Introduction – Meet the Tech

Welcome to “DM Repair,” the working title for this current operation! My name is Dylan M, & by doing this blog, I am hopeful for three outcomes:

• Inspire the next generation of band instrument repair technicians.
• Demonstrate my experience for potential employers.
• Properly catalog my journey in a digestible way.

I officially started my journey as a repair technician when I began shadowing the band Instrument repair (BIR) techs at my college town’s local music shop. I fell in love with the work they do & made it my new mission. Plus, with the repair degree, I can still teach lessons & help out directors, so in a way, I am right where I belong!

I thought long & hard of how I wanted this blog to be. I couldn’t decide on whether or not to make this blog:

• A daily upkeep, detailing my progress on the micro- level. This would lead to some potentially light updates.
• A monthly upkeep, focusing on complete projects, aiming for 3-4 posts a month (or roughly 1/week).

I decided to focus on the latter for this project. If I were to post every day, I can’t guarantee that it would stay on the topic of “BIR Chronicle” (which is the point.). I think the occasional hobby post here & there will be fine, but I do not want it to stray from this vision.

So a little about me! I made this initial post quite long with the intention of “hitting the ground running,” as they say. To detail my music background & overall playing experience:

• I started playing trumpet in the 5th grade. I had to make the switch to euphonium in 7th grade, due to having dental braces at the time. My director, Mr. Bishop, thought this switch would be better for me in the long run & we decided that I would stay on the euphonium.
• At the university level, I marched the marching baritone for all four years of enrollment. I became the section leader for year three & year four. If I spent another year in the marching band, I would have stepped down as section leader to march sousaphone (they seem to have the most fun at games).
• Beginning year three, I began taking lessons on the bass trombone as well. While (at the time of writing) I think I enjoy playing the trombone more, I would still call the euphonium my primary. In case you were curious: I played on a Bach Stratavarius 42BO, which means I played on a single-trigger bass trombone.
• While playing on the Bach 42BO, I also had one year in the jazz band (my 4th & final year at Saginaw Valley) as the trombone section leader. It was a lot of fun, but I would not recommend most musicians to read first part on jazz charts with a bass trombone. I have zero regrets, but now I know what I do & don’t like! (I played it all as written, to my credit.)

If I decide to make another personal or hobby post, I will either tag it as such or post it on a different linked blog.

Next post will be showcasing a few of the tools they had us make the first few weeks; starting with the poker, porting tool, water key installer, & more! Don’t forget to subscribe for the updates (it’s free!).