Conservation and restoration of musical instruments: History and Key Facts

The conservation and restoration of musical instruments is performed by conservator-restorers who are professionals, properly trained to preserve or protect historical and current musical instruments from past or future damage or deterioration. Because musical instruments can be made entirely of, or simply contain, a wide variety of materials such as plastics, woods, metals, silks, and skin, to name a few, a conservator should be well-trained in how to properly examine the many types of construction materials used in order to provide the highest level or preventive and restorative conservation.

The conservation and restoration of musical instruments presents an issue that is unlike any faced elsewhere in the art world. Unlike paintings, sculptures and photographs, musical instruments are functional objects that cannot be fully appreciated through their visual aspects alone – much of their artistic value comes from the sound that they are able to produce. It is because of this that before beginning any treatments, determination should be made as to whether the piece will be available for display only or if there is intention to be able to perform with the instrument, as making an instrument available for performance may require the replacement of original pieces such as strings and drumheads, thus raising ethical issues relating to how much of the original object should be replaced and to what end.

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