Saxophone Assembly Tips

1. Soak the top part of the reed in your mouth or in a cup of water.
2. Place the neck strap around your neck.
3. Place the hook at the tip of the neck strap into the hook ring on the back of the saxophone (It’s toward the middle of the instrument above the thumb rest.)
4. Gently twist the neck onto the top of the saxophone so that the cork part is in line with the back of the saxophone.  Be very careful not to bend any keys! 
5. Gently tighten the neck screw so that the neck won’t move.
6. Place the mouthpiece about half way down the cork with the flat side facing down.
7. Steady the saxophone on your lap and place the soaked reed on the flat part of the mouthpiece.  
8. Place the ligature on top of the reed. The two screws should be centered in the front with the larger end of the screws pointing to the right.
9. Center the reed so that the tip is in line with the tip of the mouthpiece or just slightly below. 
10. Tighten the ligature so the reed won’t move.  Be careful not to make it too tight.
11. Adjust your strap so that it’s holding the weight of the instrument and you don’t have to bend your head down to reach the mouthpiece. 
12. Now you’re ready to play!!

Clarinet Assembly Tips

1. Soak the top part of the reed in your mouth or in a cup of water.
2. Gently twist the bell onto the lower joint (the larger joint) of the clarinet.  If it’s too hard to twist, put a small amount of grease on the cork and try again.
3. Twist the upper joint onto the lower joint so that the 3 tone holes of the upper joint are aligned with the 3 tone holes of the lower joint.  Be very careful not to bend any keys.
4. Twist the barrel on next.
5. When twisting on the mouthpiece, make sure the flat part is aligned with the long, silver key on the back of the clarinet called the register key.
6. Place the flat part of the soaked reed on the flat part of the mouthpiece.
7. Slide the ligature on top of the reed.
8. Turn the ligature so that the screws are centered on the front of the reed with the large ends pointing to the right. 
9. Center the reed so that the tip is in line with the tip of the mouthpiece or just slightly below.
10. Tighten the ligature so that the reed won’t move.  Be sure not to make it too tight. 
11. Now you’re ready to play!

Flute Assembly Tips

1. Insert the head joint into the middle joint with a slight twisting motion. At this point you should line up the embouchure hole with the first tone hole on the middle joint.  Be very careful not to bend any keys when holding the middle joint.
2. While holding the head and middle joints in your left hand, gently twist on the foot joint with your right hand.
3. Line up the foot joint so that the rod is centered with the tone holes of the middle joint.
4. Now you’re ready to play!

Trumpet and Baritone Horn Assembly Tips

• The Mouthpiece
  Always insert the mouthpiece straight into the mouthpiece receiver using a gentle downward twisting motion, not a forceful tap. The mouthpiece can become accidentally stuck if it is not correctly placed in the receiver. Accidents do happen, however, and there is a special tool for fixing just that.   See if your teacher has a tool called a “mouthpiece puller”. If not please contact the service people at Rayburn Music and they will help you.

Trombone Assembly

Your Trombone requires some assembly before you can play it. There are two main parts of the trombone that need to be put together after taking it out of the case. They are the bell section and the slide section.  These will need to connected by the round coupler found on the mouthpiece receiver section of the bell section called the bell lock. 

1. Connect the Slide section at the threaded area on the slide into the Bell section. Make sure the slide is now lying flat (a 90 degree angle) and to the right of bell section.
2. Connect the two pieces together by twisting the bell lock (coupler) until it is hand tight and so the slide section stays in its place and is not slipping.
3. Always insert the mouthpiece straight into the mouthpiece receiver using a gentle downward twisting motion, not a forceful tap. The mouthpiece can become accidentally stuck if it is not correctly placed in the receiver. Accidents do happen, however, and there is a special tool for fixing just that.  See if your teacher has a tool called a “mouthpiece puller”.  If not please contact the service people at Rayburn Music and they will help you.