People Shout at My Air Travel Tips
Over at Oboe Insight, I got spanked for my Air Travel Guide.
Over at TGM someone writes 5-Step Guide to a Musician’s Air Travel:
Here are a few cautions you should keep in mind before hading for the airport:
1. Be ready to check in your instrument.
And there you go. This is why it’s “The Good Musician” and not “The Great Musician”. ;-)
Okay, maybe I’m joking. But oboists? Do not “be ready to check in your instrument.” We don’t do that. Ever. But do be ready to check in your reed making equipment. Of course that’s sort of a BigDuh™, right?
All right, point taken. But let me explain:
- I was narrating my personal experience
- I was traveling with a guitar, not an oboe. A big chunk of readers here are guitarists.
- Yes, it is “The Good Musician”, I cater to normal, non-prodigic, people.
- I have to add, that if your instrument meets the hand-baggage standards, then there’s no problem taking it on board. Trouble is in these terrorist-driven times, that Airlines are very strict with the one-handbag-per-person-rule. An oboe is forgiving in size, and surely a wonderful instrument, which would perish in the hold.
Again, that guide was out of true personal experience. I didn’t take my main concert guitar, either.
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5 opinions for People Shout at My Air Travel Tips
patty
Jul 26, 2007 at 1:15 am
Well, I hope you know I was just kidding about the “great musician” thing … thus the smiley face. Sometimes my incredible sense of humor just … well … it isn’t quite as incredible as I think!
There was a time when — was it the UK? I think maybe — wouldn’t allow even an oboe. That would, for me, mean no travel, as it meant for quite a number of orchestral musicians. Our instruments are just too darn fragile. (My oboe went from the seat in a car to the floor and was unplayable just from that!)
Best-
pm
Arjun Muralidharan
Jul 26, 2007 at 4:02 am
No offence taken :-) but you did have valid points. A friend of mine is Swiss Oboe Champion and when we went from our home town to music camp (in the Swiss Alps), he was adjusting his reed for about 3 hours because the weather change had affected the pitch so much.
I love the oboe, notably remembering the Oboe Conert by Mozart I was allowed to hear when I was still a kid.
Did you have to uy a new oboe or could you repair the old one?
Woodshed
Jul 26, 2007 at 5:05 am
I tend to agree with you, Arjun. If there is a terrorist alert you might find that passengers aren’t allowed any hand-luggage whatsoever. If you’re not prepared to check an instrument, you need a contingency plan (e.g. to hire or borrow when there).
Jason Heath
Jul 27, 2007 at 12:30 am
Hi Arjun,
I’m really enjoying reading your blog! I’ve got it in my RSS reader, and I’m checking in with each new post. Hope that the b5 Media deal is working out–it’s definitely the first of their offerings that has “spoken” to me (since I’m a classical music blogger myself). Thanks for the great posts!
Arjun Muralidharan
Jul 27, 2007 at 2:50 am
Thanks Jason,
love to hear a satisfied reader. Trying my best. The toughest part is the music theory, which can be somewhat difficult, but I’m sure newbie users will appreciate it!
Can’t say much about the b5media deal, since we’re just starting out… and even after that, I don’t think I’m at liberty to discuss that ;-). But I’ll keep blogging, come what will.
Woodshed, I totally agree with the idea of a contingency, but in India instruments are HORRIBLE. At least it’s very hard to find proper stuff, and western classical instruments are very hard to find. Indian music is still very strong. All they’re good at here is electronic stuff (keyboards, electric drums and guitars, etc.).
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