Every year I make a pilgrimage to Red Wing Minnesota, home of the Red Wing Repair School and the location of a NAPBIRT Regional clinic. Every year it's snowy and beautiful and I'm caught off guard by the program and the people in Red Wing. This year was no exception.

I am just returning from three days of talking about, learning about and sharing ideas about Band Instrument Repair. I would like to share a little bit of the great time I had these three days with you.



Day 1. Talking to the students.

I flew into Red Wing Minnesota with only a light wind breaker and my sunglasses to keep me warm. I drove straight from the Airport to the College, where Professors Lucas Pemberton, John Huth and Greg Beckwith asked that I talk to their students while in town.
As soon as I rolled in the guys greeted me and asked me to get started.. The students were really receptive and had lots of questions. I could tell at a glance that this group of students really knows their stuff and the guys are doing an excellent job with them. The students surprised me with their knowledge of repair and an amazing positive attitude geared toward learning their trade.


Night 1: Gathering with new friends
After speaking with the students, a group of us went to take a drive ON the Mississippi. Dodging ice fishing houses, sliding, spinning and getting stuck on a frozen river is pretty cool. It was a total blast and I will not forget it. Guys thanks for taking me, YOU ROCK!

Then came the night owls. For a small town the night life scene in Red Wing is pretty great. We continued to talk about woodwind repair and all other matters well into the morning. You people (and you know who you are) are super hosts and didn't let any time slip by when we weren't learning and having fun. Thanks!


Day Two: Some Curt Time and Advisory Committee Meetings
The second morning I spotted a Bald Eagle. I was surprised to see how massive the bird was in person.







What a great town! I decided that my email could wait and took off driving around Red Wing. I tried to get into the shoe Factory but the guard (nice lady) at the door said there were no factory tours this time of year. Later that night I broke into the warehouse and gave myself a tour and picked up some really nice sneakers.






Later in the day I went to the advisory committee meeting at the Red Wing Repair School. It's an outstanding experience to sit on a board with so many talented technicians and business people. The committee advises the school on all manners of their activity. The teachers at the college take this meeting seriously and try to get as much out of it as they can. They push the board to help evaluate past decisions and they seek direction for future decisions. These guys and gals are very open minded and insist that we be honest with our evaluations.

Students looking to attend a repair school are in very good hands if they choose Red Wing. The professors either know the answers, or are in search of the answers. The school seems to be growing and thriving. A few years ago, they had a major expansion and the place went from good to 'oh my god'. The students and professors at Red Wing are taking full advantage of the facility and the vibe there is electric.


Night 2: The night owls return
After the meeting we all enjoyed a fine dinner downtown then, the night owls were out again. Thanks for a killer time everyone! To the night owls, who I'm sure are sleeping as I type this on the flight home, thanks so much for a first class hang!




Day Three: NAPBIRT Regional Clinic
Coffee was the solution to the previous nights endeavors. Every year Red Wing hosts a regional clinic the day after the advisory committee meeting. It's great for me because I get to stay another day and attend or present the clinics. This year I attended 2 clinics and they were outstanding.




First Jim Thomas and Ken Skitch did a hands on clinic on plating. These guys learned plating from the repairers point of view and they're not messing around. They both have different, compact and working plating set ups. Combining their knowledge on plating was a great idea. Between Jim and Ken every (green) plating set up I know of was not only discussed but shown. We were able to plate keys from start to finish. The Technicians all got to try the various plating set ups, get an idea of the cost of each and make educated decisions about what set up they might want in their own shops.
Jim and Ken: You two are so cool, kind and helpful, thanks a lot. Your openness and desire to help and share anyway you can are contagious! I knew walking out of your clinic that staying for the clinics was a good idea. What I got from the first half of your clinic alone made the trip to Red Wing worth it!



The Mood changed quickly when Cindy Budd started her Oboe clinic. When I heard that we were going to pin a crack on an oboe, and build a tone hole replacement insert on an oboe, I really didn't think it would all happen. Cindy was awesome, what a great lady to learn from. She has a no nonsense attitude toward her repairs that is nearly Zen like. When Cindy's clinic was over, I found myself wishing it was just starting!
Thanks for sharing your great ideas and your craft Cindy! I wish I played Oboe so I could send it to you for repairs!


Night 3: Night Owls Last Stand
With the Clinics done and all the meetings complete us night owls tried one more time to tear it up! Once again, thanks everyone for a great night!
To my friends at NAPBIRT and the entire staff and students at Red Wing, thank you so much for an outstanding time! I can't wait to do it again next year!


-Curt

A customer of mine just sent me a link to this Blog where he is going through a saxophone overhaul using the MusicMedic.com saxophone repair kit.

Pretty cool.

Check it out!

http://www.bridgesax.blogspot.com/

Curt Altarac, Wayne Leechford, Matt Scott



The other day, I had a talk with a player while I was working on his horn. After a few hours of sitting there talking, the player said to me, “You should be taking notes on this...” Of course he was joking but it got me thinking. Maybe I should be taking notes. I mean people, like you, might want to know who comes into the shop and what they think about this or that. So, I promised myself that next time I have an interesting conversation with a customer/client/player or teacher, that others might like to hear about, I would make a blog entry.

Here's that blog entry and the first ever (drum roll) Benchside Interview.

-Note that a Bench side interview differs from a regular interview in that it is the result of a discussion that happened during some repair work. For this interview, no notes were taken and these thoughts are just from my memory of a great discussion I had with Saxophonist and teacher Wayne Leechford.

Aside from having the opportunity to work on the coolest saxophones anywhere, one of the great pleasures of having a pro-shop is that we get to talk with many of the worlds finest players and teachers. The even cooler thing is when these players are right here in our area. Wayne is both in our area and a superstar. Today Wayne came in to have a few leaks taken out and let us have a look at some instruments that we have not worked on. Knowing this area of North Carolina, I started talking with Wayne about what it is to be a full time musician and teacher. Wayne plays woodwinds for a living and maintains the largest teaching studio of anyone I know. Wayne's gigs are far reaching and many of his students go on to study music at the university level.

One of the reasons that hWayne's successful career as a musician and teacher is so fascinating to me is that Wayne is a lot like me. I mean to say that Wayne is a Bari player, he takes gigs on classical and Jazz saxophone, teaches saxophone and Wayne seems to love all things saxophone. Of course, one way that Wayne is a lot different than me is that Wayne is a full time musician with no day job.

Speaking with Wayne about the decision to become a full time musician has opened my eyes to an interesting concept. When I asked Wayne what made him consider becoming a full time musician, his answer was surprising. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. He told me a story about hearing his mentor James Houlik play for the first time and how that opened his eyes to the classical saxophone. Wayne also talked about his first musical influence, Grover Washington and how at one time, he wanted to sound just like Grover. But he couldn't say that any of these influences lead him directly to giving up his day job and taking on a career as a musician. It's interesting that one could venture into a world so diverse, dangerous, and unclear as that of the professional musician and not have a distinct turning point that forced the player to take that path. After talking to Wayne more, I think I figured out what it is that made him the outstanding player and teacher that he is today... A bachelors degree....

Unlike most musicians that come to my shop, Wayne has a degree in Business. In fact, Wayne Leechford has three degrees; he has the usual Bachelors and Masters in Music Performance but he also has a Bachelors degree in Business. When I discovered this the pieces started to fall into place. Wayne is an outstanding musician because his business sense allows him to be. When it comes to the ever important task of getting gigs, Wayne approaches things from a business standpoint. From talking to him, I don't believe that the prospect of failure was ever really a factor in his decision making. He approaches his music career with all the professionalism that any successful business person would approach any business and, as such he is a huge success!!



To learn more about Wayne Leechford, visit his website:
www.wayneleechford.com

The Rascher Saxophone Quartet!



Here's a cool and unusual modification we did in the New MusicMedic.com sax-repair-facility. The Bari in question belongs to our good friend and RooPad endorser, Kenneth Coon of the Rascher Saxophone Quartet. When we overhauled Ken's Bari we talked a lot about the wimpy brace that holds the bell and body together on Buescher Baris and how adding a new brace would sturdy the instrument and possibly improve the sound of the instrument. Since Ken's Bari is heavily modified already, adding a brace would not affect the resale value and we suppose that adding a brace would increase the value as now there is really no question that this is in fact, Kenneth Coon's Bari Sax.

What pushed the project forward was when Ken dropped the Bari traveling in Asia gigging with the Quartet. The horn was repaired locally as a quick fix. As soon as he could Ken came back to the states to have us get it really going. After fixing the bell dents, it was obvious that this would be the perfect time (it was Christmas time) to add the.... Merry X-Brace!


This picture was taken before the Brace was added.

This old pic of the bari shows it without the Brace.



Here is the Kens Bari Conn-0-fied... with a factory OEM X-brace cut, buffed, brazed and plated.


Here are a couple more shots of the Bari and the Brace. The guys at the Conn Factory would really appreciate this!


-Curt

The Saxophone Smackdown was great! Clinicians came from as far away as Chile to be part of what may be the biggest, and certainly the best, saxophone repair clinic of all time!

I'm completely amazed at how wonderful everyone was! If you're not a NAPBIRT member already you should consider joining. NAPBIRT is a one of a kind organization consisting of a bunch of friendly and knowledgeable technicians anxious to share their ideas.

I've been a NAPBIRT member for years and given clinics for them many times, so I knew that having a bunch of NAPBIRT techs here would be cool. But, none of us knew just know how much NAPBIRT fun we would have!

NAPBIRT rocks and technicians involved are outstanding! Here are some highlights from the MusicMedic.com Saxophone Smackdown....

Enjoy!

-Curt

Here is a letter I received from my Friend Sid this morning:

Wow!

I rolled in about 11pm last night. My wife and kids greeted me gleefully and then wife and 16 yr old daughter were off to bed. However my 20 yr old son hung out and asked a bout the clinic. When I finally shut up, he said... " Wow Dad, I don't think I've ever seen you this excited about what you do."

Thanks Curt. To You, the clinicians and your staff for an outstanding day.

I have no doubt that the investment in this trip will pay dividends in spades.

Very Best Regards,

Sid Marlin

Curt Altarac explaining the unique layout of the new MusicMedic.com sax-facility.


Jeff Peterson (Yamaha) and Steve Goodson (Saxgourmet) got into some great debates about saxophone design and manufacture.


That's Matt Scott (MusicMedic.com) mobbed by technicians wanting to learn about leveling tone holes.


Rich Zimmerman (of MusicMedic) shows Don Millhouser(San Francisco CA) and Ray Petro(Greensboro NC) how the new Vortex Air Torch works.

Curt Altarac (of MusicMedic) explains his octave pip experiment to a full house.

The Benny Hill Trio wowed the group with some outstanding playing. Benny is a RooPads endorser right here from Wilmington North Carolina.


Our friends Nicolas and Frances came all the way from Chile to share their ideas and learn from others!


From Left to Right, Fred Melk (Milwaukee WI) Mark Farmer (Olathe KS), Bob Frushour (Fredrick MD) and Jon Mills (Charlotte NC) enjoying some Flaming Amy's Burritos at the Key Work Bench.


Steve Goodson (New Orleans LA) Jeff Peterson (Buena Park CA) Curt Altarac (Wilmington NC) and Matt Stohrer(NYC) share their knowledge with the group durring an open Q&A session.


Dinner was a time to relax reflect and drink just a bit more....


Brandon Johnson, Melvin Benjamin, Pablo Lugones (Pacifica CA)


Matt Stohrer sharing ideas with Don LePage(Shelby MI), Jon VanBuren(Winston Salem) and Jeff Reitz(Eau Claire WI) over an excellent dinner.


Curt Altarac in a heated discussion with Lee Kramka(San Francisco CA) and Steve Collins (Birmingham AL)

Even Matt's Baby Claire has a tall drink.