# Travelling with an instrument



## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

A violinist can't get her instrument back yet...

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-...ndra-conunova-guadagnini-confiscated-airport/

Have you had security trouble or harassment from an airline or train company while travelling with your instrument?

(Singers are lucky!)

The Concertgebouw travels a lot. I wonder if they buy an entire flight's seats.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

It's a pain in the butt! I travel with a bassoon - the case is quite compact and fits nicely in the overhead compartment. But every now and then an airline comes out and says all instruments must go in the cargo hold. No way! It's too cold there, wood can crack. Then there's the bell issue: on many older instruments, the white ring on the bassoon is made of ivory, as are parts of violin bows. Some countries have strict policies about ivory being brought in. Instruments have been confiscated unless the owner can prove it's not ivory or that it was made before a certain date. The only major trouble I ever had was forgetting to remove my reed knife and tools from the case and put them in my baggage. That was in China and I was quickly hauled into security and scrutinized carefully. Fortunately, one of the supervisors had a son who played oboe, was aware of the need for the tools. They kept the knife but returned everything else. Scary.

Anymore when I travel I just don't want to have to deal with hassles or cause hold ups, so when I leave home with a bassoon I now take my 60 year old Linton. It's man-made materials, extremely sturdy, fits in a small case and if it winds up in cargo, under the seat, or even lost, it doesn't matter. Ask bassoonists about Linton - the Bassoon from Hell for some. But with a good Heckel bocal, the right reeds and some luck, it plays surprisingly well and projects very nicely. Good intonation, too.

I learned another lesson: if you go abroad and buy a lot of scores, printed music etc, be careful at US customs when you return.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

(I once posted this in the thread <horrible album covers>)


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Traveling with a grand piano is the pits!


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Johannes Raab does it like this.


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

MarkW said:


> Traveling with a grand piano is the pits!


From all accounts a Theorbo is in a similar position


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Sometimes you just gotta strap it to your back and go.









Of course, I'm a guitar player. None of this piano, harp, or theorbo stuff.


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

I've travelled with my violin, without issue. Given, it was worth mere thousands, not millions, but I still would have been lost if I'd been told to check it into cargo. I guess it depends on the airline (SAS and Lufthansa were both very gracious and accommodating), and perhaps also the class you travel in. I was in business class for the longer haul. But even when in economy, I managed to fit it snugly under the row of seats in from of me without disturbing anyone.

It's not something I would want to do frequently. And definitely not as a professional.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There's also the often outrageous cost to traveling with larger instruments which, needless to say, will go in the cargo hold. I was asked to play contrabassoon in a concert in central Mexico several years ago. The orchestra agreed to pay for my transportation, hotel, and the usual fee - which is low in Mexico. The airline quoted me $1100 to ship the contra in its very large and very heavy travel case at which point the orchestra balked. Could I drive? Not in that area! So they did without.


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## Enthalpy (Apr 15, 2020)

The cargo hold can be heated. It's done for animals and is possible for instruments. But... If someone fails in the information chain...

Ivory: why don't you let a workshop replace your bassoon's ring with plastic, metal or carbon fibre?


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

MarkW said:


> Traveling with a grand piano is the pits!


Same for me but it would be a pipe organ. Fortunately I travel "to" those instruments and perform.

Kh


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Aurelian said:


> A violinist can't get her instrument back yet...
> 
> https://www.classicfm.com/discover-...ndra-conunova-guadagnini-confiscated-airport/
> 
> ...


Did you have it yourself and are you musician I wonder since I saw this thread?
( If I may be so bold asking)


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## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

Rogerx said:


> Did you have it yourself and are you musician I wonder since I saw this thread?
> ( If I may be so bold asking)


I am not a musician.

The link from classicfm led me to ask this question.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Enthalpy said:


> Ivory: why don't you let a workshop replace your bassoon's ring with plastic, metal or carbon fibre?


My good bassoon has plastic, my cheap bassoon a metal ring. I'm covered. My Heckel owning friends with the traditional German bell ring, not so much.


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## progmatist (Apr 3, 2021)

In the mid to late 80s while in the Navy, I flew frequently. I carried a Fender Stratocaster, in a rectangular hard shell case in the cabin without a problem. I simply put it in the overhead bin, and others could stow their items on top of it. If I tried doing this in a post 9/11 world, I have no doubt I'd encounter significantly more resistance.


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