[Michlib-l] Music Library of Things

Tue Jul 18 19:31:16 EDT 2023

As a brass musician, I too am trying to think from a non-musician's
perspective. Brass instruments also need mouthpieces; these can be cleaned,
with plain soap and warm water, and there is a brush that also works well.
With a collection of several mouthpieces, a mouthpiece brush is a great
idea. While trombone, baritone/euphonium (very similar), and tuba
mouthpieces look the same, they are not one-size-fits all.  The same
applies to trumpet and French horn mouthpieces. Some styles look similar,
but the differences matter.
Valved instruments need the valves oiled at least once a week, usually more
often, especially if they are used a lot. The valves should move easily.
(And please no taking valves or instruments apart- except for school or
library staff who know what they are doing. Putting them back together
wrong could stop someone's air when they try to blow, and while that may
sound funny, the player will be seriously hurt.)
Valve oil should come with the instrument, and while I have never borrowed
an instrument from a library, if I did, I would expect to return the valve
oil with the instrument.
Lastly, something I did not know until my sister started playing the
trombone: the slides need to be lubricated, and they need to be kept
dent-free.  There is slide cream specific to the trombone which is the most
useful option.
This is a much longer message than I expected, and yes, I realize you are
not likely to be lending out tubas...
Stephanie Herm
Taylor Community Library

On Tue, Jul 18, 2023 at 4:58 PM Abigail Vervaras via Michlib-l <
michlib-l at mcls.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I won't be much help with advice on how a library shares these instruments
> but, I can give some advice based on the fact that I was in a band ensemble
> for 8 years as a clarinet player.
>
> 1.) You can sanitize instruments but depending on the instrument, it can
> be a lengthy process. I would recommend buying additional mouthpieces for
> the wind instruments so you can always have a clean one available. When you
> play a wind instrument your spit can travel through the whole body of the
> instrument. Because of this cleaning a trumpet, for example, would be less
> time consuming to clean than a clarinet or flute because of the amount of
> keys that you would want to clean around. They have different cleaning
> products & brushes for each type of instrument based on the material the
> instrument is made of and you can find all of those usually online or at a
> music supply store.
>
> 2.) Reeds come in different levels of softness regarding the wood. So the
> reed you choose would depend on the experience of the musician. If you are
> a more experienced musician you would have a firmer wood for your reed
> versus a musician new to the instrument would want a softer wood, as it is
> easier to move air past the softer wood. You also cannot play a reed
> instrument with a dry reed. We were taught to hold the reed in our mouth to
> soften it with your saliva. Reeds can last for a good amount of time based
> on how you treat it and how often you play. You do not need a new reed
> everytime you play.
>
> Based on the knowledge I have on wind instruments you could go about it in
> a couple different ways:
>
> -You could have patrons purchase their own reeds or you could keep a
> variety of reeds that they can use but they would then keep their reed for
> a while and bring it in with them when they want to play an instrument.
> -You can purchase separate pieces for instruments. If you are worried
> about patrons sharing a mouthpiece despite being sanitized you could have
> patrons bring in their own mouth pieces and then you only have to worry
> about sanitizing the body of the instrument between patron use.
>
> I think it is do-able to share instruments between patrons but it also
> depends on how much time or money you would want to dedicate to the care
> and keeping of the instruments. I hope any of this is of help to you and
> feel free to reach out if you have any other questions and I'll do my best
> to answer based on my knowledge. Good luck!
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 17, 2023 at 1:37 PM BillieJo Bluemer via Michlib-l <
> michlib-l at mcls.org> wrote:
>
>> If your library includes musical instruments, not just ukulele, but
>> flute, trumpet, and more as part of your Library of Things could you share
>> some information? We will be receiving a donation of assorted instruments
>> from a family in memory of a long term board trustee.
>>
>>
>>
>> We have concerns and questions about safely checking out these
>> instruments especially woodwind/brass.
>>
>>    1. How do you keep the instruments clean/sanitized? Is it even
>>    possible?
>>    2. If the instruments require a ‘reed’ to be played, do you provide
>>    it or have the patron get that on their own?
>>    3. Do you even think it’s possible to have a “library of things” that
>>    includes instruments?
>>
>>
>>
>> At this time, we’re thinking of just accepting percussion/string
>> instruments. Any advice and guidance is appreciated.
>>
>>
>>
>> *BillieJo Bluemer*
>>
>> Director
>>
>> *Rauchholz Memorial Library*
>>
>> *1140 N Hemlock Rd*
>>
>> *Hemlock MI 48626*
>>
>> *989-642-8621*
>>
>> [image: smalllogo]
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Michlib-l mailing list
>> Michlib-l at mcls.org
>> https://mail3.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Michlib-l mailing list
> Michlib-l at mcls.org
> https://mail3.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
>

-- 
*Stephanie B. Herm*
*Paraprofessional, *
*Taylor Community Library*
*& Braille and Talking Books*

[Image: The library's logo composed of the braille letters "TCL" and
"Taylor Community Library" printed below all in gradient shades of blue.]

Confidential: This message and all contents contain information from the
City of Taylor which may be privileged, confidential or otherwise protected
from disclosure under applicable law. The information is intended to be for
the addressee only. If you are not the addressee, or if you have received
this message in error, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the
contents of this message is prohibited. If you have received this message
in error, please notify us immediately by reply email or telephone
734-287-4840 and destroy the original message and all attachments without
retaining any copies.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20230718/10b1004d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2808 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mail3.mcls.org/pipermail/michlib-l/attachments/20230718/10b1004d/attachment.jpg>