Soaring Instrument Prices Could Stop the Music at Many Schools

nytimes.com

4 points·bookofjoe··3 comments

I converted almost all of my music collection from paper to digital. At the very least, the pages lie flat for a change (on the iPad) and don't need an intrusive light. A neighbor's daughter is a music major and took the lot (minus the ones I found later) to her college music teacher. Oh, and a flute along with them.

Off topic, but I did the same for many books on landscaping, woodworking, and cooking but have yet to find help. They are really heavy.

The idea of a sharing society is one we totally forgot. Heck, it's even in the New Testament.

Back to music ...

I have mixed feelings about the old Roland FP-1 keyboard. The levers that do the work were poorly designed, with a weak spot at the maximum stress point. I have gotten pretty good at replacing them as they break (epoxy resin) but I don't think that an average keyboard player is up to it. The 14 or 32 (so it seems) holding the cover on have been reduced to 4 as a help to me during repairs, and they would need some thread booster. At rest, they aren't even needed, IIRC

I finally found a source/sources for parts. I think.

I bought a used Clavinova vastly newer, so it's waiting for a musica/mechanical home.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwezvnqV6Z0

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXb7KCsOG8c

[2] https://www.synth-parts.com/en/search?search=roland%20fp-1&t...

https://archive.ph/uOier

https://unwall.app/www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/business/econo...

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/business/economy/tariffs-...

Maybe this can increase the market for used instruments and shops that do meaningful repair. It could be good craftsmen making instruments. Note, this is not so much expectation as hopefulness. I would really like to see actual people making things, not just instruments but all kinds of things.

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