You have to pucker your lips into the mouthpiece and vibrate your lips as you blow, which results in a lot of saliva inside the instrument. All these brass instruments are fitted with a "spit valve" somewhere (usually at a low point) so you can periodically drain the saliva out of the instrument.

Looking back on it, it was really disgusting. These instruments belonged to the school and were used by several students. We would each clean our mouthpiece, but I don't recall ever having any strict rules on cleaning out the insides of the instruments or disinfecting them. We'd usually go as long as we could until it got really foul-smelling in there. And then we'd just give it a bath in warm soapy water. But nobody ever got sick from it, that I know of.

Scary stuff, though.