Whistles 10 - Cellos 0.

Chief Wanganui · Post by **Chief Wanganui** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:59 pm

I am in the middle of the tedious process of buying a cello for touring purposes. The reason for this is that it is increasingly the policy of airlines to discontinue selling seats in the cabin to transport cellos. Whilst this is not a problem that normally afflicts whistle players (!!!!!), bear with me to the end of this rant. As soon as your precious Strad is out of your sight, it is at the mercy of a legion of baggage handlers, security personnel and customs agents, none of whom could give a **** about throwing it 30ft onto the tarmac, drilling holes in it, impounding it (even though you have a gig the next day), and generally raising your blood pressure to lethal levels.
The buying process has once again exposed me to the vile crookedness which is rife in the world of international stringed-instrument dealing.
Thankfully, as evinced by the contributers to this site, no such villainy exists in the whistle world, which seems to be peopled by honest and true ladies and gentlemen. Well done to you all. My faith in humanity is restored.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:07 pm

Chief Wanganui wrote:My faith in humanity is restored.

You're welcome.

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:10 pm

I was at a Lunasa show a week ago, and Trevor Hutchinson had just had his Bass smashed on the plane ride from Shannon to DC, two days before I saw them. Trevor was playing one that was loaned to him. Your post reminded me of that.

Good luck in your search Tony.

mutepointe · Post by **mutepointe** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:14 pm

yep. we don't permit strangers to break, destroy, and/or crack our instruments, we're quite capable of taking care of that ourselves, just by sitting down. and don't forget losing whistles, have you ever misplaced a cello in the livingroom? i know my clare is somewhere around her.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:55 pm

On a recent trip, I was for the first time (except for an international flight back to the US, during which I was all but stripsearched) accosted because of my flute. I actually thought this was a good thing -- as far as an x-ray machine is concerned, a wooden or acetyl tube looks just the same as a stick of dynamite. Didn't happen on the trip back, though; I guess it wasn't the new policy, just someone doing a bit better job than most.

Chief, don't look at the thread ErikT started recently. You'll only get scared.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:38 pm

Chief Wanganui wrote:...Thankfully, as evinced by the contributers to this site, no such villainy exists in the whistle world, which seems to be peopled by honest and true ladies and gentlemen. Well done to you all. My faith in humanity is restored.

Alas, your faith in humanity may not be as well placed as we'd like to think... see http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... sc&start=0

Phil Hardy · Post by **Phil Hardy** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:42 am

Oh Chief,it is so nice that you concider us lowly whistlesmiths as gentlemen!
How nice.
The Thorn in your side.

Tom O'Farrell · Post by **Tom O'Farrell** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:50 am

I take the restoration of your faith in human beings as a personal compliment-you're welcome.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:47 am

Chief Wanganui wrote:Thankfully, as evinced by the contributers to this site, no such villainy exists in the whistle world, which seems to be peopled by honest and true ladies and gentlemen. Well done to you all. My faith in humanity is restored.

Gosh....

Hey Chief-- just don't pull a Yo-Yo Ma... didn't he leave his valuable cello on a taxi or some such thing a few years ago?

Chief Wanganui · Post by **Chief Wanganui** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:23 am

Hey Chief-- just don't pull a Yo-Yo Ma... didn't he leave his valuable cello on a taxi or some such thing a few years ago?[/quote]

I believe he did. And don't get me started on the subject of horrendous things that happen to fine instruments. My blood has already started to run cold.

River Otter · Post by **River Otter** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:59 am

Don't forget the old chestnut about the guy who left his bass leaning against the wall of a lowered orchestra pit. When they raised the pit, the scroll caught on the lip at the stage floor and crushed the bass to toothpicks.

Chief Wanganui · Post by **Chief Wanganui** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:47 am

River Otter wrote:Don't forget the old chestnut about the guy who left his bass leaning against the wall of a lowered orchestra pit. When they raised the pit, the scroll caught on the lip at the stage floor and crushed the bass to toothpicks.

All right, you've tempted me and I'll rise to the bait once. The principal bass player in the English Chamber Orchestra checked in at Heathrow airport at the start of a tour with his priceless old Italian bass, in a flight case. The baggage handler loaded it, standing upright, onto an electronic cart and drove under a low bridge. Flight case and bass were sliced in two. The poor player had to be restrained to avoid homicide caused by temporary insanity.

Needless to say there are plenty more where that came from.

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:31 am

Some hope:

A trumpet-player friend had his car stolen with his #1 trumpet inside. This is the horn that he played lead on the 'Hockey Night In Canada' theme (Canada's unofficial National Anthem).

After a bit of media exposure, the trumpet was anonamously returned to an RCMP station, unharmed.

Black Mage · Post by **Black Mage** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:48 am

This all reminds me of something I saw on campus a couple of years ago. Y'see, I'm an art major and thus spend endless hours in the art building and I've seen everything. Even pieces that make most people cringe don't bother me in the least (crusified Barbie dolls, photos of slaughtered cows, many nudes, impaled bibles, etc), that is until I saw a sculptural piece in the sculpture gallery.

I'm not sure what they were getting at, but what I saw made me gasp. And that's not easy to do. Someone had taken a number of violins, chopped them up and hanged the pieces from the ceiling. Understand, I played viola for seven years, and this just made me sick. I think they were all Suzuki violins, so they weren't like Stradivarius' or Priers, but still, one should not do that to an instrument.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:58 am

Black Mage wrote:This all reminds me of something I saw on campus a couple of years ago. Y'see, I'm an art major and thus spend endless hours in the art building and I've seen everything. Even pieces that make most people cringe don't bother me in the least (crusified Barbie dolls, photos of slaughtered cows, many nudes, impaled bibles, etc), that is until I saw a sculptural piece in the sculpture gallery.

I'm not sure what they were getting at, but what I saw made me gasp. And that's not easy to do. Someone had taken a number of violins, chopped them up and hanged the pieces from the ceiling. Understand, I played viola for seven years, and this just made me sick. I think they were all Suzuki violins, so they weren't like Stradivarius' or Priers, but still, one should not do that to an instrument.

I do fully understand your horror, but trust me when I assure you that there are quite a very large number of instruments out there that are far more appropriate for this sort of use, or for housing small phylodendrons, than for anything approaching the actual production of music. Really. I've owned a few myself.

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