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The difference really is noticeable to an experienced player. Depending on the experience level and even genre of music played, the effects may be noticed after only a few months of not cleaning, or after two years. It all depends. If an high school player is playing mostly the low rumbly notes of a concert band piece, they may not notice much affect at all, ...

For a rotary-valve tuba, the process is slightly different because the rotary valves cannot be removed from their housings (unlike piston valves). However, the basic idea is the same: Draw a lukewarm bath of water into the tub. Add a mild hand soap to aid cleaning; DO NOT use dish detergent (you'll never get it back out of the rotaries no matter how much ...

This is for a piston-valve tuba, by the way, not a rotary valve. Also keep in mind to do this all very gently, tubas scratch easily. You'll want to take it completely apart (valves out too, and remember how it goes together) and set in a bath tub full of warm/hot water. Then, add some soap (mild, non-abrasive) and rub it gently with a cloth to get off grime ...

Overall, the residue will affect the sound if it's large enough to change the shape of a tube. If you have a lot of dirt or "stuff" inside it can affect the tube size or change the direction of the sound waves, and so change the tone and pitch. It is probably more important to keep the valves clean and oiled so they don't wear and leak around the edges (and ...

Some plastic recorders have separate blocks but most of those are glued in so removing them is not really possible. Warm/hot dishwater in the sink will do the trick. Later, a piece of card stock cut appropriately can be used to dislodge particles of food or lint that get caught in windway afterwards, or just wash it again. A clean pipe cleaner will work ...

The mouthpiece is likely silver plated; silver polish will work well on that, as would the aluminum foil trick. (Since it's silver plated as opposed to solid silver, perhaps try that trick first.) I think the aluminum foil trick: http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/tarnish.html will likely be the least damaging, but I'm not an expert in metallurgy. The ...

I approach cleaning my recorders the same way a flutist cleans their instrument because both have a stopped head joint. My recorders all came with a cleaning rod. I use a small piece of fabric, usually silk, and run this through the instrument after each time I play. You should be careful when cleaning the windway because any nicks to the ramp (the angled ...