Personal & Instrument Maintenance
COVID Instrument Care
Keeping instruments clean to prevent spread.
Braces & Playing Wind instruments
Article about Effects of Braces & Playing Wind Instruments www.amparents.org/braces/ (Or see below for PDF)
Comfort Lip Shield/Bumper/Mouthguard for Musician's with Braces www.sweethomely.com/braces-comfort-lip-bumper-dental-orthodontic/
Real Wood or Composite Wood Instruments:
With any instruments made from wood users need to keep in mind weather and humidity when storing, playing, and cleaning. Any sudden changes or extremes can permanently damage the instrument.
One option for controlling and monitoring humidity is a product called "dampit." Although not all instruments are specifically listed they can be used in other instruments.
Reeds
As a general rule, one individual reed will last about 6 hours of playing time, as long as it is not chipped, cracked, or ruined with soda or juice, etc. That means a student who has band for 1 hour a day, 5 days a week, would go through about one reed a week if they only played during band class. However, students should be practicing, at minimum, in 15 minute sessions, 3 different days, every week - MINIMUM.
- Where to purchase reeds: (Suggestions)
Poppler's Music (In Store & Online): www.popplersmusic.com/products/accessories/woodwind-reeds
Schmitt Music: www.schmittmusic.com/band/products/accessories/
West Music: www.westmusic.com/s/reeds
Groth Music: www.grothmusic.com/
Ekroth Music: www.eckroth.com/c-14-woodwind-accessories.aspx
Woodwind Brasswind: www.wwbw.com/Reeds.wwbw
Music & Arts: www.musicarts.com/Reeds-Woodwind-Accessories1.mac
Musician's Friend: www.musiciansfriend.com/reeds
- Avoid:
Already opened boxes of reeds.
Used reeds (this one I'm hoping is obvious!)
Flavored/Colored reeds
Super soft, or super hard reeds.
Brass Instruments
Mouthpieces:
Brass instruments all require mouthpieces to produce musical sounds.
Each instrument has their own unique type of mouthpiece (some trombones and baritone/euphoniums can share)
Trumpet
Horn
Trombone
Baritone
Euphonium
Tuba
Small dents or other blemishes can be detrimental to student's playing.
This video shows the process for fixing dents in a tuba - please prevent the school from needing to have this done by taking care of your instruments!