Care Kits and Reeds
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What is a Care Kit?
Care kits include the items required for the routine maintenance on an instrument. Buckley's Music has care kits custom made and takes care to only include the necessary items. Our care kits include care kit instructions and the following items:
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Flute
Polish cloth - for the exterior of the instrument
Silken swab - to absorb moisture inside the instrument
Pad paper - to help with sticky keys
Headjoint swab - for swabbing the headjoint -
Clarinet
Polish cloth - for the exterior of the instrument
Hanky swab - to absorb moisture inside the instrument
Mouthpiece brush - use to clean the mouthpiece
Cork grease - use in moderation on all corked joints
Reedguard II - stores two clarinet reeds -
Saxophone
Polish cloth - for the exterior of the instrument
Neck swab - for swabbing the sax neck
Hanky swab - to absorb moisture inside the instrument
Mouthpiece brush - use to clean the mouthpiece
Cork grease - use in moderation on sax neck cork
Reedguard II - stores two sax reeds -
Trumpet
Polish cloth - for the exterior of the instrument
Vinyl snake - for cleaning the interior of the instrument
Mouthpiece brush - use to clean the mouthpiece
Tuning slide grease - use in moderation on all tuning slides
Valve oil - use in moderation to oil valves -
French Horn
Polish cloth - for the exterior of the instrument
Vinyl snake - for cleaning the interior of the instrument
Mouthpiece brush - use to clean the mouthpiece
Tuning slide grease - use in moderation on all tuning slides
Valve oil - use in moderation to oil valves -
Trombone
Polish cloth - for the exterior of the instrument
Vinyl snake - for cleaning the interior of the instrument
Mouthpiece brush - use to clean the mouthpiece
Tuning slide grease - use in moderation on all tuning slides
Trombone cream - use in moderation on the trombone slide
Spray bottle - used to spray water on the trombone slide -
What is a reed?
To make sound requires vibration and on most woodwind instruments the sound is produced by a vibrating reed. Reeds are most often made from thin cane, but they can also be made from plastic. Reeds come in various strengths. Some manufacturers use Soft - Medium Soft - Medium - Medium-Hard - Hard to describe reed strengths and other use a numerical system from 1 to 5 with half or quarter steps to measure various strengths.
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Most beginners start on a strength 2 or 2 ½ Rico or Rico Royal cane reed. Many other brands are available, but from our experience, these are the brands and strengths educators prefer to start beginners on.