Klarinet Archive - Posting 001000.txt from 1997/09

From: benevolent1@-----.com
Subj: Re: My first clarinet
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 00:37:09 -0400

You have made some excellent points based on experience, but I still
stand by my thesis that many students do take good care of their musical
instruments. Maybe I live in a bubble of kids who tolerate marching band
(and marching horns) just so they can be in Symphonic I during the
spring, but you can be assured that this will be a conversation topic
Monday morning 6:30 a.m. at marching practice. More points (of varying
seriousness and humor) follow kindly inserted into Mr. Hopkins's message.

Sarah

On Sun, 21 Sep 1997 21:00:13 -0500 (CDT) Gary Hopkins
<ghopkins@-----.net> writes:
>Sarah,
>
>I know the school you attend. Crowley HS is a very good example of how
>well
>kids take care, or don't take care, of their instruments. We service
>Crowley
>instruments on a regular basis. The biggest problem we find with your
>school's instruments is the lack of maintenance the brass instruments
>receive. We spend tons of time trying to free-up frozen tuning slides
>because they have not been pulled and greased periodically by the
>students.
This is very true. School instruments are a sad thing. I have the
school's Eb clarinet, and I spent about $100 getting it re padded. The
instrument hadn't been used in a while since I had it, and I felt that it
was my responsibility to get what I needed to done to it. There will be
a mysterious benevolent person looking out for those brass players'
tuning slides from now on @-----.
This is something that should be done on a regular basis.
You are correct, but I am pretty sure that if schools told the students
how much their instruments cost, some things may change. I propose
putting a big red tag on the case telling the price of the instrument.
Actually, that wouldn't change much. If you love music and your
instrument, the respect will always be there.
>I know that I'm talking about school owned brass instruments, but the
>same
>lack of care is given to woodwinds at all schools. Burleson Middle
>School,
>just down the road, has new top line Selmer bass clarinets for their
>beginners to use. These instruments are in the shop every week for
>repair.
>The keys are ALWAYS bent because of mis-handling the instruments while
>in
>rehearsal (band class) and when putting the instruments in the case
>afterwards. The octave keys and the right hand F/C keys get the most
>abuse.
But this is Burleson, and we *all* know how Crowleyites feel about the
lovely Burleson Elks. No rivalry there.
>I could write volumes about the abuse I have seen given to instruments
>both
>privately owned and state owned. I agree that not all of the kids are
>rough
>on their horns, and many are truly proud of their instrument. However,
>this
>is NOT the norm. Not all kids hang up their clothes, make their beds
>or wash
>their hands after they go to the bathroom. How they are raised is key.
>You
>are probably a very lucky young lady with loving and responsible
>parents.
I am.
>(Not like Diane Zamora)
OK, that was just a little tacky (I really don't mean that, but I needed
to say something, it was just left out there in the open. I could tell
you stories...but they don't have anything to do with the clarinet.)

Enjoy the rest of September as marching season is (thankfully) over in
about 1 1/2 months.

Sarah (again)