Mid-Life Crisis for the Budget Traveler
Even if I could afford a vintage Jaguar convertible, I probably wouldn't buy one. Instead, I've decided to learn all the musical instruments that, for years, have beckoned from afar.
As it happens, they all involve reeds, something that eluded me during my misspent teen years with a trumpet. I simply couldn't get a sound out of them.
But something happened during my time at Yaddo last December. While walking down Broadway in Saratoga Springs I noticed a sign in a second-floor window for Cole's Woodwind Shop. I walked up the stairs and told the owner about my longtime desire to play the bass clarinet. And then I told him about my lack of disposable funds. And then he told me that it was my lucky day. He happened to have a Conn instrument, made out of wood, that dates from the 1940s and that he would sell for a very reasonable price because the instrument's lowest note is E natural, rather than the customary E-flat or even C. I gave it a try and, miraculously, was able to produce a sound. Heaven had spoken. It's the most pleasure I've gotten from $400.
Of course this means that I am now in the market for a baritone sax, so that I can fulfill that other lifelong dream of playing in a salsa band. My lessons resume at the Harbor Conservatory in a couple of weeks.
Add two more overly heavy instruments to the list, which also includes the accordion and upright bass. More than one person has suggested I switch to the flute. Its shrillness makes me check to see if my ears are bleeding. Somehow I am drawn, almost constitutionally, to the low ranges. The bass clarinet, in particular, produces a sound very much like the speaking voice I wish I had. I almost do have it already, if only I could drop a few more pitches. Getting there would require me to take up smoking, and this is not that kind of mid-life crisis. Instead, I've decided that schlepping around all these heavy things fulfills my ever-growing need to take on weight-bearing exercises.
As it happens, they all involve reeds, something that eluded me during my misspent teen years with a trumpet. I simply couldn't get a sound out of them.
But something happened during my time at Yaddo last December. While walking down Broadway in Saratoga Springs I noticed a sign in a second-floor window for Cole's Woodwind Shop. I walked up the stairs and told the owner about my longtime desire to play the bass clarinet. And then I told him about my lack of disposable funds. And then he told me that it was my lucky day. He happened to have a Conn instrument, made out of wood, that dates from the 1940s and that he would sell for a very reasonable price because the instrument's lowest note is E natural, rather than the customary E-flat or even C. I gave it a try and, miraculously, was able to produce a sound. Heaven had spoken. It's the most pleasure I've gotten from $400.
Of course this means that I am now in the market for a baritone sax, so that I can fulfill that other lifelong dream of playing in a salsa band. My lessons resume at the Harbor Conservatory in a couple of weeks.
Add two more overly heavy instruments to the list, which also includes the accordion and upright bass. More than one person has suggested I switch to the flute. Its shrillness makes me check to see if my ears are bleeding. Somehow I am drawn, almost constitutionally, to the low ranges. The bass clarinet, in particular, produces a sound very much like the speaking voice I wish I had. I almost do have it already, if only I could drop a few more pitches. Getting there would require me to take up smoking, and this is not that kind of mid-life crisis. Instead, I've decided that schlepping around all these heavy things fulfills my ever-growing need to take on weight-bearing exercises.
posted by DO at 11:20 AM
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