Curt Altarac, of MusicMedic.com gave a lecture on being an expert. His main points were believing in yourself and doing anything and everything to reach your goals. He stressed that you work from the ground up to reach your goals, just like in saxophone work. You have body work, key fitting, tone hole leveling and pad cup leveling, Corking and felting, fitting, padding, regulation, and tuning. None of it is easy, but there is a specific way in which you get the best results in the most efficient way. That's what we are focusing on in school. We are giving ourselves the best opportunities to success. Hopefully that will help us get to our goals that much quicker so we can enjoy success that much longer!
Jon Mills, of Music & Arts gave two lectures. His first was on the company he has worked for. Music & Arts has four repair hubs for their business currently. Within these four shops there were about 200,000 repairs completed this year. With such a large industry, it was extremely interesting to see how Music & Arts continues to find expedient ways to do things. The assembly line process is something that is being implemented in pieces at Music & Arts. People are trained to assess the instruments. Others clean and prep the instruments for repairs. By the time the instrument gets to the bench, the repair tech only focuses on the work that he is paid the most for: the hands on repair. This way, the company puts its resources in the most equitable opportunities, and the techs are able to maximize their output as well. Jon talked about their training programs, where employees can take a voluntary paid course to learn the standards that M&A expects on the main five instruments they service- clarinet, flute, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone. The data collection and tech expectations are intriguing and I was very interested in how the company keeps expanded despite recessions and cuts in funding for the arts.
Jon offered a lecture the following day on alternate methods for flute shimming. He uses glue shims to fill the back of the key cup. Because flute key cups are not uniformly round, the glue conforms to these inconsistencies and creates a flat surface for additional shims to ride on top of. While there is still a need for partial shimming, Jon has used this method to cut his repad time by a significant amount. The glue shims need to be a very thin layer, so some of the thicker glue pad options are not recommended. However, the time saved is generous. The idea is that if you get a flute in to be serviced after it has a glue repad, you should be able to put a flat pad in the key and not have to adjust the shims at all. Of course, no two pads are exactly alike, so there is some additional work that goes into replacing a pad. Overall, I think it may be something worth trying in the future on student line flutes. The reaction that players feel with glue shims is not positive enough for many pro players. Additionally, the keycups are so thin on professional models that using glue shims would not leave room for paper shimming.
Dan King, former marine, talked to our class about some tools he has made himself from Harbor Freight tools. He talked to us about the difference between Spiral Development and Incremental Development. Spiral Development is buying tools as you go for the repairs you need to complete. While this is the way most shops work, it is better to set up your shop under the idea of Incremental Development. When working incrementally, a business buys a set of tools and from that set, they can offer specific repairs. This bulk buying is how we start off our careers at Red Wing with multiple tool kits. However, the money involved in buying multiple start up tools at once can be difficult.
He showed some of the tools he has been able to create on a limited budget to offer the same quality repairs, and also spoke briefly about taking on contracts with local schools through one's repair shop. Contracting regulations differ from state to state. You can purchase a state's regulation book to be aware of the laws associated with contracts. He spoke about repairs falling under two categories for a bidding process. It goes to the lowest price or the best value for a price. To win directors' trust there is a certain amount of Pro Bono work that a technician must do. Additionally, we looked at the possible bidding outcomes of Lowest Price Technically Acceptable, Best Value, and Multiple Award. If you have a rental line, or are looking to begin a rental line, Dan King strongly suggested being able to go to the factory to test out a fleet of instruments. You can build the rapport there, as well as be sure what you see is what you get. Additionally, annual visits should be mandated so you can be sure the products being produced remain constant.
Mark Sorlie, Yamaha's National Warranty Manager, gave a lecture on building Trombone slides. He impressed upon us that knowing how to build or rebuild a trombone slide would definitely save your customers money as well as increase the custom work you can offer through your shop. His big mantra is MINIMALISM. You touch the metal as few times as possible, you consider cleaning one of the most important tenants of repair, and you make sure your instruments are straight, dent free, and stress free. He mentioned that in repair you inherit everything that has come before you in the instrument's life, be that poor or high quality repair or no repair at all. In order to build and refurbish slides there was a hefty list of supplies, however the end result is extremely rewarding.
Finally, a panel of repair technicians answered our questions about embarrassing stories, memorable repairs, tips and tricks, as well as explaining why repair is still "the thing" for them. Hearing success stories and constant support is a great thing as I begin to take bench tests and interviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment