A Valentine message for your music stand, and for ours at Music Centre. With a little TLC, you and your stand could be best of friends for years, even decades.
At Music Centre, we use the classic design of folding stand. This type of stand is light and compact, and it can meet the needs of most musicians most of the time. Follow a few basic rules, and our stands — and your own if you have one — will be happy. The stand in our photos is 28 years old and still going strong!
1. Big ears up, little ears down
The top part of the stand looks like it can fold in two ways — and, if you force it, it will. Folding the stand the wrong way is the most common cause of permanent damage.
The stand is designed to fold just one way. Do it wrong and the stand will bend.
Here’s the right way and the wrong way:
2. Not too tight!
The second most common cause of damage is tightening the screws too much. If you do this, you will eventually strip the threads (so the screw won’t work at all) or you will crush the tubes (making it difficult or impossible to slide them into each other).
If the screw doesn’t seem to grip enough, try cleaning the upright tube with a damp cloth, or with a bit of rubbing alcohol to remove grease.
3. Get the legs right
The legs of the stand should be opened so that they are at an angle of roughly 45 degrees to the ground. Too steep and the stand will become unstable and fall over. Too shallow and the stand will not support its own weight (and it will sink to the ground.
4. Support the stand from behind
It is best to rotate the music desk (the top of the stand) so that one of the legs sticks straight out behind the stand. If you do this, the stand is less likely to fall over backwards when you load it with music.
West Norfolk Music Centre 