Author: sbrodt54
Date: 2008-07-23 18:59
Thank you Gordon NZ.
Mario Andretti can drive a race car in a circle for hours at a very high rate of speed; he even won a race or two. However, when my transmission breaks down he is not the first person I go and talk to about diagnosing the problem even though he lives right down the street.
Driving a race car, designing one, and fixing one are three different occupations, a good driver might not have a clue how to fix the engine and the designer could never get that car up over 92mph.
Playing the clarinet at a high level of proficiency and repairing a clarinet are two completely different occupations and I'm REALLY tired of the typical "how hard could it be to schlep a few pads into a clarinet and overhaul it?" How hard is it to get to that first chair seat in the Philadelphia Orchestra? Heck, I could get a clarinet on E-bay and then buy a cool manual on how to play, after a few days I guess I should be ready to audition.
I have spent 40 years trying my best to diagnose problems with clarinets and then repairing them to a level where the customer is happy with the way it plays. It is NOT that easy, you need to be skilled with your hands in many ways and even more important you need to be a top-shelf trouble shooter and be able to identify problems and then be able to come up with intelligent solutions that work and work well. To top that all off, in order to have a clue that the clarinet is repaired correctly and test it (intonation is set as well as it can be, all of the alternate fingerings work properly...) you need to be a darn good player as well.
I could rant for another hour on this because I get hit with a terrific lack of respect for my trade and skill every day, I don't mind when a kid comes in and asks for an overhaul in one hour because he doesn't know any better but when I get pros in here demanding major work be done in one hour I get testy.
I would LOVE to see many more folks in this business and I will take on any apprentices but this doesn't seem to be a glory filled occupation so there are very few shops like mine here in PA. Not many have the touch or the skill to be a decent repair person but you will not learn to dance OR repair clarinets from a video or a book. Get a dance teacher to learn how to West coast swing and study with a pro to learn how to repad a clarinet and do it correctly so that it works when you're done.
Scott Brodt
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The Clarinet BBoard
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