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Our site design is being finalised, as described here but there is a follow on question around swag.

As @Hynes pointed out, T-shirts and stickers are standard swag, but a third can be suggested by the community, so why not get your thinking caps on and pop some ideas.

(disclaimer, as a guitarist, mine may be biased that way, so let's make sure there are a wide range of ideas from other music disciplines!)

17 Answers 17

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A page clip holder with a version of the logo and URL across the top

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A selection of guitar picks with the 3 bars logo on one side (and possibly the URL on the other)

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  • I think this is the thing that will be most used
    – Shevliaskovic
    Commented Mar 24, 2016 at 8:05
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    Not by violinists
    – dumbledad
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 11:57
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    Ha, I dislike that this site has such a big guitar scene - but this idea is far and away the coolest! =)
    – Chris
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 13:09
  • Lol - I did say I really want folks from other music disciplines to pitch their ideas. Please do!
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 13:18
  • @Chris As a classically trained pianist from a young age, who later took up the guitar when I was 19, I have to suggest you not knock it 'til you've tried it! ;-)
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 14:01
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    @Todd - Sadly, there's a long list of far more exotic instruments I'd like to have a crack at first. Now...anyone selling a bassoon?!
    – Chris
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 14:06
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    @Chris - This could be you: tshirthell.com/funny-shirts/bassoon-hero
    – Bob Broadley
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 17:31
  • @BobBroadley New swag idea?
    – Chris
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 17:44
  • @BobBroadley Nice. I own their "Piano Hero" shirt.
    – user28
    Commented Apr 1, 2016 at 23:11
  • Not a fan of the idea as it only appeals to guitar players, not to any or at least a wide array of musicians.
    – Édouard
    Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 23:50
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A tuner of some kind - this is a Snark, which is suitable for most instruments - and could have a logo added to the back:

This one from Southwest Strings:

enter image description here

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    He he, glad to see you courting the violinist vote with the picture swap! +1
    – dumbledad
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 14:02
  • Well - I thought I'd go a quick hunt for pictures so Joshua @Hynes has some ideas to go on, and this looked better than my original one
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 14:27
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    Incidentally, does anyone have one of these tuners that works? Mines crap - not made for wind instruments it seems! (That's no reflection on my thoughts on the idea - just this model!)
    – Chris
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 23:46
  • I, and most of the folks I know have snarks. They just work consistently well on most instruments. Many guitarists also have a tuner in their pedal board but snarks just work. You may have a faulty one, I guess.
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 23:57
  • I'm such a tuning snob that I couldn't see myself using one of these, but i'm just one member of the community. I'm a little surprised people using anything but their smart phones when they want quick, cheap tuning.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:03
  • I would never use my phone for tuning at a gig - they just don't work in high noise environments. And they are too laggy.
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:05
  • @DrMayhem I always have a very serious tuner for gigs - that's the snobbery part.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 15:14
  • All my pedal boards have excellent tuners, but the snark is just so cheap and easy and sufficiently accurate that I like mine. Also it works with my electric or acoustic guitars, and my violin :-)
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 15:20
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I know it's boring, but how about soft pencils?

A popular musician's pencil is a #1 like this Ticonderoga from Amazon:

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  • Do you have a picture you could share? The Home Improvement SE community did branded carpenter pencils for their swag item. They were pretty cool.
    – Hynes
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 13:00
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    Whilst a but dull, this is probably the most universal. Has this concept reached the US yet - pencils with built in magnets? Throw them at your music stand, and they stick? cdn.notonthehighstreet.com/system/product_images/images/001/319/…
    – Chris
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 13:19
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    @Chris I'd want that! :P
    – Hynes
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 13:56
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    If we could have "clicky" pencils, that would be really good...
    – Bob Broadley
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:34
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    @Chris Throwing pencils? Do you have a hatred of lead?
    – Édouard
    Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 23:53
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Okay, this is my final offering...

My son came up with this - c'mon, be honest, it's a genius idea!

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    Kazoo is a brilliant idea. But then, so is a Ukelele! All touring bands have Uke's these days :-)
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 16:36
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    Don't forget the swanee whistle for that ultimate duet experience!
    – Ian Goldby
    Commented Apr 2, 2016 at 15:40
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Something else that every musician needs...

enter image description here

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    Are foam earplugs available with printing on the side? I could see a problem with the printing coming off and leaving tiny particles in the ears.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 15:49
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    Quite a few of my earplugs come in little branded pocket cases. That could work
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 16:19
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I eschew paper, pens, pencils, etc. in favor of digital media and all that, and I'm pretty particular about what picks I use, but I would wear the heck out of a T-shirt and/or hoodie with the logo on it. I would probably buy two or three t-shirts and a hoodie.

  • Hoodies with the logo on the back
  • Folios for music/tablets and pencils/styli with the logo (not necc. leather) Business folio
  • Backpacks with the logo on the back
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  • 3
    Nice idea, that folio one... an embossed logo could be very smart
    – Doktor Mayhem Mod
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 14:29
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    This is my favorite. For one, it's not limited to particular instruments. (I'm looking at you, guitar pickers :-P )
    – Karen
    Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 16:18
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I propose a magnetic pencil holder. It consists of a rubberized magnetic ring. The rubber ensures, that the pencil does not slide through even in vertical position, and the magnet attaches to the sheet stand. The sheet in the photo is in actual playing angle. (While I did not have the time to insert the logo, I chose a matching pencil.)

Magnetic pensil holder

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  • And it holds your pages in place! That's amazing!
    – Josiah
    Commented Apr 9, 2016 at 16:08
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Drumsticks.

Cadre has a great signature pair from Cooperman. Cadre Drumstick

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Well, if you ask me what any music performer1 need, I would say “a tuning fork”. Are these available with branding? No idea. 440Hz, 442Hz, whatever-people-use-these-days Hz or some-weird-baroque-thingy Hz? Matter for another debate.

  1. With the exception of most percussionists, I guess, but really, how many of those should be considered actual musicians?
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  • Hey now. Tuning is important over here in timpani land too... :)
    – Josiah
    Commented Apr 9, 2016 at 14:05
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    @Josiah Hence the “most” before “percussionists” ;-)
    – Édouard
    Commented Apr 9, 2016 at 16:03
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What about a luggage tag - or as we musicians call it: Instrument case tag...

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Pens - like the Stack Exchange sharpies, but with site branded, and maybe in various colours.

Y'know - for signing all those autographs...

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  • 1
    Or taking notes on those pesky sheets. On a choir sheet, I usually have at least three colours of highlighters, where blue means “hey, your part is here” (which is very useful when there are divisi everywhere or the number of staves keep changing per system/page), red means “pay attention to/practice this stuff, you suck at it” and green means “pay attention to this part where other are playing to take you pitch/your entry. Don’t sing it, though, you’re not a soprano/clarinet/balalaika”.
    – Édouard
    Commented Apr 9, 2016 at 12:58
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When you’re practicing, what do you use? That’s right, a metronome. An electronic, pocketable metronome.

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    Using a smartphone app requires no additional gadget.
    – guidot
    Commented Apr 9, 2016 at 12:39
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Music theory flash cards? Ahdunno, it's kinda dumb. I was thinking that it would be something useful, but music-related and not biased to any particular instrument.

Example from Ackerman Music:

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enter image description here

Why...?

Because everybody likes maracas!

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How about a tote bag for carrying one's music to a gig?

(Note: image below does not have the spiffy new musicexchange logo because it's late and I'm too tired to fire up gimp)

enter image description here

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As a retort to Bob Broadley’s maracas (I find maracas awfully hard to play properly), I would suggest branded claves. Much easier to use; the main issue (besides availability for branding) would be quality. A pair of claves needs to be somewhat good sounding to be of any use.

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