With the weather finally starting to warm up all over the country, musicians should start considering how to care for their instruments in the heat. If you're planning on attending band camp, you and your instrument will be spending many hours in hot temperatures. Here are some ways you can make sure it doesn't affect the quality of your playing:
Store in room temperature
While you can't control what environment you'll be playing in, you can determine where you'll store your instruments. Scott Kurtzweil, the manager of woodwind and marching arts at The Woodwind & Brasswind, told Halftime magazine that musicians should keep their instruments, specifically wooden ones, somewhere with consistent temperature.
"The biggest thing is no sudden temperature changes, especially if it's a true wood instrument," he said. "It will affect the pads."
"Avoid keeping your instrument anywhere the sun will reach."
Cover when not in use
Over time, exposure to the sun can damage your instrument. Make sure you keep it covered, ideally in a case, when it's not in use. If possible, avoid keeping your instrument anywhere the sun will reach. This will eliminate the risk of sun damage.
Pay attention to tuning
Extreme temperatures often affect the tuning of an instrument, which is why you'll need to pay special attention to your sound while playing in heat. This may make it challenging to keep your instrument tuned), but you can alter your playing technique to sharpen or flatten notes, depending on what you need.
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