How to Identify Orchestral Instrtuments

October 2, 2023, 9:25 AM · As Music Librarians for our local youth orchestra we've been asked to work out how to identify orchestra owned instruments that the orchestra loans to young musicians.

We've thought of just inserting a label but the inside of most violins is so dusty that labels don't stick. How do we clean the inside surface so that a label will stick?

We've also thought about the tags that can be pinged to determine their location. That could help the orchestra to recover loaned instruments where the young musician stops being a part of the orchestra but doesn't return the loaned instrument.

We're sure somebody has already solved these problems. Help!

Replies (6)

Gene Wie

October 2, 2023, 9:50 AM · For my youth orchestra, we had our luthier do the cleaning and insertion of a label inside identifying it as being the property of the non-profit organization.

It is now trivial to include a NFC/RFID chip on a sticker that can also be placed inside the instrument, allowing a proximity scanner to read it.

Tags requiring a more substantial power source are probably not worth it in this instance, except perhaps you can integrate them into the case if its really necessary.

Susan Agrawal

October 2, 2023, 12:21 PM · My son uses a loaned instrument and it has a paper tag with a numerical code on it, kind of on the bout underneath the tailpiece. The shop put it there, so whatever adhesive it uses is clearly safe for instruments. I've also seen numeric tags stuck on the tailpiece itself when we borrowed instruments from other shops. Unfortunately, these could be peeled off, but if you don't anticipate that being an issue, it might be an easy solution.

Mark Breiger

October 2, 2023, 12:22 PM · I do not know the value of the unstruments involved here. However, I suspect that technological solutions will not be cost effective. (It costs money to have someone insert the tags.)

Do these instruments not have makers labels inside them?

I would recommend identifying them visually. Photograph them, front, back, inside their f hole and their case.

Such photos are probably important for insurance anyway.

Esther Kerze

October 2, 2023, 2:03 PM · The simplest and most obvious idea seems to be a sticker either under the tailpiece or under the neck - where it's easy to look, but it don't get peeled off by wear and tear. I don't think it's that easy to peel a sticker off where you can't reach with your fingers, so while it's not perfect, it may be good enough.
Regarding tags you can ping remotely, I see all sorts of issues with it, apart from them being expensive. There's a world of difference between putting such a tag in your own case and effectively having a third person being able to track your child's location, where you live, where you go on holiday, etc.

Rich Maxham

October 3, 2023, 9:16 PM · If the inside is so dusty that no label will adhere, the instrument must not be stored in a case. You can take the setup down and blow through the endbutton hole to send a lot of dust out or hammer a tin brush from a hardware store flat and brush the area clean enough. Most instruments can have a simple label from a printer installed easily. Rental shops often do this.

Tony Leatham

October 4, 2023, 2:36 AM · There's another (slightly easier) way to clean the inside of a violin.

That is to get a small amount of uncooked rice through the F-holes, and then swish it around. The rice/dust mixture can then be poured back out through the F-holes.

Here's a violin shop's take on this

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How to Identify Orchestral Instrtuments

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