BACKGROUND --- The occupation of the Musical Instrument Technician has only recently (over the past 25 years or so) gained legitimacy as a bonafide profession by the general public and by the industry that it serves. This process was due, in part, to the efforts of private companies and individuals who initiated formal training programs for aspiring musical instrument technicians. For example, veterans returning from World War 2 (after 1945) and later the Korean "conflict" (1950's) were allowed to use their newly gained veteran benefits to attend the C. G. Conn Band Instrument Repair Program. This program was a semiformal, hands-on kind of training environment, and was an adjunct to Conn's manufacturing operation. I don't have specific data, but quite a number of individuals participated in the program. Later, many left Conn to be employed by retail music stores around the country as Band Instrument Repair Specialists. To my knowledge, this was the first "formal" training program open to the public to be implemented in the United States. Of course, shortly before the turn of the century the musical instrument manufacturing industry in this country was fairly well established, especially in Elkhart, Indiana, and the individual manufacturers were engaged in the training of their own workers to meet their own needs. As a result, many ex-employees having been trained by any of the various manufacturers went out and presented themselves to music retailers for employment as Band Instrument Repair Technicians. So, it was really not until the early 1950's where this profession emerged in modest legitimacy. Even then, there were so few individuals with actual factory training and/or experience, that the VAST majority of "practicing" Musical Instrument Technicians we totally without any formal experience whatsoever.

You may be surprised to know that this condition persists yet today. In fact, most contemporary Musical Instrument Technicians entered the profession by rather circuitous routes. Many are ex-band directors (disenchanted with teaching) and who work initially as sales staff for retail music stores, and then acquire some basic repair and maintenance skills. Others are musicians with performance skills (on one or more instruments) who are also associated with retail music and display innate mechanical aptitudes and initiative towards "fixing things". Others are retail store owners or managers who, in order to survive, simply dive-in feet first to service the instruments they sell and rent. Eventually over time, and through experimentation on their customer's instruments (by way of trial and error, usually more error) these individuals may acquire a narrow range of skills to meet their most basic needs. Some of these individuals may even go on to augment and refine their skills to a relatively high level of expertise, however, not a large percentage. The really scarry thing though, is that virtually ALL of these individuals truly believe that they are competent repair technicians and will present themselves to the unsuspecting public as Professional Musical Instrument Technicians. Unfortunately, the person walking in off the street has no way to confirm the level of competency of this so-called musical instrument repair specialist, until its too late. These untrained technicians, more often than not, lack the formal knowledge of legitimate repair procedures as well as the standards of the Music Industry such that they are simply unable to recognize just how much havoc they wreak on the instruments they "repair". You've all heard the phrase "Ignorance is bliss"

In the 60's our profession was the beneficiary of a few private efforts to train individuals via training programs sponsored by relatively small music companies like Dorn & Kirschner in Union, NJ (Fred Kirschner) and Allied Music in Elkhorn, WI (Bob Getzen). Soon after, a number of Technical Colleges and Institutes followed their lead by sponsoring formal state supported training programs. The ones that come to mind are Western Iowa Tech (Sioux City, Iowa), Spokane Falls Community College (Spokane, WA), Red Wing Technical College (Redwing, MN), State University at New York (Morrisville, NY), Renton Technical College (Renton, WA), Trinidad State College (Trinidad, CO), and one that began and ended in Houston, TX before I could memorize its name. Several of the aforementioned programs have since ceased or gone by the wayside (i.e. Allied Music, Dorn & Kirschner, Spokane Falls, Trinidad State, Houston College, and I am told that the S.U.N.Y. program at Morrisville was discontinued in 1987 as well).

Unfortunately, the training of musical instrument technicians is an extremely expensive and ambitious task on any level, but especially for the private sector. In my opinion this is the main reason private individuals are no longer in this business. At this time, however, three state funded training facilities (in the U.S.) have managed to keep their programs afloat, they are: Red Wing Technical College (MN), Western Iowa Tech (IA), and Renton Technical College (WA); beyond these programs, most other existing endeavors are short specialized courses or workshops (i.e. violin building, guitar building, Band Director survival courses, etc.)

Fortunately for us, there are a number of other service professions which have much longer history's than our own, and have managed to fully evolve to the point where they are held in high esteem by the consuming public. But, there was a time where they too were forced to suffer humiliation and endure the loss of public confidence by the presence of so-called "butchers" in their own industry. They dealt with this problem by establishing formally recognized industry standards and provided methods by which their professionals were able to receive specialized training and upgrading in their trade. One such organization is The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). Anyone who has ever gotten their car repaired at a dealership will have noticed the ASE patches on the technician's coveralls indicating the areas of expertise with which they have been formally certified. In the case of ASE, they offer tests in eight specific areas of automobile repair and in three specific engine machinist areas. To become certified in a given area, the technician must pass the related exam. To be certified as a Master Automobile Technician, they would be required to pass all eight automobile tests; their certification is valid for a period of five years, at which point they must re-certify. Under such a system, employers and the public is assured of the level of expertise and knowledge of the technicians repairing their cars. Why shouldn't Musical Instrument Technicians be able to do the same thing? In my opinion, we should. Currently, persons in our trade who refer to themselves as "Master Repair Technicians" have arrogantly bestowed the title upon themselves, as there is no formal authority or agency granting such titles of merit at this time.

THE REMEDY --- I propose that Musical Instrument Technicians be certified in five basic areas:

1. WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS
2. BRASSWIND INSTRUMENTS
3. VIOLIN FAMILY STRINGED INSTRUMENTS
4. FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS
5. PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

Under such a plan, persons who have successfully completed Musical Instrument Certification Exams would be able to display their credentials such that their clientele would recognize and be confident in their professional abilities. Manufacturers would be more willing to set up active relationships (warranty work) with shops staffed by certified tech's, and I believe that granting recognized credentials to proven technicians would certainly limit the number of unreliable and otherwise unqualified individuals practising in our trade. Additionally, this system will most certainly benefit manufacturing concerns, whos product and product reputation (once they leave the factory) are largely at the mercy of the persons maintaining them in the field.

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