Music Instrument Maintenance: What Is Important? Theres nothing in this world more peaceful, tranquil and soul inspiring than a piece of beautiful music. Soulful melody has the unbelievable power to unleash pent up heart-wrenching grief from within, make man experience boundless joy, suffer waves of nostalgia and enjoy instant relaxation in the most stressful occasions. Music though beautiful is not necessarily simple and the area where simplicity is absolutely non-existent is in the maintenance and repair of a musical instrument. Its always possible for a musical instrument to get damaged just like how its possible for a person to get sick. Take note that some instruments can be very fragile that they tend to crack or get dents easily. No wonder many folks who own an instrument or more have considered hiring the services of a professional repairman. What does this expert do? S/he tries to fix the instruments when damaged and aids you in maintaining their good condition. S/he can also tune your instrument for you. Choose the right repairman for your instrument by checking out whether he possesses the required professional training regarding the same and whether he is an honest, disciplined and dependable guy who is extremely thorough in his work. Always go for one who can play the musical instrument which he specializes on and preferably travels to the clients residence if needed. But taking care of your instrument and maintaining it properly is the best way to minimize requirement of repairs in the first place and one should always know the maintenance basics of his instrument type in order to make it last for a long time. Some common musical instruments and tips to maintaining them are discussed below. Lets start with one of the most fragile musical instruments - the violin. One more reason why you should take really good care of it is because its really expensive to start with, way pricier than other instruments. The usual damages to a violin have to do with its tailpiece, bow and bridge. Do you know what contributes to the damaging of a violin? If you dont store it in a safe place and if you put it in a room with high temperature, well, that will really damage your precious violin. Take note also to invest on violin strings that are of great quality. Moreover, carefully apply the rosin substance on your bow. Usually a violin bow without applying rosin may lead to it losing grip on the strings sliding off without any sound. If you are in a cold climate use dark rosin but use the harder and less sticky light one in case you live in a warmer one. Putting too much Rosin on the bow might cause it to drip and stain. Moreover, in case of any minor problems, make sure you go to an experienced luthier before it gets any bigger and damaging. In case of guitars, playing it regularly is the best thing to do for maintenance. The other things include keeping it in a sturdy case, take care of the strings, keeping it tuned and show it to an expert technician atleast once annually. Do you know when to start looking for replacements for those guitar strings? If they seem to be dull or somehow ready to split, then thats the time to replace them. You would need to use the guitar often to take notice of this. Tuning can be done by using a tuning fork, an electric tuner or even the online tuners that is available on the internet. Moreover get your guitar a fine wooden case to minimize exposure to wear and tear and extreme temperature changes. When it comes to flutes and other woodwind instruments, take note to always keep your hands dry and clean. Dont use a flute if otherwise. Same regular check-up and storage tips apply. After you play your flute, always clean it to reduce pad detoriation. Also, during assembly, hold the flute parts together on the edge instead of at the keys and leave the flute settings to someone who is an expert. The Maintenance of Brass instruments is quite different from Strings and Woodwind which basically involves the three aspects of washing, cleaning and lubrication. Firstly, clean your brass instruments internally by soaking them for ten minutes in a warm bath run with a bit of washing-up liquid and rinse them off it thereafter. Make sure you do not put any rotor instruments in it as these need special attention from a qualified repairman. There are special brushes that you can make use of in cleaning the mouthpiece, the tubes and the other valves of your brass instruments. Perhaps you have heard about that cleaning brush that looks like a long, wired snake. Before assembling the parts, make sure first that theyre really dry. Lubricating a trumpet is another thing. How to do it properly? Well, you just have to disconnect the valve by lifting it halfway. After that, start the lubrication process by applying oil in the wider valve area. Just push the valve back into position once youre done lubricating. Wait for the soft click that will indicate that its really back in its place. Also put a drop of valve oil on the bottom cap of the valve. Coming to trombones, slide grease and slide cream of oil should be used on the slides and the main slide respectively. With those water key instruments, what you have to do is to get rid of the accumulated moisture by blowing through the said instruments whenever you have extra playtime. You need to remember to always wipe away any sweat or oil on your hands before doing that. What are the causes of common accidents involving musical instruments? One known cause is the unnecessary pressurizing while cleaning and reassembly of certain parts of a particular instrument. Try following this guide so you can make those things last for a very long time. Remember to consult a professional repairman even if you think the problem is too small.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 00:45:51 +0000