"Wet" bubbly sound when playing alto

[johnsax]

I know this isn't a unique problem but I can't for the life of me figure out how to solve it.

After playing for a very short while, I get a wet, bubbly sound superimposed over my otherwise OK tone. It sounds TERRIBLE and I can't make it go away. My instructor tells me I'm playing to softly and therefore not blowing out my saliva from between the reed and mouthpiece. When I play louder and harder, it does get better but is still quite annoying. He's also had me "suck" the saliva out of my mpc periodically which only works for a very short time.

Am I missing something? Is there something else I need to be doing? Any help greatly appreciated from this beginner!

John

[Kosma]

You gotta blow harder and keep that spit moving!

[colibri]

I've given this advice to a lot of beginners. Apply cork grease or chapstick evenly onto the baffle part (inside) of your mouthpiece. Problem goes away instantly. Ultimately you'll learn to play soft and not have saliva in your mouthpiece. It's a quick fix for now.

[colibri]

No it's not poisonous so don't worry.

[singlereed]

This will happen less when your mouthpiece and crook are warm. You will get a lot of condensation on a cold mouthpiece and crook, especially on a metal mouthpiece. When this happens to me, I take it apart, shake the crook out and wipe the mouthpiece and reed, and it's usually OK after that as it all warms up.

[woodwindmaster06]

you need to suck the spit out of the mouthpiece and have good air supply