instrument repair...take two?

*shrug* I tried posting this in the open jam forum. I see that was a bad idea. Maybe this is a better place to try. I'm sorry for posting it again, but I guess that was the wrong place.

Anyway, so I am a clarinet player first (and various other instruments second, third, etc.) but mostly a clarinet player. This information is really unnecessary. But my clarinet teacher and I were talking about my choice in major (music performance) and how he thinks it's really pointless and I should consider other options in the field of music. I see his point. I agree. He said I should do education. I don't agree with that. I pointed out that I would really, really like to do either live sound/recording type stuff and/or instrument repair.

But I don't know where or how I would go about learning these things, especially how to repair instruments. Are there schools for that? Should I find someone and try to convince them to let do an internship with them? Can I magically beam the knowledge into my brain?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

You want to do both if you can. Go to a school, usually from 9 months to 2 years depending on where you go. Then finish learning by working with a experienced tech for 3 to 5 years more. After that most are ready to go it on there own, although at that point most techs will still consider you very green. I started doing it as a way to be able to have a instrument to play when I went to school, then the teacher would send me in a room full of Sax's to see which ones I could fix for him. After that I went to school for 2 years, then worked under my repair teacher for 3 years. And I have been going ever since, not much money in this though. You really have to love it, or forget it. The attributes needed to do this work well, could make you allot more money in another field, so it really has to be a labor of love it you want to be happy.

Thanks. I know there's probably not much money in it...there's not much money in the whole field of music except for a special few. I realize that. So, I want to give this a try. Where did you go to school, if you don't mind me asking?

thanks, again, for your help.

I wen t threw a 2 year program at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa California, but I don't know if its still around. Go to napbirt.org and check out the info they have on schools there. We have had a a few techs that went through redwing that seemed to have a good foundation to build on.

When it comes to a music major, consider music business as well. This would include repair, but also can encompass manufacture, retail, distribution, etc. Then there is the recording industry as well.

And if you get a bachelor's degree, that alone will open up a lot of jobs regardless of what it is in. You could, in theory, have a day job and then do repairs as a second source of income.

At any rate, good luck finding a school! I've heard that Redwing is very good for instrument repair.