Posted by Bob Joles on October 17, 2001 at 01:46:02:
I�ve posted several times on this board with offerings for my brass quintet arrangements. Many of the arrangements I�ve done have been performed by professional quintets: The Maple Leaf Brass at EPCOT Center, The St. Louis Brass Quintet has recorded my arrangement of the �Keystone Rag� and the Crown City Brass here in Southern California are playing several of my arrangements to great audience response.
My problem is when I tell someone about a particular arrangement I�ve done that they happen to be looking for, they email me back very excited and ask how much for the arrangement. Some have even suggested that they should �at least pay for the postage.� It�s as though they think I�m just going to send them the arrangement for free!
I don�t give my arrangements away for free. This is a business just like any other that�s trying to make a little money. It isn�t a great deal of money, but I love writing for brass quintet and brass choir. I don�t just do this for grins and giggles.
I sell my arrangements to make money. I don�t have a publisher, so all of the costs of doing this are mine. Heavy stock paper, printing on a HP 4MV laser printer, things like that. All those things and several others get worked into the prices I set for my arrangements.
If you want to buy something I�ve done for brass quintet that�s fine. If you�re not willing to pay the price I�m asking that�s fine too. But, at least have the courtesy to send me a return email telling me that you think that it�s too much or you�ve gotten someone else to do the arrangement for you cheaper. You won�t hurt my feelings by telling me the truth, but don�t ignore my efforts to try and give you what you want with silence. I think that�s rude.
The way some people will spend money on a tuba, and then turn around and grouse about $25 for a six minute arrangement of classic Disney tunes is beyond me.
As for my credentials: I�m a professional music copyist with over 25 years of experience. The last 15 years were spent working on movies and TV shows here in the Hollywood studios. I�ve played tuba for almost 30 years - professionally for the last 20 years. I started writing arrangements in college for the quintet I played with for 5 years because we couldn�t get what we needed or the arrangement that was available just didn�t cut it.
Now I�m not asking that everybody who writes to me has to buy something from my catalog. No! All I�m asking for is a simple one line return email saying �thanks, but no thanks,� or �I�d love to buy this.� That�s all. Perhaps I�m being naive but I don�t think that�s asking too much.
Okay, I�ve had my little rant and I feel better now. Thanks for listening (reading).
Cheers,
Bob