Getting Ready for the Saxophone Smackdown!

Mark your calendar! Steve Goodson vs. Curt Altarac in a fight to the finish, no holds barred!

There will be an open to the public (advanced registration required) Saxophone Clinic held on Saturday, February 6 at the NEW MusicMedic.com facility in Wilmington, NC. The fee for the clinic is $80. The clinics and clinicians are as follows:

SAXOPHONE NECKS AND INTONATION: Curt Altarac
HIGH PERFORMANCE SAXOPHONES: Jeff Peterson
A TALE OF TWO FACTORIES: Matt Stohrer
IT ALL STARTS WITH THE MOUTHPIECE: Steve Goodson

In addition to the clinics, there will be a mini-trade show and product demonstrations!

Here's the lineup and particulars:

Sat Feb 6, 2010 8:00 AM

Host: Curt Altarac Curt@MusicMedic.com

Location: MusicMedic.com's New Facility 910.667.0270
901 Martin Street
Wilmington, NC 28401

Clinic Fee: $80.00




CLINICS & CLINICIANS



Curt Altarac received his Masters degree in saxophone performance at the University of Southern Mississippi and has studied saxophone with Harwood Strobeck, Dr. David Abrams, Dr. Laurence Wyman, Dr. Lawrence Gwozdz and Larry Panella. As a teacher and musician Curt is very active with both classical and jazz saxophone, focusing on the Baritone and Bass saxophones. Curt's most recent accomplishment involves the engineering of as well as general contracting for his new business location which is under construction.

Saxophones Necks & Intonation: Through careful research and observance, Curt has discovered many ways of altering the bore and neck of saxophones to achieve specific and predictable results for professional players around the world. In this clinic Curt will explain when why and how he solves problems with an instrument by altering a saxophone neck taper and/or the octave vent.



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Jeff Peterson began disassembling his toys at age 4, took up saxophone studies in the 6th grade, and somehow these experiences and others led him into the field of band instrument repair. In addition to gleaning a wealth of information from his many friends at NAPBIRT, he has studied flute repair with David Straubinger, instrument engraving with Jason DuMars, and saxophone performance with Leo Potts. Jeff is the founder of Horn Improvement, specializing in professional sax, clarinet, and flute repair. In 2007, Jeff began working at Yamaha as manager of the Yamaha Los Angeles Atelier and Woodwind Artist Development. In this role, Jeff works with a worldwide team to develop cutting-edge instruments to satisfy the most discriminating artists. He is currently serving as NAPBIRT Director for Region 7.

High Performance Saxophones: What can be done to bring out the best in a saxophone? Many aspects of saxophone repair are either overlooked or misunderstood. In this session, we will focus on some subtle but critical areas of the saxophone that deserve closer attention. Topics will include: precision neck fitting, set-up essentials, regulation concepts, custom modifications, and more.



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Matt Stohrer was captivated by the saxophone at an early age through his father's record collection. When his parents asked him why he chose to take up the saxophone, his answer was 'Mom, I just love the sound.' He kept playing saxophone through high school and college. By his early 20s he was learning how to repair and as head woodwind tech at Sam Ash, Manhattan, he steadily amassed a distinguished clientele from all over the world through word of mouth. In July of 2009 Matt left Sam Ash to open his own business in Brooklyn to work exclusively on saxophones. Go to www.stohrerwoodwinds.com

A Tale of Two Factories: A virtual tour of the Tenon Industrial Saxophone Factory near Saigon, Vietnam and the Yanagisawa Saxophone Factory in Tokyo, Japan through a tech's eyes, with a focus on how knowing how a horn was made can inform your repair decisions.



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Steve Goodson has been repairing saxophones since 1964, and opened his first repair shop in 1972 and has been based in New Orleans since 1992. Widely regarded as an innovator and an "out of the box" thinker, Steve specializes in custom keywork and significant modifications. In addition to a thriving repair business, Steve Goodson Woodwinds, LLC also manufactures high end hand made saxophones, necks, mouthpieces, and other saxophone accessories for the professional market. Steve has also worked as a design consultant for numerous tool and repair supply makers serving the repair industry, including Ferree's Tool, Ed Myers, and MusicMedic, as well as doing saxophone design and consulting for several major manufacturers in the USA and Asia.


It All Starts With the Mouthpiece: Steve introduces the most overlooked part of any saxophone repair job: the mouthpiece! You'll learn the fundamentals of mouthpiece design, how to match the mouthpiece to the individual horn, how to deal with mouthpiece related tuning and response problems and the basics of mouthpiece repair and refacing. Steve will provide mouthpiece blanks for the participants to make it a real hands-on experience!



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CLINIC SCHEDULE


8:00 - Strong coffee and confections
8:30 - Clinic 1 - Saxophone Necks & Intonation - Curt Altarac
10:00 - More Coffee
10:30 - Clinic 2 - High Performance Saxophones - Jeff Peterson
12:00 - Live Jazz lunch with product demonstrations
2:00 - Clinic 3 - A Tale of Two Factories - Matt Stohrer
3:30 - Cheese and wine
3:45 - Clinic 4 - It All Starts With the Mouthpiece - Steve Goodson
5:00 - More wine
5:15 - Open question and answer session with all clinicians
6:00 - Adjourn


After 6:00: All clinicians will be enjoying dinner, merriment and repair discussions in beautiful downtown Wilmington. Although this is not part of the sponsored NAPBIRT event, please join us!