1
00:00:34,542 --> 00:00:35,792
I love the violin.
2
00:00:38,583 --> 00:00:45,333
The hardest things in my life
is probably my family's health.
3
00:00:46,041 --> 00:00:48,834
Like, everybody is always getting sick
back-to-back.
4
00:00:50,208 --> 00:00:53,709
Like, "Oh, we have to go to the hospital
for them," and stuff.
5
00:00:53,792 --> 00:00:56,709
Like, "Wait, um,
I'll hear you play in a minute.
6
00:00:56,792 --> 00:00:58,959
I just have to get
these medicine for them."
7
00:00:59,625 --> 00:01:03,333
You know, I can understand,
but it's like... it's like, "Okay."
8
00:01:03,417 --> 00:01:04,709
Like...
9
00:01:04,792 --> 00:01:06,709
Like, "I guess I'll play by myself."
10
00:01:08,041 --> 00:01:11,333
If I didn't have my violin from school,
11
00:01:11,417 --> 00:01:14,834
I would probably...
I don't know what I would do.
12
00:01:15,333 --> 00:01:17,500
Don't even jinx me with that. [laughs]
13
00:02:10,667 --> 00:02:12,375
[plucks strings]
14
00:02:14,500 --> 00:02:17,166
[broken flute playing]
15
00:02:29,583 --> 00:02:32,583
[tapping piano keys]
16
00:02:56,417 --> 00:02:57,709
[supervisor] Let's see.
17
00:02:58,542 --> 00:03:00,166
There's four departments.
18
00:03:00,250 --> 00:03:04,500
There's, uh, brass repair,
string instrument repair,
19
00:03:04,583 --> 00:03:07,375
uh, woodwind instrument repair
20
00:03:07,458 --> 00:03:08,959
and piano shop.
21
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,333
With the strings, uh...
22
00:03:14,625 --> 00:03:18,000
Okay, some of the writings
are like doctors' writings, so...
23
00:03:20,250 --> 00:03:21,333
Uh.
24
00:03:21,917 --> 00:03:25,291
"Violin, broken peg.
25
00:03:25,375 --> 00:03:27,667
Please," uh, "repair as needed."
26
00:03:29,542 --> 00:03:32,458
So in this case,
old peg has to be removed,
27
00:03:32,542 --> 00:03:34,083
new peg fitted,
28
00:03:35,542 --> 00:03:36,625
strung,
29
00:03:37,458 --> 00:03:39,500
and instrument goes back to student.
30
00:03:42,625 --> 00:03:46,583
When wood breaks,
it breaks in a unique way.
31
00:03:50,792 --> 00:03:53,667
And if you leave a crack open,
the instrument buzzes.
32
00:03:54,250 --> 00:03:55,542
It can be really frustrating.
33
00:03:55,625 --> 00:03:59,417
It's hard to find that last little buzz
in the cello.
34
00:04:05,083 --> 00:04:06,417
[plucks string]
35
00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:09,583
You find it, and you're like,
"Oh, good. It's gone." [laughs]
36
00:04:15,208 --> 00:04:18,166
It's really hard being a kid.
37
00:04:22,417 --> 00:04:27,041
Some of 'em come from
a place of love and support.
38
00:04:29,417 --> 00:04:33,041
And others come from huge dysfunction.
39
00:04:36,917 --> 00:04:38,458
The emotional broken things
40
00:04:38,542 --> 00:04:41,166
and the mental broken things
are more difficult.
41
00:04:42,542 --> 00:04:44,625
You can't glue that back together.
42
00:04:45,709 --> 00:04:47,208
That takes time.
43
00:04:47,792 --> 00:04:49,750
And it takes care.
44
00:04:53,166 --> 00:04:54,500
[tuning fork hums]
45
00:04:54,583 --> 00:04:55,959
Uh...
46
00:04:56,041 --> 00:04:57,667
[plucking strings]
47
00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:05,875
Well, by the time I was 27 or so,
I'd begun the process of coming out.
48
00:05:09,959 --> 00:05:12,750
It was 1975.
49
00:05:13,750 --> 00:05:16,375
You have to remember
that this was a different time.
50
00:05:16,458 --> 00:05:18,333
Being gay wasn't accepted.
51
00:05:19,375 --> 00:05:21,834
- People were beaten in the street.
- [people clamoring]
52
00:05:21,917 --> 00:05:24,375
- [siren wailing]
- People were bashed and killed.
53
00:05:27,166 --> 00:05:32,417
So, from 13 years on,
I tried, uh, my best to not be.
54
00:05:34,750 --> 00:05:36,667
I tried to grow out of it.
55
00:05:37,583 --> 00:05:42,625
I tried to, you know, evolve beyond it,
and it wasn't happening.
56
00:05:42,709 --> 00:05:43,959
[slide projector clicks]
57
00:05:44,041 --> 00:05:45,834
And I thought I was broken.
58
00:05:47,834 --> 00:05:49,792
That buzz in the cello.
59
00:05:51,291 --> 00:05:55,667
It became be either miserable
trying to be something I wasn't,
60
00:05:57,375 --> 00:06:03,959
or be authentic
and be shunned, ridiculed, beaten.
61
00:06:05,583 --> 00:06:07,583
Or just kill myself, you know?
62
00:06:07,667 --> 00:06:11,500
It was... It was getting to
a point of crisis for me.
63
00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:18,917
- [slide projector clicks]
- My mother and father were both musicians.
64
00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,375
And my mom taught me...
65
00:06:21,458 --> 00:06:23,709
- [starter pistol fires]
- ...music is like swimming.
66
00:06:24,250 --> 00:06:27,792
The rhythm, it's constantly in the moment,
67
00:06:27,875 --> 00:06:31,333
and if you stop, there's no music.
68
00:06:32,208 --> 00:06:33,834
Whatever you do, don't stop.
69
00:06:33,917 --> 00:06:35,208
[instruments playing off-key]
70
00:06:35,291 --> 00:06:36,583
Keep going.
71
00:06:36,667 --> 00:06:40,959
No matter how bad of a train wreck it is,
just keep going.
72
00:06:42,875 --> 00:06:45,000
You know, don't quit. Don't give up.
73
00:06:46,125 --> 00:06:47,333
Persist.
74
00:06:49,041 --> 00:06:50,041
You know.
75
00:06:52,625 --> 00:06:57,125
And so, I didn't decide.
I realized I had to accept it.
76
00:07:00,250 --> 00:07:01,458
I wasn't broken.
77
00:07:02,750 --> 00:07:04,166
Don't need fixing.
78
00:07:04,667 --> 00:07:07,458
And so, I decided to embrace it.
79
00:07:09,458 --> 00:07:12,458
Met my husband. We became dads.
80
00:07:13,041 --> 00:07:17,083
And we've been a couple
for almost 23 years now.
81
00:07:23,583 --> 00:07:24,917
And so I'm still here.
82
00:07:27,417 --> 00:07:28,542
Alive.
83
00:07:29,208 --> 00:07:33,750
Free to be kind, be loving, be authentic.
84
00:07:34,709 --> 00:07:36,291
So... [chuckles]
85
00:07:36,375 --> 00:07:38,333
It's not easy being a kid.
86
00:07:39,250 --> 00:07:41,667
But we try to make at least the...
87
00:07:41,750 --> 00:07:45,667
the playing-of-the-instrument part
as good as it can be.
88
00:07:56,667 --> 00:08:00,333
[student 1] If you told me
five years ago that, like, uh,
89
00:08:01,375 --> 00:08:03,542
I'd be playing sousaphone,
90
00:08:04,750 --> 00:08:06,417
I'd be like, "Damn." [chuckles]
91
00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:10,250
"I think... I think you're lying to me,
bro, 'cause that's not... that's not it."
92
00:08:10,333 --> 00:08:12,500
[giggles] "I don't know
how to play anything."
93
00:08:13,834 --> 00:08:18,583
'Cause I could never have at that age
an instrument that expensive.
94
00:08:19,417 --> 00:08:23,208
Like, in my home, in my neighborhood,
we could never afford it, in my opinion.
95
00:08:23,291 --> 00:08:27,250
I used to beg my mom and my dad.
I used to beg 'em to buy me one.
96
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,834
And they'd always tell me the same thing.
97
00:08:29,917 --> 00:08:32,583
[speaking Spanish]
98
00:08:32,667 --> 00:08:35,667
Which means
"either a tuba or you" in the house.
99
00:08:35,750 --> 00:08:37,750
And I'm just like, "Oh." [giggles] "Well...
100
00:08:39,083 --> 00:08:41,333
I guess, uh...
I guess that's not an option."
101
00:08:42,792 --> 00:08:47,083
But luckily, I had a sousaphone at home
from school.
102
00:08:48,875 --> 00:08:50,750
[sousaphone playing]
103
00:08:52,458 --> 00:08:54,625
I was... [exhales]
104
00:08:54,709 --> 00:08:56,834
...13... 13, 14.
105
00:08:57,417 --> 00:09:00,792
It's emotional 'cause, like,
when you think about, like,
106
00:09:00,875 --> 00:09:03,750
right now, 18, fresh outta high school.
107
00:09:03,834 --> 00:09:06,000
Going to college. Barely starting life,
108
00:09:06,083 --> 00:09:10,250
and I'ma find a way
to somehow make music my career,
109
00:09:10,333 --> 00:09:12,250
my passion, my living.
110
00:09:12,333 --> 00:09:14,875
Without the tubas at school
and the sousaphones at school, like...
111
00:09:14,959 --> 00:09:18,458
- [sousaphone ends]
- You never know, honestly.
112
00:09:21,166 --> 00:09:26,625
For example, "Brass department, euphonium.
113
00:09:26,709 --> 00:09:29,709
Leak. Resolder as needed.
114
00:09:30,500 --> 00:09:32,041
Give a sonic wash.
115
00:09:32,542 --> 00:09:34,750
This one needs tender little care."
116
00:09:41,625 --> 00:09:43,542
[Paty] A lot of times, I wonder
117
00:09:44,375 --> 00:09:48,375
what kind of little hands
hold the instrument before me?
118
00:09:49,583 --> 00:09:52,083
I have a big jar.
119
00:09:52,583 --> 00:09:54,959
I call it the treasure jar.
120
00:09:55,041 --> 00:09:59,792
And it's all the stuff
I have found inside the instruments.
121
00:10:01,625 --> 00:10:05,375
Batteries, marbles, candies.
122
00:10:05,458 --> 00:10:07,291
Pencils, erasers.
123
00:10:08,417 --> 00:10:09,583
This little toy.
124
00:10:10,333 --> 00:10:13,709
It's tiny, about this big,
and it's all hairy.
125
00:10:14,375 --> 00:10:20,458
It's like secret communication
between the kid and myself.
126
00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:26,417
What kind of story
that instrument can tell me
127
00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:29,375
if he can talk to me?
128
00:10:30,250 --> 00:10:33,166
[drill whirring, clanking]
129
00:10:33,250 --> 00:10:37,083
My story, it was a big adventure.
130
00:10:37,875 --> 00:10:40,041
Big, scary adventure.
131
00:10:40,125 --> 00:10:41,750
[chuckles] Mmm.
132
00:10:42,750 --> 00:10:43,750
[slide projector clicks]
133
00:10:43,834 --> 00:10:48,417
I was born in Mexico
in a town called Morelia.
134
00:10:50,500 --> 00:10:55,166
My mother used to say to us,
"You can do anything you want in life.
135
00:10:56,208 --> 00:10:58,250
You are smart. You're strong.
136
00:10:59,041 --> 00:11:01,583
Go fight for what you want."
137
00:11:02,875 --> 00:11:07,041
Since I was little girl,
I wanted the American dream.
138
00:11:07,125 --> 00:11:11,500
So, I decide I wanna go to United States.
139
00:11:11,583 --> 00:11:14,959
When you set your mind
on doing something, you do it.
140
00:11:18,917 --> 00:11:20,458
We travel all night.
141
00:11:23,500 --> 00:11:26,500
Seeing those buildings all light up...
142
00:11:29,750 --> 00:11:31,458
my jaw was dropped.
143
00:11:31,542 --> 00:11:36,041
So like, "Wow. It's even better in life
than what I was imagining."
144
00:11:42,125 --> 00:11:46,375
I was single mother with two kids,
very small.
145
00:11:46,458 --> 00:11:49,250
My daughter was three, and my son was six.
146
00:11:49,333 --> 00:11:51,500
- You have to figure it out.
- [slide projector clicks]
147
00:11:51,583 --> 00:11:54,834
I start working at music store
in Thousand Oaks.
148
00:11:54,917 --> 00:11:59,625
The owner, he said, "Okay.
I'm gonna give a chance for a week.
149
00:11:59,709 --> 00:12:00,709
One week."
150
00:12:02,917 --> 00:12:04,417
Vacuum the cases
151
00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:09,083
and preparing the musical instruments
for him to get 'em fixed.
152
00:12:10,125 --> 00:12:12,333
So after a week, he say, "You know what?
153
00:12:12,417 --> 00:12:14,834
I think we're gonna keep you
a little longer."
154
00:12:15,458 --> 00:12:19,917
Worked in that store for seven years.
155
00:12:22,458 --> 00:12:28,125
My son, he said,
"Mom, I would like to try clarinet."
156
00:12:29,250 --> 00:12:31,959
Twenty dollars a month, the rental.
157
00:12:32,458 --> 00:12:34,000
It was a lot for me.
158
00:12:34,875 --> 00:12:37,083
I was... I was single mom, remember?
159
00:12:38,417 --> 00:12:42,333
And... I couldn't afford it.
160
00:12:45,959 --> 00:12:47,750
We were so poor.
161
00:12:57,542 --> 00:12:59,500
Sometimes we didn't have food.
162
00:13:07,041 --> 00:13:09,625
Sometimes we didn't have nothing
for Christmas.
163
00:13:09,709 --> 00:13:10,834
[sniffles, sobs]
164
00:13:13,250 --> 00:13:16,375
I came to this country thinking,
"Yes"... [sniffles]
165
00:13:16,458 --> 00:13:17,959
..."this is the American dream."
166
00:13:18,041 --> 00:13:21,709
And when I didn't have food for my kids,
I thought, like,
167
00:13:22,542 --> 00:13:24,458
"This is not American dream."
168
00:13:24,542 --> 00:13:26,291
[sniffles, inhales]
169
00:13:27,542 --> 00:13:28,542
[sighs]
170
00:13:32,291 --> 00:13:34,125
Few years later...
171
00:13:36,625 --> 00:13:42,083
one of technicians, Mark Comeau,
he called me.
172
00:13:42,166 --> 00:13:47,041
An opportunity opened in L.A.U.S.D.
173
00:13:47,125 --> 00:13:51,917
They were gonna hire
two brass technicians.
174
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,208
"You need to go there.
175
00:13:54,291 --> 00:13:56,333
You need to take that test."
176
00:13:57,041 --> 00:13:58,041
[giggles]
177
00:14:00,875 --> 00:14:03,000
When I came to take a test...
178
00:14:05,291 --> 00:14:08,542
there were 12 men and myself.
179
00:14:08,625 --> 00:14:10,458
I was scared!
180
00:14:10,542 --> 00:14:15,041
My heart, it was like
it was gonna come out of my chest.
181
00:14:15,125 --> 00:14:17,792
I told myself,
"I have no chance in there."
182
00:14:17,875 --> 00:14:20,959
But, I remember my mother.
183
00:14:21,917 --> 00:14:23,917
"You can do anything you want in life.
184
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,250
You're smart. You're strong.
185
00:14:26,333 --> 00:14:28,458
Go fight for what you want."
186
00:14:29,959 --> 00:14:33,458
Night before, with my kids,
I talked to them.
187
00:14:33,542 --> 00:14:37,500
I said, "Look. I'm gonna take this test.
188
00:14:37,583 --> 00:14:39,291
If everything go okay,
189
00:14:40,583 --> 00:14:43,417
we're gonna have
a totally different life." So...
190
00:14:45,291 --> 00:14:49,542
The test was
the most difficult experience.
191
00:14:51,166 --> 00:14:53,959
Cleaning so many little parts.
192
00:14:56,500 --> 00:14:58,125
[bubbling]
193
00:14:58,208 --> 00:15:02,291
The pistons, they need to go up and down.
194
00:15:02,375 --> 00:15:07,709
The casing and the piston
have to lock inside with a little guide.
195
00:15:07,792 --> 00:15:09,875
And they fit like a glove.
196
00:15:10,583 --> 00:15:15,250
Any little dent, any little scratch,
even if it is dirty...
197
00:15:20,667 --> 00:15:21,709
it won't play.
198
00:15:24,583 --> 00:15:25,667
I did the test...
199
00:15:28,041 --> 00:15:30,083
and I went home.
200
00:15:31,917 --> 00:15:37,291
I was sad and disappointed
because I felt like I never have a chance.
201
00:15:37,375 --> 00:15:40,250
I think they're gonna do
much better than me.
202
00:15:41,583 --> 00:15:45,667
I didn't even want to wait for L.A.U.S.D.
to give me the results,
203
00:15:45,750 --> 00:15:48,583
because I was almost sure
that I wasn't gonna get it.
204
00:15:48,667 --> 00:15:52,625
[chuckles] Especially because it was
only men working in the shop.
205
00:15:53,917 --> 00:15:55,208
I just forgot all about it.
206
00:15:55,291 --> 00:16:00,166
I thought, like, "Put that behind me
and don't get excited or anything
207
00:16:00,250 --> 00:16:03,166
because"... [smacks lips]
..."it's not gonna happen."
208
00:16:06,041 --> 00:16:07,041
Yeah.
209
00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:15,875
And then, I get a phone call.
210
00:16:17,542 --> 00:16:20,250
You have no idea how it felt.
211
00:16:21,917 --> 00:16:24,125
I wa... [giggles]
212
00:16:24,792 --> 00:16:27,792
I was screaming, jumping...
213
00:16:30,333 --> 00:16:32,166
when I saw my kids that night.
214
00:16:34,750 --> 00:16:37,500
It was like, "Yes, we did it.
215
00:16:40,583 --> 00:16:41,625
Yes."
216
00:16:44,750 --> 00:16:50,458
So, I start working here January 26, 2004.
217
00:16:51,375 --> 00:16:55,792
They give me my bench.
All these years, I've been working here.
218
00:17:00,709 --> 00:17:02,709
Same bench. I never change.
219
00:17:06,333 --> 00:17:10,291
Music changed my life, for sure.
For sure, it did.
220
00:17:10,375 --> 00:17:12,500
I started at the age of nine.
221
00:17:12,583 --> 00:17:14,875
My school gave me my saxophone.
They gave me a case.
222
00:17:14,959 --> 00:17:17,000
They gave me everything I needed.
223
00:17:17,083 --> 00:17:18,583
This is a beauty.
224
00:17:19,083 --> 00:17:22,000
I usually always was in the house,
you know, playing around.
225
00:17:22,083 --> 00:17:25,208
A lot of energy, like,
throwing everything down
226
00:17:25,291 --> 00:17:26,792
and always messing up.
227
00:17:26,875 --> 00:17:31,792
The saxophone helped me
in a way be more disciplined.
228
00:17:31,875 --> 00:17:37,291
'Cause music, okay, I have to be on time.
I have to practice. I have to look good.
229
00:17:37,792 --> 00:17:39,166
I have to shower.
230
00:17:39,250 --> 00:17:40,959
[chuckling] I have to brush my teeth.
231
00:17:41,041 --> 00:17:43,250
It helped me focus more.
232
00:17:44,500 --> 00:17:48,875
When I'm feeling tense,
when I'm feeling sad or angry,
233
00:17:49,542 --> 00:17:51,166
the saxophone...
234
00:17:51,250 --> 00:17:53,250
[saxophone playing]
235
00:17:58,709 --> 00:18:00,166
...calms me down.
236
00:18:01,417 --> 00:18:05,583
{\an8}But the G-sharp key always gets stuck.
237
00:18:07,375 --> 00:18:11,250
[supervisor] With the woodwinds, um,
we have a saxophone.
238
00:18:11,333 --> 00:18:16,000
"Missing a screw,
lower joint, left-hand pinkie F key."
239
00:18:16,583 --> 00:18:20,959
So on and so forth.
"G-sharp key completely fell off.
240
00:18:21,041 --> 00:18:22,709
Complete overhaul."
241
00:18:23,959 --> 00:18:27,208
So in this case, we have to...
[chuckles] ...evaluate it.
242
00:18:32,750 --> 00:18:34,625
[Duane] Ah, let's see.
243
00:18:34,709 --> 00:18:37,333
The wonderful woodwind department.
244
00:18:37,417 --> 00:18:41,917
They all got keys and screws
and rods and springs.
245
00:18:42,750 --> 00:18:46,500
And if those get bent or rusted,
then the instrument leaks.
246
00:18:48,083 --> 00:18:51,208
It's kinda almost like a puzzle.
When ya find a leak, you fix it.
247
00:18:51,291 --> 00:18:53,542
You go to the next thing.
That leaks, you fix it.
248
00:18:54,125 --> 00:18:59,250
You might have to take the instrument
apart just to get that one pad just right.
249
00:18:59,333 --> 00:19:01,083
You do it. You do whatever it takes
250
00:19:01,166 --> 00:19:05,500
because, for a young child
that's interested in playing,
251
00:19:06,667 --> 00:19:11,333
that one instrument
could change their whole life.
252
00:19:15,291 --> 00:19:16,709
[suspenseful music playing]
253
00:19:20,583 --> 00:19:23,333
{\an8}The whole reason
why I wanted to learn how to play music...
254
00:19:25,333 --> 00:19:27,583
came from the old Frankenstein movie...
255
00:19:27,667 --> 00:19:30,250
[thunder rumbles]
256
00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:34,959
...where Frankenstein was out in the woods,
257
00:19:35,041 --> 00:19:38,333
and the whole township was after him,
you know, with the shovels and everything.
258
00:19:38,417 --> 00:19:40,458
And he was in the woods
trying to run away.
259
00:19:41,291 --> 00:19:45,792
That always stuck with me
because growing up, got picked on so much.
260
00:19:47,208 --> 00:19:50,583
I don't know what they thought, really.
I was kinda in my own world.
261
00:19:51,083 --> 00:19:55,375
Some people would say
maybe a little off-center.
262
00:19:55,458 --> 00:19:56,667
Yeah.
263
00:19:56,750 --> 00:19:58,834
[inhales] Yeah.
264
00:20:00,375 --> 00:20:02,875
So, when I saw that spot in the movie
265
00:20:02,959 --> 00:20:05,709
where the old blind gentleman
who lived out in the woods,
266
00:20:05,792 --> 00:20:09,208
he's sitting in his house by the fire,
and he's playing the violin.
267
00:20:10,375 --> 00:20:11,959
And Frankenstein hears it,
268
00:20:12,625 --> 00:20:16,166
and he almost gets tears in his eyes
from the... from the sound,
269
00:20:16,250 --> 00:20:17,750
and he follows it.
270
00:20:17,834 --> 00:20:20,917
And of course,
the blind man hears somebody at the door.
271
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,917
He says, "Come on in."
And he fixes tea and all this stuff and...
272
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,417
[slurps]
273
00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:30,458
I'm goin', "Wow.
The bow is going across the strings,
274
00:20:30,542 --> 00:20:34,208
and it made the monster cry and relax."
275
00:20:34,291 --> 00:20:36,000
That was such an impression on me.
276
00:20:38,500 --> 00:20:41,000
And then years go by,
and I was at a swap meet.
277
00:20:41,083 --> 00:20:44,208
And I saw a violin sitting there
that somebody was selling.
278
00:20:44,709 --> 00:20:48,333
You know, just all came to me.
It's like, "This is what I wanna do.
279
00:20:48,417 --> 00:20:49,750
I wanna play that violin."
280
00:20:49,834 --> 00:20:52,709
I looked at it,
and he said he wanted $20 for it.
281
00:20:52,792 --> 00:20:54,625
I think I only had five dollars.
282
00:20:55,333 --> 00:20:57,959
So I hitchhiked all the way back home.
283
00:20:58,041 --> 00:20:59,834
Then my mom, I begged her.
284
00:20:59,917 --> 00:21:04,208
I said, "Can you front me $20,
and could you please drive me back?"
285
00:21:05,417 --> 00:21:07,583
Went back there. Ran down the aisle.
286
00:21:07,667 --> 00:21:10,959
And I'm looking.
I can't find this violin anywhere.
287
00:21:12,625 --> 00:21:14,500
I was on the wrong aisle.
288
00:21:14,583 --> 00:21:17,750
Went around the other aisle,
and there it was.
289
00:21:17,834 --> 00:21:21,208
Beautiful, like,
lime-green felt on the inside.
290
00:21:21,917 --> 00:21:24,542
And from that moment on,
I had the fiddle bug.
291
00:21:24,625 --> 00:21:26,542
And I didn't even stop to eat sometimes.
292
00:21:26,625 --> 00:21:31,166
I just wanted to play, play
and learn and learn and play and learn.
293
00:21:31,667 --> 00:21:32,667
[shutter clicks]
294
00:21:33,709 --> 00:21:36,417
In high school,
I took every music class I could.
295
00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:39,000
All the other classes
were just complete torture.
296
00:21:39,083 --> 00:21:40,083
[slide projector clicks]
297
00:21:41,041 --> 00:21:43,500
So my buddy, in high school,
he got a banjo.
298
00:21:43,583 --> 00:21:45,792
And then we started
playing bluegrass music.
299
00:21:45,875 --> 00:21:46,875
Fiddle and the banjo.
300
00:21:46,959 --> 00:21:50,417
And our best friend, Chuck,
he played rock-and-roll guitar.
301
00:21:50,500 --> 00:21:54,959
Bam. We named ourselves
after Bodie Ghost Town.
302
00:21:55,041 --> 00:21:57,125
The Bodie Mountain Express.
303
00:21:57,709 --> 00:22:00,000
So we came in a music store.
We say we're a band.
304
00:22:00,083 --> 00:22:02,625
We're looking for a place to play.
Get some tips.
305
00:22:02,709 --> 00:22:03,917
"Oh, you guys play?
306
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,792
Hey, get out your instruments
and play some."
307
00:22:05,875 --> 00:22:08,208
We had
these silly hillbilly band routines.
308
00:22:08,291 --> 00:22:12,583
A bunch of, like, shakers and spoons.
Played some tunes, a little show.
309
00:22:12,667 --> 00:22:16,208
The banjo player, you know,
did the funny thing with his eyes.
310
00:22:19,291 --> 00:22:21,917
- He grabs the phone, dials up...
- [phone dialing]
311
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,542
...starts talking on the phone,
puts the phone down.
312
00:22:24,625 --> 00:22:28,166
Next thing we know, this Cadillac pulls up
in front of the store.
313
00:22:28,709 --> 00:22:29,959
And out comes this guy.
314
00:22:31,333 --> 00:22:35,166
Colonel Tom Parker,
Elvis Presley's manager.
315
00:22:35,667 --> 00:22:40,750
And of course, Colonel Parker is friends
with Liberace, Frank Sinatra.
316
00:22:41,250 --> 00:22:44,333
Next thing you know,
we're gonna go to Frank's house,
317
00:22:44,417 --> 00:22:46,542
and we're gonna play
a little concert for him.
318
00:22:47,041 --> 00:22:49,792
We're gonna go to Liberace's house
and play a little concert.
319
00:22:49,875 --> 00:22:51,083
- [snaps]
- Snap, like that.
320
00:22:51,166 --> 00:22:54,250
- It was 1975. New Year's Eve...
- [crowd cheering, applauding]
321
00:22:55,667 --> 00:22:59,542
{\an8}...at Pontiac Dome Stadium.
The Colonel put us on the Elvis show.
322
00:22:59,625 --> 00:23:01,208
[performer]
Gonna feature Mr. Duane Michaels.
323
00:23:01,291 --> 00:23:03,291
[Duane] And there were 73,000 people.
324
00:23:03,375 --> 00:23:05,542
- [bluegrass music playing]
- And we were the first ones onstage.
325
00:23:05,625 --> 00:23:07,625
We're all wearing overalls and...
326
00:23:07,709 --> 00:23:12,083
and everybody waiting to see Elvis,
looking like, "Who are these hillbillies?"
327
00:23:12,166 --> 00:23:13,667
[bluegrass music continues]
328
00:23:13,750 --> 00:23:17,333
But this is the highest grossing
one-night show that Elvis put on.
329
00:23:17,417 --> 00:23:18,959
- [crowd cheering]
- [shutter clicks]
330
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,417
A few years after that, they hired us
to play at Knott's Berry Farm.
331
00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:28,291
And so we played there.
That's how I met my wife.
332
00:23:28,375 --> 00:23:31,458
She saw me playing at Knott's Berry Farm.
333
00:23:31,542 --> 00:23:35,083
Thought I was the greatest thing ever
because I was up there playin' the fiddle.
334
00:23:35,166 --> 00:23:37,792
And then next thing you know,
Disneyland sent a talent scout
335
00:23:37,875 --> 00:23:39,417
and just hired us on the spot.
336
00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:43,542
"The only thing is,
we need you in Florida at Disney World."
337
00:23:43,625 --> 00:23:44,709
[people screaming, cheering]
338
00:23:44,792 --> 00:23:46,291
"Sure!"
339
00:23:47,667 --> 00:23:50,208
The Colonel, we had a close relationship.
340
00:23:50,291 --> 00:23:53,500
Yeah. Colonel Parker was
my son's godfather.
341
00:23:54,500 --> 00:23:57,458
Sounds like a made-up story,
but, I mean, it really isn't.
342
00:23:57,542 --> 00:24:03,542
That $20 fiddle I found at a swap meet
has taken me all over the world.
343
00:24:05,917 --> 00:24:10,500
That $20 fiddle has taken me everywhere.
344
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,500
[bluegrass music ends]
345
00:24:15,583 --> 00:24:17,583
- [crowd cheering]
- [performer] Thank you very much.
346
00:24:17,667 --> 00:24:19,291
By the way,
we're the Bodie Mountain Express.
347
00:24:19,375 --> 00:24:20,542
We'll be back in just a few...
348
00:24:20,625 --> 00:24:22,875
[Duane] And that brings us
to where I'm at now.
349
00:24:23,542 --> 00:24:28,375
Getting these instruments to play easily
for a wonderful purpose.
350
00:24:28,458 --> 00:24:33,041
The fact that the kids have a chance to
play instruments if they can't afford it.
351
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,583
- That one instrument...
- [flute trills]
352
00:24:42,333 --> 00:24:44,125
...could change their whole life.
353
00:24:45,834 --> 00:24:49,542
In a way, you know, you can feel like,
you know, you're fixing an instrument
354
00:24:49,625 --> 00:24:51,583
for the future GRAMMY winner,
355
00:24:51,667 --> 00:24:53,959
if you wanna kinda dream a little bit,
you know?
356
00:24:54,041 --> 00:24:55,125
[chuckles]
357
00:24:59,959 --> 00:25:01,542
[birds twittering]
358
00:25:01,625 --> 00:25:04,291
[student 2] When I was three years old,
my dad taught me how to play
359
00:25:04,375 --> 00:25:06,458
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
on the piano.
360
00:25:06,542 --> 00:25:09,166
I actually vividly remember that.
361
00:25:09,250 --> 00:25:11,917
I've been playing the piano
for, like, nine years now.
362
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,458
You know, I just have
a connection with it. [giggles]
363
00:25:14,542 --> 00:25:16,500
I'm getting emotional.
364
00:25:17,250 --> 00:25:20,375
I've just been playing for a while.
Playing for a long time.
365
00:25:22,083 --> 00:25:25,875
Mental health is something that's,
like, very hard to manage sometimes.
366
00:25:25,959 --> 00:25:28,375
Especially with everything
that's going on in your life,
367
00:25:28,458 --> 00:25:31,750
like school and thinking of
what you want to be.
368
00:25:31,834 --> 00:25:33,500
It's very stressful sometimes.
369
00:25:33,583 --> 00:25:36,333
I guess I'm just scared of,
like, failure, you know?
370
00:25:37,875 --> 00:25:41,375
Like, I'm scared, like,
I won't, like, find a purpose in life.
371
00:25:42,458 --> 00:25:46,875
But once I go onstage,
all that tension goes away.
372
00:25:46,959 --> 00:25:50,709
When you play onstage, you have,
like, this overwhelming presence,
373
00:25:51,250 --> 00:25:56,041
and, like, you know,
the audience is, like, somewhat, like,
374
00:25:56,125 --> 00:25:57,667
attracted to it, you know?
375
00:26:00,375 --> 00:26:02,333
Everyone's just watching you.
376
00:26:03,375 --> 00:26:07,083
And you feel... a certain power.
377
00:26:07,166 --> 00:26:10,291
[Beethoven's "Sonata No. 8
Op. 13 Pathétique" playing on piano]
378
00:26:48,417 --> 00:26:50,333
Something like that. [giggles]
379
00:26:50,417 --> 00:26:51,917
- [person applauds]
- [giggles]
380
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,000
[supervisor] Pianos.
381
00:26:54,083 --> 00:26:57,125
Let's see if we find anything...
382
00:26:59,417 --> 00:27:00,917
interesting here.
383
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,208
As supervisor, I have to make sure
384
00:27:04,291 --> 00:27:07,542
that all instruments are repaired
in a timely manner.
385
00:27:07,625 --> 00:27:12,875
That shop is all up to the safety
and all the employees are happy,
386
00:27:12,959 --> 00:27:16,667
because we are a family here.
387
00:27:19,709 --> 00:27:21,375
I'm a supervisor here...
388
00:27:23,375 --> 00:27:25,500
but I started as a piano technician.
389
00:27:29,375 --> 00:27:33,333
I always remember
the first time I saw a piano.
390
00:27:34,625 --> 00:27:38,834
I was a little Armenian boy
and living in Baku City
391
00:27:38,917 --> 00:27:42,625
of former Soviet Union,
Republic of Azerbaijan.
392
00:27:45,500 --> 00:27:48,291
The piano tuner would come
in the middle of our music class
393
00:27:48,375 --> 00:27:50,125
and take the piano apart.
394
00:27:51,166 --> 00:27:55,000
And he would mute every string
and then go to another one,
395
00:27:55,083 --> 00:27:56,834
and go move to another one
and another one.
396
00:27:56,917 --> 00:27:58,500
And I was sitting at the first row.
397
00:27:59,125 --> 00:28:02,083
I'm thinking, "God, so many strings.
398
00:28:02,166 --> 00:28:04,583
And he had to do every single one.
399
00:28:05,583 --> 00:28:08,041
So many parts. How does he do that?
400
00:28:08,959 --> 00:28:10,208
Wow."
401
00:28:10,709 --> 00:28:11,875
[slide projector clicks]
402
00:28:12,583 --> 00:28:17,333
Late '60s, early '70s,
my brother, he's 10 years older than me,
403
00:28:18,250 --> 00:28:19,542
he bought a guitar.
404
00:28:21,375 --> 00:28:23,083
And he told me not to touch it.
405
00:28:23,166 --> 00:28:25,417
[chuckles]
406
00:28:25,500 --> 00:28:29,166
One day, he was at the college,
so I took the guitar.
407
00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:32,208
And he comes home. "Who touched my guitar?
I told you not to touch it."
408
00:28:32,291 --> 00:28:34,166
I said,
"Well, I just played a little bit."
409
00:28:34,250 --> 00:28:36,792
He says, "You mean you play the guitar?"
I go, like, "Yeah."
410
00:28:36,875 --> 00:28:42,000
My brother realized that I wasn't just,
uh, touching a guitar,
411
00:28:42,083 --> 00:28:44,917
- I was actually trying to play.
- [slide projector clicks]
412
00:28:48,625 --> 00:28:50,125
And he gave me the guitar.
413
00:28:55,709 --> 00:29:00,750
I had the guitar all the way until
the day I moved to United States. Yep.
414
00:29:04,750 --> 00:29:08,083
My parents couldn't imagine
that something bad can happen because,
415
00:29:08,166 --> 00:29:11,166
God, we had friends,
416
00:29:11,250 --> 00:29:16,208
we had neighbors that we lived
for all these years side by side,
417
00:29:16,291 --> 00:29:21,500
and so nobody could think
that a war would start.
418
00:29:21,583 --> 00:29:24,125
[people clamoring]
419
00:29:24,208 --> 00:29:27,583
Uh, it was 1987,
420
00:29:28,750 --> 00:29:32,166
'86 or '87, city of Baku.
421
00:29:33,375 --> 00:29:36,000
They start kicking all the Armenians out.
422
00:29:38,959 --> 00:29:42,250
Day by day, it was becoming difficult.
423
00:29:42,333 --> 00:29:46,125
We would gather together
outside of our buildings on the streets,
424
00:29:46,208 --> 00:29:51,375
and we would make bonfires
and just guard our homes all night.
425
00:29:52,917 --> 00:29:56,959
But day by day, there's less
and less and less people with us,
426
00:29:57,041 --> 00:29:59,291
because people are moving out.
427
00:29:59,375 --> 00:30:01,166
They're afraid to stay.
428
00:30:01,250 --> 00:30:04,166
- [slide projector clicks]
- [person speaking on loudspeaker]
429
00:30:04,709 --> 00:30:08,750
My dad was optimistic because,
"Steve, I'm not moving anywhere.
430
00:30:08,834 --> 00:30:12,834
I never harmed anybody.
I never did anything bad to anybody.
431
00:30:12,917 --> 00:30:14,166
We live in Soviet Union.
432
00:30:14,250 --> 00:30:18,709
Our government will never
let anything like that to happen."
433
00:30:22,083 --> 00:30:26,291
Well, uh, he was very wise man, but, uh...
434
00:30:28,542 --> 00:30:30,291
what a mistake that he did.
435
00:30:32,542 --> 00:30:34,291
That he didn't listen.
436
00:30:34,375 --> 00:30:35,875
[piano ends]
437
00:30:37,583 --> 00:30:42,625
He was at work, and somebody
just came from behind and killed him.
438
00:30:43,709 --> 00:30:44,875
Um...
439
00:30:50,709 --> 00:30:52,125
I don't know.
440
00:30:56,166 --> 00:30:57,250
[whispers] Sorry.
441
00:31:04,667 --> 00:31:05,667
Samson.
442
00:31:11,917 --> 00:31:12,917
[slide projector clicks]
443
00:31:16,709 --> 00:31:17,875
[clicking]
444
00:31:18,583 --> 00:31:20,208
That's my son's name.
445
00:31:25,041 --> 00:31:26,709
I was 20 years old.
446
00:31:27,291 --> 00:31:29,458
I had to take my mom and get out of there.
447
00:31:29,542 --> 00:31:32,208
So, we just pretty much locked the doors.
448
00:31:32,291 --> 00:31:35,291
We left everything. Family albums.
449
00:31:35,375 --> 00:31:38,750
And of course, my brother's gift.
450
00:31:41,083 --> 00:31:42,375
The guitar.
451
00:31:43,166 --> 00:31:44,750
[people clamoring]
452
00:31:44,834 --> 00:31:50,250
It wasn't easy even to get to airport
because we still look like Armenian.
453
00:31:50,333 --> 00:31:53,500
And on the street,
people can stop you and harm you.
454
00:31:54,542 --> 00:31:57,333
So thanks to my friends,
Azerbaijani friends,
455
00:31:57,417 --> 00:31:59,083
they took us to airport.
456
00:31:59,166 --> 00:32:03,166
{\an8}And, uh, they basically created
a human corridor
457
00:32:04,208 --> 00:32:08,125
in airport so we can go through it.
458
00:32:16,667 --> 00:32:22,250
When we arrived in United States,
they found a sponsor, Ken and Veronica.
459
00:32:22,834 --> 00:32:25,709
I maybe knew how to say "hello."
460
00:32:27,083 --> 00:32:30,417
I had small Russian-English dictionary.
461
00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:33,542
So if I want to say something,
I would just go find a word,
462
00:32:33,625 --> 00:32:35,417
and show it to Ken.
463
00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:37,792
And when I ask him what he does for a job,
464
00:32:38,333 --> 00:32:44,500
he tried to tell me through dictionary,
but he couldn't find the right words.
465
00:32:45,208 --> 00:32:47,083
But he had this picture,
466
00:32:47,166 --> 00:32:50,500
beautiful painting,
on his wall above his piano.
467
00:32:51,083 --> 00:32:53,458
{\an8}The artist is Norman Rockwell.
468
00:33:01,083 --> 00:33:03,458
So, he pointed at that picture.
469
00:33:03,542 --> 00:33:08,166
And I remembered me watching
the piano tuner
470
00:33:08,250 --> 00:33:10,583
at the school in the classroom.
471
00:33:11,792 --> 00:33:15,291
And I went, "Oh, God.
Is it possible that he tunes pianos?"
472
00:33:15,375 --> 00:33:19,166
And then, of course, ding, ding, ding.
"You tune?" He's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
473
00:33:19,250 --> 00:33:20,750
And we started laughing,
474
00:33:20,834 --> 00:33:24,458
and he says, "Would you like to help me
around the piano shop?"
475
00:33:24,542 --> 00:33:26,709
I was delivering pizzas.
I was shoveling snow,
476
00:33:26,792 --> 00:33:28,917
moving furniture and doing anything.
477
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,208
And I said, "Pfft, sure. Uh, absolutely."
478
00:33:33,291 --> 00:33:34,834
"You're starting tomorrow.
479
00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:37,250
4.25 an hour."
480
00:33:37,333 --> 00:33:39,125
I said, "Pfft, yes."
481
00:33:39,875 --> 00:33:44,125
Then of course,
Ken would send me to Yamaha schools,
482
00:33:44,208 --> 00:33:46,917
to Baldwin schools, to Steinway school.
483
00:33:49,417 --> 00:33:55,709
After what happened in the past,
I lost the urge to follow the music,
484
00:33:55,792 --> 00:33:57,875
to be in the music,
to stay with the music.
485
00:33:57,959 --> 00:34:00,542
But life brought me back to it.
486
00:34:02,834 --> 00:34:04,875
Ended up being a piano tuner.
487
00:34:09,458 --> 00:34:11,208
I mean, see how life is?
488
00:34:19,250 --> 00:34:20,959
[children laughing]
489
00:34:21,041 --> 00:34:24,375
[bird cooing]
490
00:34:29,834 --> 00:34:31,417
I love the violin.
491
00:34:48,542 --> 00:34:51,000
[Dana] I think a lot of people
see a broken thing,
492
00:34:51,083 --> 00:34:52,458
and they just think it's broken.
493
00:34:53,959 --> 00:34:55,291
Could be anything.
494
00:34:56,458 --> 00:34:58,291
Maybe it's public schools.
495
00:34:59,333 --> 00:35:03,500
Or maybe it's the United States
or any other part of the world.
496
00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:07,792
[Duane] Maybe it's just a $20 fiddle
found at a swap meet.
497
00:35:09,458 --> 00:35:11,542
[Dana] But when we see a broken thing,
498
00:35:12,709 --> 00:35:16,417
we think, "Oh, with a little something
here, a little something there,
499
00:35:16,917 --> 00:35:21,333
we can fix the part that's broken
and make things whole again."
500
00:35:22,458 --> 00:35:23,959
[Paty] It's difficult work.
501
00:35:24,041 --> 00:35:25,542
But no matter what...
502
00:35:25,625 --> 00:35:26,917
You do whatever it takes because...
503
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,542
It is one of the best things
that humans do.
504
00:35:30,208 --> 00:35:35,166
That's why this is not just
a musical instrument repair shop.
505
00:35:35,250 --> 00:35:36,709
[tapping]
506
00:35:36,792 --> 00:35:41,542
When an instrument breaks,
there's a student without an instrument.
507
00:35:42,250 --> 00:35:44,750
No, no, no. Not in our city.
508
00:35:45,834 --> 00:35:49,208
[Duane]
We know it could change their whole life.
509
00:35:51,417 --> 00:35:53,542
Even if they don't know me...
510
00:36:11,166 --> 00:36:12,667
I'm part of that.
511
00:36:13,458 --> 00:36:18,709
[music continues]
512
00:36:21,667 --> 00:36:23,667
["The Alumni" playing]
513
00:37:50,166 --> 00:37:51,917
["Repair Shop Hoedown" playing]
514
00:38:36,291 --> 00:38:37,709
["Repair Shop Hoedown" ends]
515
00:38:37,792 --> 00:38:39,417
["The Alumni" resumes]
516
00:39:34,792 --> 00:39:36,083
[plucks string]
517
00:39:36,166 --> 00:39:37,500
[music ends]
518
00:39:38,834 --> 00:39:41,166
- [musicians stomping, tapping]
- [person cheers]