Klarinet Archive - Posting 000014.txt from 2003/03

From: CBA <clarinet10001@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Things to Do in NYC (to Dan AND Ken)
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 15:27:03 -0500

I fully agree with Ken's assessment of these stores. I want to
add a few things...

The Met's instrument collection is REALLY great. If you do go to
the Met, do be prepared to stay ALL day, and still not see
everything. Make sure at the start of your Met journey to PLAN
to go see the musical instrument collection, and plan your time
and route through the museum around it, or you will run out of
time or have brain damage by the time you get to it from sensory
overload.

The Met also owns the Cloisters, in the upper part of Manhattan,
and you can pay one price at the Met, and see the Cloisters on
the same day for free. Tapestries and the sort from renaissance
and midevil times are at the cloisters, which is a real treat.
There is also an extensive music concert schedule at the
Cloisters. Check for both the Cloisters and the Met Museum at
www.metmuseum.org for info on the exhibits at the Met and the
concerts at the Cloisters.

Getting just a little more off the beaten Klarinet track, if you
go to www.citypass.com you can buy a pass (or get info to buy a
pass) for a bunch of NYC landmarks and museums, and they are at
a big discount instead of buying separately. The biggest bonus
is that once you buy it, no more lines! The big lines at the
Empire State Building alone is enough reason to buy one. Plus
you have tickets to a boat cruise for a tour, tickets to museums
like the Guggenheim, tickets to the American History Museum and
planetarium. Take a look. If you go to just 3 things including
the boat ride, or 4 things NOT including the boat ride, the
CityPass is a $ savings.

I have no ill will toward Frederick Weiner music, although I
don't really purchase from them anymore. Jonathan Watkins worked
there as the manager for years, and then left sometime after the
fire that took out most of their stock some years back before
they moved from Queens, NY to Mineola, NY. It *IS* very dark and
hard to find things, and they aren't really in the habit of
showing things to people. That's why I don't really buy from
them anymore. I'll pay a little more and get it in town. There
is very little I can't get in town here in Manhattan, so going
to Mineola is against my grain. (What am I saying...the only way
I leave Manhattan anymore is when I take a cab to the
airport...LOL.)

Patelson's is great for sheet music, but if you think you will
get something from there ordered, good luck. The people in the
orchestral parts section upstairs are very nice and helpful. The
people downstairs are a bunch of vocalists not talented enough
to get a job who are there to "work" in music the only way they
can...and they are SURLY. VERY non-helpful to find things. I do
buy things in there since they HAVE things. Unfortunately, when
they move their racks every couple of years, it takes me weeks
to recondition myself to find things there. Still WELL worth a
trip. Take a tour at Carnegie Hall across the street while you
are in the area, and have a sandwich at Carnegie Deli at 854 7th
Av, if you want the full Carnegie experience...LOL! Be
forewarned that Carnegie Deli is EXPENSIVE ($15 a sandwich) but
it is big enough for at least 2 meals. If you go it, there is a
$15 minimum per person, and they charge you $5 for a sharing
plate for the sandwich if you get one. Good food though.

I left Roberto's off, since I didn't specifically list the
saxophone shops. The store is great, and you can visit them on
the web before you come, if you want an overview. The website is
http://www.robertoswoodwind.com/ for Roberto's.

Not familiar with Alex's. Where is that again? I will have to go
and see!

PLEASE!!! Don't go to Rob Baltimore's (International) at 48th
and 7th near Broadway. He is a crook in the first degree. He has
screwed me over with bad instrument rentals when I had gigs with
instruments I didn't own yet, and has messed up students of mine
when they went in to find instruments before starting lessons
with me. Ken's assessment is WAY too nice about Rod Baltimore.
Think gluing pot metal keys on chinese instruments together and
charging for overhauls...

Sam Ash is another scary one...if you want more specifics, go to
the Klarinet archives...there are Sam Ash stories from all over
the nation (bad chain.)

DINNER? Did I hear DINNER? Now I am hungry, and have to go
eat...thanks a lot Ken!

Can we make it at the same time for a dinner thing, and make it
a pseudo Klarinet gathering?

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds - New York City
--- MVinquist@-----.com wrote:
>
> For Dan Arsenault -
>
> A quick follow-up to Kelly's excellent list.
>
> Put the Metropolitan Museum's musical instrument collection
> near the top of
> your list. It's endlessly fascinating, with clarinets and
> other things that
> will make your eyes pop out.
>
> I wouldn't go to Weiner, even if it were easier to get to.
> It's a full-day
> jaunt. The store is dark and claustrophobic, and, in my
> experience, the
> people couldn't be less interested. They won't show you
> anything unless you
> point it out in the catalog, and there's no browsing allowed
> (even of the
> music or CDs). I'm sure they're fine for mail orders. For
> visits,
> fageddaboudit.
>
> Patelson's (note spelling) is great and very convenient. They
> have nearly
> everything in sheet music and books, with a fair amount of
> used stuff.
>
> Roberto's (2 stores, on 46th St. and 48th St.) is tiny, but
> they have almost
> every piece of equipment you could want, and the repairman at
> 46th St. is as
> good as you'll find.
>
> Alex (enter on 47th St.) has some unusual instruments, and
> he's nice to talk
> to.
>
> As Kelly says, 48th Street has little to offer. Sam Ash has a
> decent
> selection of instruments and a large stock of equipment, but
> few
> knowledgeable salespeople.
>
> The one 48th Street place you should go (with your pockets
> sewed shut) is
> International (a/k/a Rod Baltimore), which is the sole
> remaining cluttered,
> old-fashioned, no-more-honest-than-they-have-to-be store. He
> has display
> cases filled with interesting used instruments, most in barely
> playable
> shape, but the people know the business, even if they're
> obnoxious.
>
> Contact me if you have time free for dinner while you're here.
>
<<SNIP>>
> Best regards.
>
> Ken Shaw

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