Nightmare on Patterson Street…

Thursday January 31 2008

So back in early December, I sent my English Horn to St. Louis Woodwind and Brass to have some major keywork done. I needed the octave system converted from an automatic system to a semi-automatic system, an articulated C#, and a screw added on the F#/G# articulated key (the bridge). I specifically stated not to ship it with insurance, because they were sending it 1-day air. How much damage can happen via 1-day air?

Well, he said he’d have it done January 15th, which he almost did. He shipped it out January 17th via 1 day UPS…, and was supposed to get here the 18th. It didn’t.

It turned out they put the wrong zip code, and didn’t put the apartment number on it, so when it got to Eugene the 18th, they couldn’t deliver it. It was removed from the truck and scanned, with UPS… putting the note:

POSTAL… CODE… LISTED… FOR… THE… RECEIVER… IS INCORRECT…. UPS… IS ATTEMPTING… TO OBTAIN… CORRECT… POSTAL… CODE… AND… COMPLETE… DELIVERY…. / THE… ADDRESS… HAS… BEEN… CORRECTED…. THE… DELIVERY… HAS… BEEN… RESCHEDULED…

Well, it didn’t come that Saturday, and Monday was the holiday, and didn’t come Tuesday. So I went out to the local UPS… warehouse where they load the trucks, and they said, “Well, when we unloaded it from the first truck, rather than be reloaded into the Redelivery cage, it was loaded into the Going to Chicago cage. In this case, it should arrive in Chicago on Thursday (January 24th) in which it will be 1-day shipped back and arrive Friday morning.

“Well, okay.” I figured.

Friday morning came. And it went. With no English Horn.

I called every day this week and nobody at St. Louis Woodwind and Brass or UPS… knew where it was.

Now the package has tracking on it. This isn’t supposed to happen! Every step it takes is scanned. But somehow it magically disappeared in the Springfield warehouse without being scanned. Talking with UPS…, they said they weren’t responsible for more than $100. It’s a $5000 instrument and all I was going to get for it was $100.

Well, guess what showed up in the apartment office today! The English Horn showed up, with no notes on my door. It wasn’t scanned. It wasn’t accounted for. Nothing. And even the internet hasn’t shown any change in status since January 18th.

Odd. Very odd. I have some theories as to what happened, but for now, I’m just glad I have it.

Meanwhile, besides the wrong address, I would like to say that they did a PHENOMENAL… job on the instrument. The silver keywork looks impeccable, and was reasonably priced. I can’t imagine the keywork being any better.

Well, at least the nightmare is over.

 Moral of the story: Use USPS… registered mail! It’s automatically insured up to $10,000 and safer! They also have priority registered mail!

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Back from Bellingham

Saturday January 26 2008

Just got back from Bellingham, where I visited a friend of mine who is a missionary to Kham Tibetans in China. He’s visiting this weekend in Bellingham, so I thought I could see Peter and see my friend.

I returned Sandra, so if anyone is looking for a used oboe, call him up and get your hands on her! She’s a real killer! If I had enough money for two oboes, I’d keep her. But I don’t.

I also tried out a Loree IH English Horn and compared it to an Loree LV English Horn he had and his own A series English Horn. His own A series English Horn is simply put the finest English Horn I’ve ever played. That said, that IH English Horn is one of the finest English Horns I’ve tried in a long long time. The projection and resonance is there, and there’s a nice creamy but open sound in the horn. The silver looks spanking new, and the horn itself has never been cracked. Right now, he’s decided not to sell it (sometimes he just likes to keep amazing immaculate horns and just look at them) but if anyone is seriously looking for a killer English Horn that they need to project in a medium to larger orchestra, think about that one. Think HARD…. He’s probably selling it for $6500, but I could definitely see him selling it for $7000.

A great trip, except on the way home while stopping for gas north of Vancouver, I crossed a lane of traffic without seeing a median in the middle of the road and cracked my oil pan. I spent 2 hours talking to insurance, waiting for the tow truck, and getting to the nearest Amtrak station, and taking a Amtrak bus home for 3 hours. My car is stuck in Portland. Rats. There’s a lot of money (i.e. time/reeds) down the drain!

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In search of Barbara’s voice… (or my voice sung by Barbara)

Saturday January 26 2008

So in my lesson my instructor told me this.

“Cooper you play very well. You play technically perfect and have a great sound. You play in tune, and have everything there, but I feel like you haven’t found your oboe voice yet.”

She followed the statement up by—

“When I hear my teacher play, I know every time that that’s Stephen Taylor. Sometimes his tone changes, or his vibrato, but he always plays like Stephen Taylor. When I hear you play, sometimes you play amazing, and sometimes you’re just playing.”

So I’ve been thinking about how to find my oboe voice. She said I just need to listen to myself, but this doesn’t exactly give me a whole lot of direction. I called Mr. Weber and had a good conversation, and he encouraged me to be patient, and that my oboe voice would come with time and maturity.

I also spoke with the topic with my stand partner Kitty and my friend Liz, who both stated that they feel like they play with their voice on very special pieces, which I would tend to agree. Strauss would be one for me, as is the Bach A minor partita. But how to find your oboe voice so that every time you pick up that instrument remains elusive to me. I wonder how many musicians out there can say they have found and truly feel comfortable with their “instrument voice”.

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In search of Barbara’s voice… (or my voice sung by Barbara)

Saturday January 26 2008

So in my lesson my instructor told me this.

“Cooper you play very well. You play technically perfect and have a great sound. You play in tune, and have everything there, but I feel like you haven’t found your oboe voice yet.”

She followed the statement up by—

“When I hear my teacher play, I know every time that that’s Stephen Taylor. Sometimes his tone changes, or his vibrato, but he always plays like Stephen Taylor. When I hear you play, sometimes you play amazing, and sometimes you’re just playing.”

So I’ve been thinking about how to find my oboe voice. She said I just need to listen to myself, but this doesn’t exactly give me a whole lot of direction. I called Mr. Weber and had a good conversation, and he encouraged me to be patient, and that my oboe voice would come with time and maturity.

I also spoke with the topic with my stand partner Kitty and my friend Liz, who both stated that they feel like they play with their voice on very special pieces, which I would tend to agree. Strauss would be one for me, as is the Bach A minor partita. But how to find your oboe voice so that every time you pick up that instrument remains elusive to me. I wonder how many musicians out there can say they have found and truly feel comfortable with their “instrument voice”.

Read the Rest

In search of Barbara’s voice… (or my voice sung by Barbara)

Saturday January 26 2008

So in my lesson my instructor told me this.

“Cooper you play very well. You play technically perfect and have a great sound. You play in tune, and have everything there, but I feel like you haven’t found your oboe voice yet.”

She followed the statement up by—

“When I hear my teacher play, I know every time that that’s Stephen Taylor. Sometimes his tone changes, or his vibrato, but he always plays like Stephen Taylor. When I hear you play, sometimes you play amazing, and sometimes you’re just playing.”

So I’ve been thinking about how to find my oboe voice. She said I just need to listen to myself, but this doesn’t exactly give me a whole lot of direction. I called Mr. Weber and had a good conversation, and he encouraged me to be patient, and that my oboe voice would come with time and maturity.

I also spoke with the topic with my stand partner Kitty and my friend Liz, who both stated that they feel like they play with their voice on very special pieces, which I would tend to agree. Strauss would be one for me, as is the Bach A minor partita. But how to find your oboe voice so that every time you pick up that instrument remains elusive to me. I wonder how many musicians out there can say they have found and truly feel comfortable with their “instrument voice”.

Read the Rest