Klarinet Archive - Posting 000585.txt from 1999/12

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Quick question
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 22:30:23 -0500

on 12/17/99 5:13 PM, Neil Leupold wrote:

>I've always considered it worth the money to allow expert repair-
>men to adjust my instruments, rather than attempting to do it my-
>self. I don't have the experience or refinement of technique to
>achieve the kind of results that a Fobes or a Brannen can bring
>about. When each of your instruments cost bewteen three and five
>thousand dollars, it just makes sense to let the experts do what
>they do best. If I owned a Rolls-Royce, I wouldn't let a Chevy
>repairman work on my car, much less try to fix it myself.

Neil - just to play devil's advocate for a moment...

I always thought that doing one's own instrument repairs came under the
general principal that "He who acts as his own lawyer (doctor, instrument
repair tech) has a fool for a client."

Then I read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Robert Pirsig
makes the point that, if you really care about something, you should
learn how it works, and how to keep it in terrific shape, because no one
else will care for it as well as you will. I would think this would apply
to a person's musical instrument as much if not more than to a motorcycle.

Now I'm not advocating having the average middle school clarinetist doing
his/her own overhauls. But I do think it's useful to understand how the
mechanics of the instrument work, and useful to be able to effect
emergency repairs in a capable way without doing more harm than good. If
I owned a Rolls, I wouldn't want to run it to the dealer for every little
thing.

BTW, Mark - a flute repair tech in NYC, Al Weatherly, once said at a
panel discussion on repair that "the most dangerous flute players are the
ones with screwdrivers." Of course, we clarinetists are completely
different... ;-)

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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