The “Instrument Repair Blitz,” as Hancock coined the weekend, was part real-world experience for his students and part community service as each of the instruments belonged to the Charles City band program.
“The Wind Ensemble was in Charles City on our way to the airport for our international tour in Japan last May. We met the band and shared the stage with them at a concert that night,” Hancock said. “I saw that two of their tubas had serious damage to the bell and told the director I had the skills and tools to help him.”
This fall, Jacob Gassman, the Charles City High School band director, called Hancock and asked him if his offer still stood. Before the end of the conversation, the repair list had grown to include a bass clarinet, mellophones, a marching baritone, oboes, trumpets, a French horn, a sousaphone and baritone and alto saxophones.
“When you use the same instruments year after year, you have to keep them maintained, but that costs money we don’t always have,” Gassman said. “I can do some repairs on site, but I don’t always have the time or expertise. They did some great work. I couldn’t have asked for better from them.”
Hancock, who leads the college’s Wind Ensemble, has been repairing instruments in one way or another for his entire 41-year career, though he was never formally taught the craft. Instead, he credits a father who instilled in him a thirst for knowledge and a passion for working with his hands.
“It’s just me against the dent,” he said. “I enjoy the battle.”
Jared Knapp, a sophomore music education major from Humboldt, is often the go-to guy when a friend has a sticky valve or other common brass instrument issue. He’s picked up most of his knowledge from hometown friends who work in instrument repair and from Hancock’s annual Band Camp, where high school students can take a session on basic repairs. Even as a student, Knapp understands the realities that directors like Gassman face every day.
“The skills we are learning with Dr. Hancock can potentially save the schools where we end up working a lot of money,” said Knapp, who hopes to teach high school band after college. “As budgets in schools get smaller, I hope that more schools will recognize the value in these skills.”
Though some may think the repairs are nothing more than cosmetic — a crinkled tuba bell is never pretty — Gassman knows these repairs are going to make a world of difference in the quality of the sound his band produces.
“I’ve always equated instrument maintenance with car maintenance. If you don’t take care of them, they won’t perform as well,” Gassman said. “Some of these instruments have had the tuning slides in them stuck, so now our students will be able to not only play more in tune, but I can teach them better how to tune their own instruments. Dr. Hancock is a fantastic resource for local directors. Whenever we have an encounter with him or his band, I always feel like my students are in a better position than they were before. We always leave Wartburg a little better than we were when we got there.”
