The university is home to a pretty wide collection of instruments... but sadly, the budget to keep them in good maintenance hasn't always been there, and over the years, there has been less and less of the instruments being used... which is a vicious cycle, as that means that there is less of a reason to maintain them... which means that no-one will use them... and so on and so forth.

The part that interests me is the collection of historical copies of Baroque and Classical instruments... and I'm starting to discover that there is quite a large collection of instruments that were purchased when the university seemingly had a bequest to collect them... bought quite a lot of things, and then squirreled them away... which is quite sad, as instruments are made to be played.

Last year, I discovered two period harps... one Baroque one, and another for later Classical repertoire. And then, when the storage rooms were being cleared out for renovations, I got a tip that there were two sets of Baroque oboes, caccias, and d'amore... and I found them... along with a batch of brass instruments...

... and more recently, I got a tip that there were lutes and a theorbo! So, on the last trip in to teach... I ducked into the temporary storage... and there it was!

Missing strings, but otherwise... not in terrible condition. I'm not a player of the instrument itself, but it plucked and sounded okay...

... and it does appear that most of the bass strings were also intact. So, it SHOULD be a very small matter of restringing to bring this up to some decent condition. And in the same trip, I saw a pair of violones as well!

So, the idea is cooking... perhaps my ensemble could loan some of these instruments in the future to further our education outreach! That would be pretty damn awesome... just got to sound out some people... but anything would be better than leaving these instruments just sitting around doing nothing.

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Coinbase Wallet: Multi chain wallet with lots of opportunities to Learn and Earn!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
WooX: The centralised version of WooFi. Stake WOO for fee-free trades and free withdrawals! This link also gives you back 25% of the commission.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
KuCoin: I still use this exchange to take part in the Spotlight and Burning Drop launches.
MEXC: Accepts HIVE, and trades in most poopcoins! Join the casino!
ByBit: Leverage and spot trading, next Binance?
OkX: Again, another Binance contender?