Klarinet Archive - Posting 000967.txt from 1999/05

From: "Jim O'Briant" <jobriant@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Unfeeling Band Directors
Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 09:52:23 -0400

Cindy Field wrote:

> I have heard, much to my dismay, Bill, that some school districts require
> kids to use Buffet R13s. I have not confirmed this myself but have heard
it
> from several sources. Pity the parents who cannot afford a high-end
clarinet,
> so the kid goes to school with what the band director and other kids
think is
> a "lesser" instrument. Ouch! You know how peer pressure hurts.

I have seen a number of school districts in the midwest where the band
director required a particular brand of instrument.

In one case, it was [brand name deleted so as not to besmirch the
innocent], and it had to be a wooden clarinet, not plastic, or you were
forever in the "second" band and not in the first one. There was only one
music store in the area that was a dealer for this brand. The store's
representative called on this particular school twice a week (rather than
the weekly visit that was customary for all other schools and done by other
stores), and this store was the only one invited to display instruments at
the "beginning band" recruiting event. Thus, the one store got virtually
all the instrument and accessory business from this particular school
district.

A good friend of mine, owner of a competing store, always suspected
under-the-table payoffs, but was never able to prove it.

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA

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