Wow, Lots to read here. Wes has a lot of soul searching to do.
All this talk about potential salaries and the monetary value of college degrees is interesting but if you want to go into instrument repair as a vocation, I can tell you that even the most highly regarded university will not teach you the most important skills you must have to make a proper living in the trade.
I have worked with Technicians that had music degrees of one sort or another in performance, education and composition. They were all intelligent and very talented in their own way but in the beginning most of them struggled a great deal to be able to make an adequate paycheck working on band instruments. A few stuck with it and have done okay but most moved onto another line of employment. Simply put, you can read, write and talk about it all you want but the skills are achieved by hands on training and repetition.
I will be blunt here: Band instrument repair is a craft that calls for a great deal of skill and these skills take a considerable amount of time to acquire. A lot of practice and study is needed and this will mean long, hard days at the bench. Performance level on a brass or woodwind is a must if you really want to get anywhere. Woodwinds are mechanically challenging and take skills that call for a knowledge of the instrument's function and feel. If you want to focus on brass work, mechanical knowledge, soldering, and basic dent work are the skills that are a must in a small shop and the more advanced work will call for quite a bit more. Advanced brass work is labor intensive, dirty, costly in tooling, and requires the eye and hand of a sculptor. If you pursue the trade you will need to be able to perform basic, general repair and maintenance on woodwinds and brass. This insures you will be able to provide your employer with the services most commonly needed by their repair department (and help you keep your job). You can then add to your skills over time and pursue the area of the trade that interests you most.
I personally have no regrets that I was not fortunate enough to be able to attend a university or college. I went to instrument repair school at the age of nineteen. They did not call them technical colleges when I attended. The nice word was "technical institute", but we blue collar folk called it "trade school" and that was not with reverence. My high school guidance counselor (who had a masters degree) informed me I could not make a living at it and insisted I consider music education. I never sought her advice or even spoke to her again. My family and friends were very supportive and after two and a half years of repair school, another year and a half applicable of on the job training and a five year apprenticeship I was well under way. The support was and is still greatly appreciated. Fifteen years after completing the apprenticeship I continue to update my skills and knowledge of instrument repair and design. It never stops.
As for the college stuff, I believe the experiences of college are very valuable and a must for many careers. With what I have said here so far, I think it is best to work with a net. If you have other skills to fall back on it is easier and less worrisome to take the risks needed to achieve success. It might help if you can look at it this way - going into instrument repair is like wanting to be an artist; some folks are into it for the love of the craft, others for the image or the idea that it would just be fun. For many it is simply a job, nothing more. For me it is a challenging craft that I enjoy. It allows me to be creative and artistic. It also provides me and my employees with a livelihood while suppling the music community with the services that seem to always be in such short supply.
Just my 2¢ worth.
Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
www.oberloh.com
