Klarinet Archive - Posting 000651.txt from 1999/07

From: "Paulette W. Gulakowski" <pollyg@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: Hack repairs
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 12:11:17 -0400

I love your Dad! That's a great story. I have a brother alot like him
- and HE has a shirt that says, "I AM a rocket scientist!".
Unfortunately, Richie played the trombone, so no story. ;-(
Paulette

On Mon, 19 Jul 1999 17:13:17 -0700 "Kevin Fay (LCA)"
<kevinfay@-----.com> writes:
>Christopherhill@-----.net related:
>
>>>>I also made the mistake of explaining to a father that I flattened
>out
>the table of his son's mouthpiece. After I left, he took a look at it,
>and
>noticed that there was still this curve at the tip, so he continued
>flattening it until the facing was completely removed! Obviously, he
>needed
>to buy another mouthpiece. Whenever I work on a student's mouthpiece,
>I
>always begin with, "Kids, don't try this at home."<<<
>
>This could have been my Dad--well, almost. In the interest of full
>disclosure, I have to tell you that my Dad WAS a "rocket
>scientist"--proving
>that rocket scientists are not that smart, perhaps. He was a pretty
>good
>engineer, and understood manufacturing. (An example--when my 1971
>Plymouth
>burned a valve, he moseyed into his garage and made a replacement.
>Said it
>saved time from going to the parts store).
>
>I remember the day my R-13 arrived in the mail from Sam Ash (hey, it
>was
>only $325, less than half of what the stores charged in 1976). It
>was--and
>is--a terrific clarinet. I was happier than a clam at high tide. My
>father, noting my glee, proceeded to "inspect" the instrument.
>
>Fortunately, he didn't actually do anything to it, other than let me
>know
>that it CERTAINLY wasn't built the way Bill Boeing would have done
>it.
>According to my Dad, while an artistic triumph, the clarinet is an
>engineering flop. He was astonished that the joints are held together
>by
>friction and (gulp) cork--and that one had to rub Crisco on so they
>don't
>bind too tightly. Manufacturing tolerances could only be so stable on
>a
>piece of wood. None of the mechanisms have bearings. The pads are
>made out
>of . . . sheep intestine. And on and on and on.
>
>I have no doubt that if you had given my Dad a "proper" development
>budget
>(say, about the same as the Saturn V rocket booster or a really fine
>nuclear
>missile) he and his buddies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory would
>come up
>with a clarinet that's really . . . interesting.
>
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