Baritonium

My sister plays the baritone in her highschool band and borrows one from the school to keep at home for practicing on. The thing is over 30 years old and is a complete piece of junk: it's dented all over, the outer coating is flaking off everywhere, the valves look like they were handled using a wrench and so on.

Anyway, she got tired of having it drip mysteriously green liquid out of her spit valves so she decided to clean it the way her music teacher told her to.

Are you really supposed to bathe baritones? (Bathe as in immerse completely in a tub full of water for several minutes) :huh:

remove the valves first and clean those separately using a completely non-abrasive cleaner. Once they are removed, yes, you can put the horn in the tub.

Oh, and if the brass is flaking, be careful... if you're sensitive you can get brass poisoning. (poisoning is the wrong word... let's just say you can have a negative reaction)

Yes, this is a perfectly normal procedure. It should be done at least once every couple years. With trumpets and (not so) French ('cause they're German) horns, at least they fit in the tub. With lower brass, you're lucky if they actually fit, even if you remove all the valves and slides, which you're supposed to do. Tubists usually have to buy kiddie pools to bathe their instruments (or just use the neighbor's outdoor jacuzzi).

But it's not bad for the instrument?

How do you dry it out?

Yes, this is a perfectly normal procedure. It should be done at least once every couple years. With trumpets and (not so) French ('cause they're German) horns, at least they fit in the tub. With lower brass, you're lucky if they actually fit, even if you remove all the valves and slides, which you're supposed to do. Tubists usually have to buy kiddie pools to bathe their instruments (or just use the neighbor's outdoor jacuzzi).

Once every couple years??? Try every 2 months, more if you're playing a brass instrument in more..extreme conditions (like, for instance, drum corps). If you clean a horn once every 2 years it will probably clogged and completely gross after one year.

But it's not bad for the instrument?

How do you dry it out?

Well, I towel the outside off, and the put the instrument on a towel and let it dry out naturally. But remember, the instument gets uhm... damp with playing anyway, so just turning it aroud and throwing out the water should be sufficient.

But I play trumpet, so I guess you do the same with baritone, just on a larger scale.

And no, it's not bad for the instrument.

Once every couple years??? Try every 2 months, more if you're playing a brass instrument in more..extreme conditions (like, for instance, drum corps). If you clean a horn once every 2 years it will probably clogged and completely gross after one year.

Well, it depends on the use that the the instrument gets. I don't play my trumpet like a trumpet major in college, and neither did the previous owner. In fact, the thing hasn't been bathed for at least 5 years, and it's perfectly fine, doesn't even smell or anything. Why? Because I keep it clean and take care of it after every time I play. I make sure the thing is emaculate, and I flush it every 6 months or so. An instrument doesn't need to be bathed unless it needs it. My tuba needed it... and you won't believe the grime that came out of the thing... that's because it's a school instrument that nobody really takes care of.