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In a recent thread about vinegar cleaning there was repeated reference to removing calcium buildup from the horn. My question is this: Where does the calcium come from? Are we talking about real calcium or just a buildup of gooky stuff? I can understand that calcium builds up from using hard water in coffee pots, water heaters, humidifiers and anywhere else that water may be heated and evaporated and minerals left behind, but in your horn? My assumption is that the source of the water that collects in instruments is condensation and saliva. I can’t imagine drinking enough water, then blowing it into your horn to build up calcium. Is there a significant quantity of calcium in saliva? Or are your teeth dissolving?
I know it’s a small point, but the repeated reference has piqued my curiosity.

True. I wear two plates of dentures and I don't have the problem!

Indeed. Where I live, there is so much calcium in the water that if the water were any harder, we'd be chewing it instead of drinking it! No joke!

So we have a lot of calcium, some that does get passed.

With the enzymes in your saliva, some of the calcium can get passed as calcium oxylate, which is a wholly different chemical, and is the same thing that causes kidney stones. This may indicate a chemical imbalance where your body is not metabolizing calcium properly, independently of the amount of calcium intake, large or small.

Calcium is also necessary, not just for bone density, as it provides the electrochemical link between a motor neuron firing and a muscle fiber contracting. So, it is VERY important that brass players keep their calcium in balance.

And the next time someone opens a waterkey and empties his horn on your carpet with the explanation that "it's just condensation", you might ask him where the calcium deposits in his horn come from.

There's very little hygenic difference between emptying one's horn and spitting, much as we'd like to think otherwise.

Osteotubosis!

Irritable Brass Syndrome - Flute players located directly in front of the trombone section

In extremis, a tuba ligation (or is that litigation?) might be required ...

Jonathantuba wrote:I don't know any brass players here in the UK who have their instruments chemically cleaned, but just flush out periodically with soapy water.

Is that due to the high concentration of Dewar's and Tenent's Lager?