Klarinet Archive - Posting 000054.txt from 2010/02

From: Daniel Stover <kasparguy@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] financial assistance
Date: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:30:22 -0500


Hello to the list. I'm not sure if I will have any luck in this endeavor=
=2C but I thought if anywhere would be a good place to start=2C some of the=
lists I'm a member of would be the best places=2C with the broad knowledge=
and range of careers everyone is in.
Also=2C with the number of similar lists to which I belong=2C I hope I did =
not already post this query to Klarinet so this is not a repeat.=20
=20
In July 2008=2C I suffered a severe hemrrhagic stroke which has left me un=
able to use my left hand/arm at all. In early 2009 I found a group headed b=
y a saxophone professor in a similar situation as myself founded to try to =
get adapted instruments into the=20
hands of disabled musician like me. the goups is called the One-handed win=
ds project(onehandwinds.unk.edu)
This saxophone rofessor helped develope a mechanism to allow the sax to be=
played with only the right hand. unfortunately=2C there are=2C to my know=
ledge=2C only two such instruments in existence.=3B the one he plays and on=
e on loan to a saxophone student mentioned=20
on the project's page. Last Spring=2C the founder was kind enough to let m=
e try a modified recorder by Marten Visser. after a month of struggling wi=
th the mechanism and fingering chart=2C I was unable to even playsimple sca=
les with any accuracy and returned the=20
instrument before my year-long rental contract began. In contacting him ag=
ain to see if there had ben ay progress in making more saxophones available=
=2C He informed me that the builder gave him an estimate of $40=2C000 to bu=
ild another. In contacting the builder myself to see what the bare minimum=
to get work started=2C if I were to donate my alto sax to be converted=2C =
he told me it would be about $15=2C000 to do all the work needed to convert=
an instrument to the one-handed mechanism=2C and that the $40=2C000 estima=
te was a prototyping estimate for applying the mechanism to another instrum=
ent. =20
=20
I'm curious if anyone knows of any grants or organisations devoted to helpi=
ng disabled musicians or persons with disabilities that would be able to he=
lp with the cost of having my saxophone converted to the one-handed mechan=
ism.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated

Daniel Stover
Houston=2C TX
=20
Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469227/direct/01/=

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