Instrument Care
Students are now responsible for the care and feeding of perhaps the most valuable posession of their young lives. Take good care of your instrument and it will last for years. The required supplies are available from most music stores or from the band office.
An excellent resource for learning about care and maintenance of your instrument is available online at:
Students are now responsible for the care and feeding of perhaps the most valuable posession of their young lives. Take good care of your instrument and it will last for years. The required supplies are available from most music stores or from the band office.
An excellent resource for learning about care and maintenance of your instrument is available online at:
Woodwinds
All woodwind players need to swab their instruments of moisture after playing. Flutes should have a tuning rod in their cases, and need to add a small cloth for swabbing after playing. Flutes can be polished by adding a silver polishing cloth to the case. Never submerge the flute in water or use a polishing compound on the instrument. This will damage the instrument and make it unable to play!
Clarinets and saxophones should also swab out their instruments after playing. Silk swabs can be hand-washed and used for years. Again, never submerge the body of the instrument in water. Saxophones can be polished with a soft cloth or lacquer polishing cloth. Mouthpeices should be washed frequently in hot, soapy water.
Over time, failing to swab the woodwind instruments will reuslt in pre-maturely needing to replace the pads of the instruments. The cost of re-padding runs anywhere from $175 for the flutes to $350 for the saxophones.
Brass
All brass players should have “Blue Juice” valve oil (trumptes and baritones), rotor oil (french horns), or slide cream (trombones). Additionally, all brass players should have tuning slide grease, a mouthpiece brush and a cleaning snake. A lacquer polishing cloth is optional. Trombone players need to lubricate their playing slide, and valve instrument players need to oil their valves each and every time the instrument is used. Tuning slides should be greased as needed to keep the slides moving freely.
The inner tubing of brass instruments remains moist and warm, meaning occasionally the instrument will need to be thoroughly cleaned out. The following details instruction on bathing our brass instruments:
Trumpet Care
Trumpet Cleaning
In order to keep our instruments in good working order, trumpets should be cleaned monthly.
Required Materials
Trombone Care
Your trombone should have the following slide lubricant:
In order to keep our instruments in good working order, trombones should be cleaned frequently. We recommend once per month. In order to begin using slide cream, the instrument MUST first be bathed. If slide cream is used with valve or slide oil, it will be ineffective. If the instrument is new, it will not have any slide oil on it and does not need to be cleaned.
Required Materials
All woodwind players need to swab their instruments of moisture after playing. Flutes should have a tuning rod in their cases, and need to add a small cloth for swabbing after playing. Flutes can be polished by adding a silver polishing cloth to the case. Never submerge the flute in water or use a polishing compound on the instrument. This will damage the instrument and make it unable to play!
Clarinets and saxophones should also swab out their instruments after playing. Silk swabs can be hand-washed and used for years. Again, never submerge the body of the instrument in water. Saxophones can be polished with a soft cloth or lacquer polishing cloth. Mouthpeices should be washed frequently in hot, soapy water.
Over time, failing to swab the woodwind instruments will reuslt in pre-maturely needing to replace the pads of the instruments. The cost of re-padding runs anywhere from $175 for the flutes to $350 for the saxophones.
Brass
All brass players should have “Blue Juice” valve oil (trumptes and baritones), rotor oil (french horns), or slide cream (trombones). Additionally, all brass players should have tuning slide grease, a mouthpiece brush and a cleaning snake. A lacquer polishing cloth is optional. Trombone players need to lubricate their playing slide, and valve instrument players need to oil their valves each and every time the instrument is used. Tuning slides should be greased as needed to keep the slides moving freely.
The inner tubing of brass instruments remains moist and warm, meaning occasionally the instrument will need to be thoroughly cleaned out. The following details instruction on bathing our brass instruments:
Trumpet Care
Trumpet Cleaning
In order to keep our instruments in good working order, trumpets should be cleaned monthly.
Required Materials
- Trumpet or Trombone Cleaning Snake (available from the band office or any music store). Many instruments came with the snake.
- Mouthpiece Brush (also available for sale). Again, many instruments already have this.
- 2 clean, soft towels (an old t-shirt, diaper, etc. will work).
- Tuning slide grease.
- “Blue Juice” Valve oil.
- About one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid.
- Fill bath tub with 6 to 12 inches of lukewarm water. Not too hot, not too cold. Hot water will peel the clear protective lacquer from the instrument. It won’t effect the instruments playability or sound, but it won’t shine anymore L As the tub is filling, add 1 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent to the water.
- Disassemble the instrument. Pull slides, valves, and bottom valve caps off of the trumpet. Allow all parts to luxuriate in the bubbles for at least 15 minutes. Be extremely carefully handling your valve assemblies. They dent easily!
- Using the cleaning snake, carefully scrub the inside of all of the tubing, including all slides and valve assemblies, and replace in the tub. DO NOT SCRUB THE INNER VALVE CASINGS WITH YOUR SNAKE! You might see some greenish material come from the instrument. Don’t be alarmed, it won’t hurt you. Use your mouthpiece brush to clean the mouthpiece.
- With the instrument still in the tub, drain the water.
- Under the tap, rinse the instrument thoroughly inside and out with clean, lukewarm water.
- Dry each section with your soft cloth, and place on a clean towel. Grease all slides before reassembly. Thoroughly oil the valve assemblies and re-insert them into their corresponding valve casing. Be sure to put valve 1 into casing 1, valve 2 into casing 2, and valve 3 into casing 3!
Trombone Care
Your trombone should have the following slide lubricant:
- Slide Cream. This is an effective treatment for slides. It requires a water-filled slide spray bottle.
In order to keep our instruments in good working order, trombones should be cleaned frequently. We recommend once per month. In order to begin using slide cream, the instrument MUST first be bathed. If slide cream is used with valve or slide oil, it will be ineffective. If the instrument is new, it will not have any slide oil on it and does not need to be cleaned.
Required Materials
- Trombone Cleaning Snake (for sale from the band office or music stores). Many instruments came with the snake.
- Mouthpiece Brush (also for sale from the band office). Again, many instruments already have this.
- Clean, soft towel (an old t-shirt, diaper, etc. will work).
- Large plastic cup.
- About one teaspoon of dishwashing liquid.
- Fill bath tub with 6 to 12 inches of lukewarm water. Not too hot, not too cold. Hot water will peel the clear protective lacquer from the instrument. It won’t effect the instruments playability or sound, but it won’t shine anymore L As the tub is filling, add 1 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent to the water.
- Disassemble the instrument. The trombone should go into the bath in the following pieces: bell section, outer-slide section, inner-slide section, and mouthpiece. Allow the trombone to luxuriate in the bubbles for at least 15 minutes. Be extremely careful with your outer slide, as it is very easy to put small but nasty dents in it when it is removed from the inner slide. Be gentle!!
- Using the cleaning snake, carefully scrub all tubes in all of the sections and put them back in the water. You might see some greenish material come from the instrument. Don’t be alarmed, it won’t hurt you. Use your mouthpiece brush to clean the mouthpiece.
- With the instrument still in the tub, drain the water.
- Using your big cup, rinse the instrument thoroughly inside and out with clean, lukewarm water.
- Dry each section with your soft cloth and replace in the case. Carefully put the outer slide back on the inner slide, and lubricate with slide cream. Rub the cream in quickly until the slide feels warm to the touch. Spray the slide with a little bit of water from your spray bottle. You’ll be amazed at how much more freely your slide moves. Make sure the slide lock works: if it doesn’t, take the outer slide back off, reverse it, and replace.