“Breaking in” a new instrument

[danielh]

Hello!

Any tips on how to deal with a brand new instrument? I’ve heard that it has to be broken in properly to avoid tuning and other problems in the future. How to play and what should I avoid? Or is it even a real thing or not?

[timothy42b]

We've had some debate on the "playing in" aspect. I think it's a myth myself.

But it's true that not all new products are equally machined and polished, and it's probably a very good practice to clean frequently, like daily, for the first month or so. There may be some polishing grit or fine metal fragments in there and you want all that cleaned out before it can cause wear. Some manufacturers are better than others at delivering a clean product but all of them can have some get through.

[BGuttman]

Don't drive over 50 (80 K), change the oil at 3,000 miles (5,000 K), no stressful driving, ...

Oh, wait. This isn't a car.

Make sure to run a slide cleaner with cheesecloth down the outer slide at least every other day.

Be prepared for the slide to need lubricant more often. Fresh lube every time you play is not unexpected (but not mandatory).

If you find the slide is scratchy and a fresh lube job doesn't fix it, get it serviced. If you find the slide has any "clicks" or rough spots get it serviced.

If you have a valve, make sure to lubricate it properly. The horn should have been "set up" including a valve cleaning. This is not something you should have to do to a new horn.

[harrisonreed]

It shouldn't need breaking in. If you take really good care of the slide, slide action might improve over time before it starts to degrade again. That's about it.

Tuning will only change if you dent the crooks or never clean the horn.

Braces and soldered joints will only get worse over time.

[ithinknot]

All the above.

Other perceived improvements are 'learning to play it'.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

The original question is sort of like…..Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Does the instrument of a great trombonist play great because the artist can make any instrument sound good or do they actually “break in” the instrument and force it to be more resonate and better in tune. My inclinations are that it is about 85% the former and 15% the latter.

When I was in London in 1985 and studying with Denis Wick, we were trying to improve my mid-range D (3rd line bass clef) which had always been a dull note on the trombone I was using at the time. At one point, Denis said “go have some scones with my wife and I will work on that note.” Denis proceeded to do play the loudest Ds I have ever heard for about 15 to 20 minutes on my trombone while I was chatting with his wife in the next room. He handed me the horn and said “that should be better now.” Sure enough, the mid-range D was definitely easier to play!

I can tell many other similar stories, some about trumpets, in which a student plays an instrument poorly and the instrument takes on the unfavorable intonation or tone quality habits of the musician. Fortunately, the instrument can sometimes be “retrained” to play correctly.

When I taught high school, I had a student who’s trumpet was so out of tune on certain pitches, he had to use “creative fingerings.” His low D was 30 cents sharp with a 1+2+3 fingering. That’s more than 1 and 1/4 chromatic steps sharp and yet all of the open pitches were perfectly in tune. I let him borrow my trumpet for a summer and trained him to diligently use a tuner (I didn’t want him to do the same thing to my old trumpet!). Meanwhile, I did few repairs on his horn and played it daily to work on getting those pitches in the third partial lower. When I handed the horn back to him at the end of the summer, he had a D that was functional with a 1+3 fingering, and the C# (1+2+3) was useable with both the 1st and 3rd slides maxed out. Previously, the C# did not exist on that horn for him.

Now, I’m sure that many out there will say “The instrument didn’t change. It was the musician that mostly changed.” Yes, I agree. But I still believe (the 15% that I mentioned) that an instrument takes on the qualities of its player. If you want a trombone to play well, do the obvious cleaning and maintenance that was aforementioned. However, I feel that it is very important to play long tones and make the instrument REALLY VIBRATE on every pitch. Also, play with a tuner regularly so that the musician (85%) and the new instrument (15%) learn to line up every pitch perfectly in tune.

[Kbiggs]

Brian,

I remember that Denis Wick anecdote from his book Trombone Technique. He left out the scones part of it, though. I’m sure they were delicious!

Wick’s book also provided some other anecdotes about breaking in a new horn, like running “stale milk” through a new instrument to help the sound and response. He added he didn’t advise it and, IIRC, he thought that it was just the extra cleaning needed to get the stale milk out of the instrument that improved the horn.

I also remember on the old TF Sam Burtis (sabutin) saying he had a horn (I believe it was a 6H) that he really liked—good sound and good response. He sold the horn to a Dixie player who was known to play loud and rough. When Sam played the horn again a few years later, it sounded and responded awful.

Odd thought: “Breaking in” a machine or instrument. What breaks?

I suppose that during play there are some chemical and physical changes to a horn during the break-in period that help it produce a different (read: “better”) response… something that was debated and speculated endlessly in the old TTF.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

There are many things that people notice about instruments that others might state is simple voodoo. When I worked in the big shop, sometimes other (non-musician) techs would bring me an instrument that was sent in for repairs and say "I think this instrument might belong to a pro.....it has a special feel to it. When I pull out the tuning slides, this instrument and the slides seem to vibrate on their own in my hands. Could you play it and let me know how it plays?"

Many times, their instincts were correct. An instrument that felt good in the hands played extremely well. Were these instruments outstanding because the musician knew how to select a special instrument or did the musician force their will on the instrument and make it vibrate a special way? Welcome to the Twilight Zone!

[BGuttman]

I've told this anecdote before, but I think it relates to "break in".

I had a catastrophic accident with my Yamaha 682 trombone. The bell got squashed. I had a friend working for Shires at the time and he told me he could have Steve fit my horn with a new bell for the cost of the bell. Back in those days you paid Shires for your horn and waited a year or more. I paid for the bell and it took Steve about 6 months to do the transplant. When I got the horn back it felt raw. Sound wasn't what I expected. I was really bummed out, since the bell had cost as much as the instrument had when I bought it. But I practiced on the horn playing all my usual stuff and persevered. After a few months, the sound magically got better. Better than the old bell. I don't know if the instrument was adapting to me or vice versa, but that sure felt like a "break in".

[Crazy4Tbone86]

Whenever I have a bell that gets relacquered, it always seems to play stiff for me when I start playing it again. It makes sense to me because lacquer is actually hard and rigid, sort of like peanut brittle. Anyone who has done dent removal will know exactly what I am talking about....the lacquer cracks like little pieces of glass when the metal is moved.

When the pandemic hit in spring of 2020, I had some free time on my hands. I was able to complete some work on a few of my own horns, buff them and lacquer them. All of them played stiff for the first several hours but then got more nimble and flexible as more time was spent playing them. I don't have a scientific explanation, but I believe that the lacquer loosens up over time from use and allows the metal to vibrate more freely.....just a theory!