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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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I love the violin.

4
00:00:38,621 --> 00:00:45,337
The hardest things in my life
is probably my family's health.

5
00:00:46,046 --> 00:00:48,840
Like, everybody is always getting sick
back-to-back.

6
00:00:50,216 --> 00:00:53,720
Like, "Oh, we have to go to the hospital
for them," and stuff.

7
00:00:53,803 --> 00:00:56,723
Like, "Wait, um,
I'll hear you play in a minute.

8
00:00:56,806 --> 00:00:58,975
I just have to get
these medicine for them."

9
00:00:59,642 --> 00:01:03,355
You know, I can understand,
but it's like-- it's like, "Okay."

10
00:01:03,438 --> 00:01:04,731
Like…

11
00:01:04,814 --> 00:01:06,733
Like, "I guess I'll play by myself."

12
00:01:08,068 --> 00:01:11,363
If I didn't have my violin from school,

13
00:01:11,446 --> 00:01:14,866
I would probably--
I don't know what I would do.

14
00:01:15,367 --> 00:01:17,535
Don't even jinx me with that. [laughs]

15
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[plucks strings]

16
00:02:14,509 --> 00:02:17,178
[broken flute playing]

17
00:02:29,607 --> 00:02:32,610
[tapping piano keys]

18
00:02:56,426 --> 00:02:57,719
[supervisor] Let's see.

19
00:02:58,553 --> 00:03:00,180
There's four departments.

20
00:03:00,263 --> 00:03:04,517
There's, uh, brass repair,
string instrument repair,

21
00:03:04,601 --> 00:03:07,395
uh, woodwind instrument repair

22
00:03:07,479 --> 00:03:08,980
and piano shop.

23
00:03:10,023 --> 00:03:13,360
With the strings, uh…

24
00:03:14,652 --> 00:03:18,031
Okay, some of the writings
are like doctors' writings, so…

25
00:03:20,283 --> 00:03:21,368
Uh.

26
00:03:21,951 --> 00:03:25,330
"Violin, broken peg.

27
00:03:25,413 --> 00:03:27,707
Please," uh, "repair as needed."

28
00:03:29,542 --> 00:03:32,462
So in this case,
old peg has to be removed,

29
00:03:32,545 --> 00:03:34,089
new peg fitted,

30
00:03:35,548 --> 00:03:36,633
strung,

31
00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:39,511
and instrument goes back to student.

32
00:03:42,639 --> 00:03:46,601
When wood breaks,
it breaks in a unique way.

33
00:03:50,814 --> 00:03:53,692
And if you leave a crack open,
the instrument buzzes.

34
00:03:54,275 --> 00:03:55,568
It can be really frustrating.

35
00:03:55,652 --> 00:03:59,447
It's hard to find that last little buzz
in the cello.

36
00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:06,454
[plucks string]

37
00:04:06,538 --> 00:04:09,624
You find it, and you're like,
"Oh, good. It's gone." [laughs]

38
00:04:15,213 --> 00:04:18,174
It's really hard being a kid.

39
00:04:22,429 --> 00:04:27,058
Some of 'em come from
a place of love and support.

40
00:04:29,436 --> 00:04:33,064
And others come from huge dysfunction.

41
00:04:36,943 --> 00:04:38,486
The emotional broken things

42
00:04:38,570 --> 00:04:41,197
and the mental broken things
are more difficult.

43
00:04:42,574 --> 00:04:44,659
You can't glue that back together.

44
00:04:45,744 --> 00:04:47,245
That takes time.

45
00:04:47,829 --> 00:04:49,789
And it takes care.

46
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[tuning fork hums]

47
00:04:54,586 --> 00:04:55,962
Uh…

48
00:04:56,046 --> 00:04:57,672
[plucking strings]

49
00:04:59,507 --> 00:05:05,889
Well, by the time I was 27 or so,
I'd begun the process of coming out.

50
00:05:09,976 --> 00:05:12,771
It was 1975.

51
00:05:13,772 --> 00:05:16,399
You have to remember
that this was a different time.

52
00:05:16,483 --> 00:05:18,360
Being gay wasn't accepted.

53
00:05:19,402 --> 00:05:21,863
-People were beaten in the street.
-[people clamoring]

54
00:05:21,946 --> 00:05:24,407
-[siren wailing]
-People were bashed and killed.

55
00:05:27,202 --> 00:05:32,457
So, from 13 years on,
I tried, uh, my best to not be.

56
00:05:34,751 --> 00:05:36,670
I tried to grow out of it.

57
00:05:37,587 --> 00:05:42,634
I tried to, you know, evolve beyond it,
and it wasn't happening.

58
00:05:42,717 --> 00:05:43,968
[slide projector clicks]

59
00:05:44,052 --> 00:05:45,845
And I thought I was broken.

60
00:05:47,847 --> 00:05:49,808
That buzz in the cello.

61
00:05:51,309 --> 00:05:55,689
It became be either miserable
trying to be something I wasn't,

62
00:05:57,399 --> 00:06:03,988
or be authentic
and be shunned, ridiculed, beaten.

63
00:06:05,615 --> 00:06:07,617
Or just kill myself, you know?

64
00:06:07,701 --> 00:06:11,538
It was-- It was getting to
a point of crisis for me.

65
00:06:15,291 --> 00:06:18,920
-[slide projector clicks]
-My mother and father were both musicians.

66
00:06:19,004 --> 00:06:21,381
And my mom taught me…

67
00:06:21,464 --> 00:06:23,717
-[starter pistol fires]
-…music is like swimming.

68
00:06:24,259 --> 00:06:27,804
The rhythm, it's constantly in the moment,

69
00:06:27,887 --> 00:06:31,349
and if you stop, there's no music.

70
00:06:32,225 --> 00:06:33,852
Whatever you do, don't stop.

71
00:06:33,935 --> 00:06:35,228
[instruments playing off-key]

72
00:06:35,311 --> 00:06:36,604
Keep going.

73
00:06:36,688 --> 00:06:40,984
No matter how bad of a train wreck it is,
just keep going.

74
00:06:42,902 --> 00:06:45,030
You know, don't quit. Don't give up.

75
00:06:46,156 --> 00:06:47,365
Persist.

76
00:06:49,075 --> 00:06:50,076
You know.

77
00:06:52,662 --> 00:06:57,167
And so, I didn't decide.
I realized I had to accept it.

78
00:07:00,253 --> 00:07:01,463
I wasn't broken.

79
00:07:02,756 --> 00:07:04,174
Don't need fixing.

80
00:07:04,674 --> 00:07:07,469
And so, I decided to embrace it.

81
00:07:09,471 --> 00:07:12,474
Met my husband. We became dads.

82
00:07:13,058 --> 00:07:17,103
And we've been a couple
for almost 23 years now.

83
00:07:23,610 --> 00:07:24,944
And so I'm still here.

84
00:07:27,447 --> 00:07:28,573
Alive.

85
00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,787
Free to be kind, be loving, be authentic.

86
00:07:34,746 --> 00:07:36,331
So… [chuckles]

87
00:07:36,414 --> 00:07:38,375
It's not easy being a kid.

88
00:07:39,250 --> 00:07:41,670
But we try to make at least the--

89
00:07:41,753 --> 00:07:45,674
the playing-of-the-instrument part
as good as it can be.

90
00:07:56,685 --> 00:08:00,355
[student 1] If you told me
five years ago that, like, uh,

91
00:08:01,398 --> 00:08:03,566
I'd be playing sousaphone,

92
00:08:04,776 --> 00:08:06,444
I'd be like, "Damn." [chuckles]

93
00:08:06,528 --> 00:08:10,281
"I think-- I think you're lying to me,
bro, 'cause that's not-- that's not it."

94
00:08:10,365 --> 00:08:12,534
[giggles] "I don't know
how to play anything."

95
00:08:13,868 --> 00:08:18,623
'Cause I could never have at that age
an instrument that expensive.

96
00:08:19,457 --> 00:08:23,211
Like, in my home, in my neighborhood,
we could never afford it, in my opinion.

97
00:08:23,294 --> 00:08:27,257
I used to beg my mom and my dad.
I used to beg 'em to buy me one.

98
00:08:28,008 --> 00:08:29,843
And they'd always tell me the same thing.

99
00:08:29,926 --> 00:08:32,595
[speaking Spanish]

100
00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,682
Which means
"either a tuba or you" in the house.

101
00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:37,767
And I'm just like, "Oh." [giggles] "Well--

102
00:08:39,102 --> 00:08:41,354
I guess, uh--
I guess that's not an option."

103
00:08:42,814 --> 00:08:47,110
But luckily, I had a sousaphone at home
from school.

104
00:08:48,903 --> 00:08:50,780
[sousaphone playing]

105
00:08:52,490 --> 00:08:54,659
I was… [exhales]

106
00:08:54,743 --> 00:08:56,870
…13-- 13, 14.

107
00:08:57,454 --> 00:09:00,832
It's emotional 'cause, like,
when you think about, like,

108
00:09:00,915 --> 00:09:03,752
right now, 18, fresh outta high school.

109
00:09:03,835 --> 00:09:06,004
Going to college. Barely starting life,

110
00:09:06,087 --> 00:09:10,258
and I'ma find a way
to somehow make music my career,

111
00:09:10,342 --> 00:09:12,260
my passion, my living.

112
00:09:12,344 --> 00:09:14,888
Without the tubas at school
and the sousaphones at school, like…

113
00:09:14,971 --> 00:09:18,475
-[sousaphone ends]
-You never know, honestly.

114
00:09:21,186 --> 00:09:26,649
For example, "Brass department, euphonium.

115
00:09:26,733 --> 00:09:29,736
Leak. Resolder as needed.

116
00:09:30,528 --> 00:09:32,072
Give a sonic wash.

117
00:09:32,572 --> 00:09:34,783
This one needs tender little care."

118
00:09:41,664 --> 00:09:43,583
[Paty] A lot of times, I wonder

119
00:09:44,376 --> 00:09:48,380
what kind of little hands
hold the instrument before me?

120
00:09:49,589 --> 00:09:52,092
I have a big jar.

121
00:09:52,592 --> 00:09:54,969
I call it the treasure jar.

122
00:09:55,053 --> 00:09:59,808
And it's all the stuff
I have found inside the instruments.

123
00:10:01,643 --> 00:10:05,397
Batteries, marbles, candies.

124
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,315
Pencils, erasers.

125
00:10:08,441 --> 00:10:09,609
This little toy.

126
00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,738
It's tiny, about this big,
and it's all hairy.

127
00:10:14,406 --> 00:10:20,495
It's like secret communication
between the kid and myself.

128
00:10:22,539 --> 00:10:26,418
What kind of story
that instrument can tell me

129
00:10:26,501 --> 00:10:29,379
if he can talk to me?

130
00:10:30,255 --> 00:10:33,174
[drill whirring, clanking]

131
00:10:33,258 --> 00:10:37,095
My story, it was a big adventure.

132
00:10:37,887 --> 00:10:40,056
Big, scary adventure.

133
00:10:40,140 --> 00:10:41,766
[chuckles] Mmm.

134
00:10:42,767 --> 00:10:43,768
[slide projector clicks]

135
00:10:43,852 --> 00:10:48,440
I was born in Mexico
in a town called Morelia.

136
00:10:50,525 --> 00:10:55,196
My mother used to say to us,
"You can do anything you want in life.

137
00:10:56,239 --> 00:10:58,283
You are smart. You're strong.

138
00:10:59,075 --> 00:11:01,619
Go fight for what you want."

139
00:11:02,912 --> 00:11:07,083
Since I was little girl,
I wanted the American dream.

140
00:11:07,167 --> 00:11:11,504
So, I decide I wanna go to United States.

141
00:11:11,588 --> 00:11:14,966
When you set your mind
on doing something, you do it.

142
00:11:18,928 --> 00:11:20,472
We travel all night.

143
00:11:23,516 --> 00:11:26,519
Seeing those buildings all light up…

144
00:11:29,773 --> 00:11:31,483
my jaw was dropped.

145
00:11:31,566 --> 00:11:36,071
So like, "Wow. It's even better in life
than what I was imagining."

146
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,414
I was single mother with two kids,
very small.

147
00:11:46,498 --> 00:11:49,292
My daughter was three, and my son was six.

148
00:11:49,376 --> 00:11:51,503
-You have to figure it out.
-[slide projector clicks]

149
00:11:51,586 --> 00:11:54,839
I start working at music store
in Thousand Oaks.

150
00:11:54,923 --> 00:11:59,636
The owner, he said, "Okay.
I'm gonna give a chance for a week.

151
00:11:59,719 --> 00:12:00,720
One week."

152
00:12:02,931 --> 00:12:04,432
Vacuum the cases

153
00:12:04,516 --> 00:12:09,104
and preparing the musical instruments
for him to get 'em fixed.

154
00:12:10,146 --> 00:12:12,357
So after a week, he say, "You know what?

155
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,859
I think we're gonna keep you
a little longer."

156
00:12:15,485 --> 00:12:19,948
Worked in that store for seven years.

157
00:12:22,492 --> 00:12:28,164
My son, he said,
"Mom, I would like to try clarinet."

158
00:12:29,290 --> 00:12:31,960
Twenty dollars a month, the rental.

159
00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:34,004
It was a lot for me.

160
00:12:34,879 --> 00:12:37,090
I was-- I was single mom, remember?

161
00:12:38,425 --> 00:12:42,345
And… I couldn't afford it.

162
00:12:45,974 --> 00:12:47,767
We were so poor.

163
00:12:57,569 --> 00:12:59,529
Sometimes we didn't have food.

164
00:13:07,078 --> 00:13:09,664
Sometimes we didn't have nothing
for Christmas.

165
00:13:09,748 --> 00:13:10,874
[sniffles, sobs]

166
00:13:13,251 --> 00:13:16,379
I came to this country thinking,
"Yes"… [sniffles]

167
00:13:16,463 --> 00:13:17,964
…"this is the American dream."

168
00:13:18,048 --> 00:13:21,718
And when I didn't have food for my kids,
I thought, like,

169
00:13:22,552 --> 00:13:24,471
"This is not American dream."

170
00:13:24,554 --> 00:13:26,306
[sniffles, inhales]

171
00:13:27,557 --> 00:13:28,558
[sighs]

172
00:13:32,312 --> 00:13:34,147
Few years later…

173
00:13:36,649 --> 00:13:42,113
one of technicians, Mark Comeau,
he called me.

174
00:13:42,197 --> 00:13:47,077
An opportunity opened in L.A.U.S.D.

175
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,956
They were gonna hire
two brass technicians.

176
00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,250
"You need to go there.

177
00:13:54,334 --> 00:13:56,336
You need to take that test."

178
00:13:57,045 --> 00:13:58,046
[giggles]

179
00:14:00,882 --> 00:14:03,009
When I came to take a test…

180
00:14:05,303 --> 00:14:08,556
there were 12 men and myself.

181
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,475
I was scared!

182
00:14:10,558 --> 00:14:15,063
My heart, it was like
it was gonna come out of my chest.

183
00:14:15,146 --> 00:14:17,816
I told myself,
"I have no chance in there."

184
00:14:17,899 --> 00:14:20,985
But, I remember my mother.

185
00:14:21,945 --> 00:14:23,947
"You can do anything you want in life.

186
00:14:24,030 --> 00:14:26,282
You're smart. You're strong.

187
00:14:26,366 --> 00:14:28,493
Go fight for what you want."

188
00:14:29,994 --> 00:14:33,498
Night before, with my kids,
I talked to them.

189
00:14:33,581 --> 00:14:37,502
I said, "Look. I'm gonna take this test.

190
00:14:37,585 --> 00:14:39,295
If everything go okay,

191
00:14:40,588 --> 00:14:43,425
we're gonna have
a totally different life." So…

192
00:14:45,301 --> 00:14:49,556
The test was
the most difficult experience.

193
00:14:51,182 --> 00:14:53,977
Cleaning so many little parts.

194
00:14:56,521 --> 00:14:58,148
[bubbling]

195
00:14:58,231 --> 00:15:02,318
The pistons, they need to go up and down.

196
00:15:02,402 --> 00:15:07,741
The casing and the piston
have to lock inside with a little guide.

197
00:15:07,824 --> 00:15:09,909
And they fit like a glove.

198
00:15:10,618 --> 00:15:15,290
Any little dent, any little scratch,
even if it is dirty…

199
00:15:20,670 --> 00:15:21,713
it won't play.

200
00:15:24,591 --> 00:15:25,675
I did the test…

201
00:15:28,053 --> 00:15:30,096
and I went home.

202
00:15:31,931 --> 00:15:37,312
I was sad and disappointed
because I felt like I never have a chance.

203
00:15:37,395 --> 00:15:40,273
I think they're gonna do
much better than me.

204
00:15:41,608 --> 00:15:45,695
I didn't even want to wait for L.A.U.S.D.
to give me the results,

205
00:15:45,779 --> 00:15:48,615
because I was almost sure
that I wasn't gonna get it.

206
00:15:48,698 --> 00:15:52,660
[chuckles] Especially because it was
only men working in the shop.

207
00:15:53,953 --> 00:15:55,246
I just forgot all about it.

208
00:15:55,330 --> 00:16:00,168
I thought, like, "Put that behind me
and don't get excited or anything

209
00:16:00,251 --> 00:16:03,171
because"… [smacks lips]
…"it's not gonna happen."

210
00:16:06,049 --> 00:16:07,050
Yeah.

211
00:16:12,555 --> 00:16:15,892
And then, I get a phone call.

212
00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,271
You have no idea how it felt.

213
00:16:21,940 --> 00:16:24,150
I wa-- [giggles]

214
00:16:24,818 --> 00:16:27,821
I was screaming, jumping…

215
00:16:30,365 --> 00:16:32,200
when I saw my kids that night.

216
00:16:34,786 --> 00:16:37,539
It was like, "Yes, we did it.

217
00:16:40,625 --> 00:16:41,626
Yes."

218
00:16:44,754 --> 00:16:50,468
So, I start working here January 26, 2004.

219
00:16:51,386 --> 00:16:55,807
They give me my bench.
All these years, I've been working here.

220
00:17:00,729 --> 00:17:02,731
Same bench. I never change.

221
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:10,321
Music changed my life, for sure.
For sure, it did.

222
00:17:10,405 --> 00:17:12,532
I started at the age of nine.

223
00:17:12,615 --> 00:17:14,909
My school gave me my saxophone.
They gave me a case.

224
00:17:14,993 --> 00:17:17,037
They gave me everything I needed.

225
00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:18,621
This is a beauty.

226
00:17:19,122 --> 00:17:22,042
I usually always was in the house,
you know, playing around.

227
00:17:22,125 --> 00:17:25,211
A lot of energy, like,
throwing everything down

228
00:17:25,295 --> 00:17:26,796
and always messing up.

229
00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:31,801
The saxophone helped me
in a way be more disciplined.

230
00:17:31,885 --> 00:17:37,307
'Cause music, okay, I have to be on time.
I have to practice. I have to look good.

231
00:17:37,807 --> 00:17:39,184
I have to shower.

232
00:17:39,267 --> 00:17:40,977
[chuckling] I have to brush my teeth.

233
00:17:41,061 --> 00:17:43,271
It helped me focus more.

234
00:17:44,522 --> 00:17:48,902
When I'm feeling tense,
when I'm feeling sad or angry,

235
00:17:49,569 --> 00:17:51,196
the saxophone…

236
00:17:51,279 --> 00:17:53,281
[saxophone playing]

237
00:17:58,745 --> 00:18:00,205
…calms me down.

238
00:18:01,456 --> 00:18:05,585
But the G-sharp key always gets stuck.

239
00:18:07,379 --> 00:18:11,257
[supervisor] With the woodwinds, um,
we have a saxophone.

240
00:18:11,341 --> 00:18:16,012
"Missing a screw,
lower joint, left-hand pinkie F key."

241
00:18:16,596 --> 00:18:20,975
So on and so forth.
"G-sharp key completely fell off.

242
00:18:21,059 --> 00:18:22,727
Complete overhaul."

243
00:18:23,978 --> 00:18:27,232
So in this case, we have to…
[chuckles] …evaluate it.

244
00:18:32,779 --> 00:18:34,656
[Duane] Ah, let's see.

245
00:18:34,739 --> 00:18:37,367
The wonderful woodwind department.

246
00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:41,955
They all got keys and screws
and rods and springs.

247
00:18:42,789 --> 00:18:46,543
And if those get bent or rusted,
then the instrument leaks.

248
00:18:48,086 --> 00:18:51,214
It's kinda almost like a puzzle.
When ya find a leak, you fix it.

249
00:18:51,297 --> 00:18:53,550
You go to the next thing.
That leaks, you fix it.

250
00:18:54,134 --> 00:18:59,264
You might have to take the instrument
apart just to get that one pad just right.

251
00:18:59,347 --> 00:19:01,099
You do it. You do whatever it takes

252
00:19:01,182 --> 00:19:05,520
because, for a young child
that's interested in playing,

253
00:19:06,688 --> 00:19:11,359
that one instrument
could change their whole life.

254
00:19:15,321 --> 00:19:16,740
[suspenseful music playing]

255
00:19:20,618 --> 00:19:23,371
The whole reason
why I wanted to learn how to play music…

256
00:19:25,373 --> 00:19:27,625
came from the old Frankenstein movie…

257
00:19:27,709 --> 00:19:30,253
[thunder rumbles]

258
00:19:32,255 --> 00:19:34,966
…where Frankenstein was out in the woods,

259
00:19:35,050 --> 00:19:38,345
and the whole township was after him,
you know, with the shovels and everything.

260
00:19:38,428 --> 00:19:40,472
And he was in the woods
trying to run away.

261
00:19:41,306 --> 00:19:45,810
That always stuck with me
because growing up, got picked on so much.

262
00:19:47,228 --> 00:19:50,607
I don't know what they thought, really.
I was kinda in my own world.

263
00:19:51,107 --> 00:19:55,403
Some people would say
maybe a little off-center.

264
00:19:55,487 --> 00:19:56,696
Yeah.

265
00:19:56,780 --> 00:19:58,865
[inhales] Yeah.

266
00:20:00,408 --> 00:20:02,911
So, when I saw that spot in the movie

267
00:20:02,994 --> 00:20:05,747
where the old blind gentleman
who lived out in the woods,

268
00:20:05,830 --> 00:20:09,250
he's sitting in his house by the fire,
and he's playing the violin.

269
00:20:10,377 --> 00:20:11,961
And Frankenstein hears it,

270
00:20:12,629 --> 00:20:16,174
and he almost gets tears in his eyes
from the-- from the sound,

271
00:20:16,257 --> 00:20:17,759
and he follows it.

272
00:20:17,842 --> 00:20:20,929
And of course,
the blind man hears somebody at the door.

273
00:20:21,012 --> 00:20:24,933
He says, "Come on in."
And he fixes tea and all this stuff and--

274
00:20:25,016 --> 00:20:26,434
[slurps]

275
00:20:26,518 --> 00:20:30,480
I'm goin', "Wow.
The bow is going across the strings,

276
00:20:30,563 --> 00:20:34,234
and it made the monster cry and relax."

277
00:20:34,317 --> 00:20:36,027
That was such an impression on me.

278
00:20:38,530 --> 00:20:41,032
And then years go by,
and I was at a swap meet.

279
00:20:41,116 --> 00:20:44,244
And I saw a violin sitting there
that somebody was selling.

280
00:20:44,744 --> 00:20:48,373
You know, just all came to me.
It's like, "This is what I wanna do.

281
00:20:48,456 --> 00:20:49,791
I wanna play that violin."

282
00:20:49,874 --> 00:20:52,711
I looked at it,
and he said he wanted $20 for it.

283
00:20:52,794 --> 00:20:54,629
I think I only had five dollars.

284
00:20:55,338 --> 00:20:57,966
So I hitchhiked all the way back home.

285
00:20:58,049 --> 00:20:59,843
Then my mom, I begged her.

286
00:20:59,926 --> 00:21:04,222
I said, "Can you front me $20,
and could you please drive me back?"

287
00:21:05,432 --> 00:21:07,600
Went back there. Ran down the aisle.

288
00:21:07,684 --> 00:21:10,979
And I'm looking.
I can't find this violin anywhere.

289
00:21:12,647 --> 00:21:14,524
I was on the wrong aisle.

290
00:21:14,607 --> 00:21:17,777
Went around the other aisle,
and there it was.

291
00:21:17,861 --> 00:21:21,239
Beautiful, like,
lime-green felt on the inside.

292
00:21:21,948 --> 00:21:24,576
And from that moment on,
I had the fiddle bug.

293
00:21:24,659 --> 00:21:26,578
And I didn't even stop to eat sometimes.

294
00:21:26,661 --> 00:21:31,207
I just wanted to play, play
and learn and learn and play and learn.

295
00:21:31,708 --> 00:21:32,709
[shutter clicks]

296
00:21:33,710 --> 00:21:36,421
In high school,
I took every music class I could.

297
00:21:36,504 --> 00:21:39,007
All the other classes
were just complete torture.

298
00:21:39,090 --> 00:21:40,091
[slide projector clicks]

299
00:21:41,051 --> 00:21:43,511
So my buddy, in high school,
he got a banjo.

300
00:21:43,595 --> 00:21:45,805
And then we started
playing bluegrass music.

301
00:21:45,889 --> 00:21:46,890
Fiddle and the banjo.

302
00:21:46,973 --> 00:21:50,435
And our best friend, Chuck,
he played rock-and-roll guitar.

303
00:21:50,518 --> 00:21:54,981
Bam. We named ourselves
after Bodie Ghost Town.

304
00:21:55,065 --> 00:21:57,150
The Bodie Mountain Express.

305
00:21:57,734 --> 00:22:00,028
So we came in a music store.
We say we're a band.

306
00:22:00,111 --> 00:22:02,655
We're looking for a place to play.
Get some tips.

307
00:22:02,739 --> 00:22:03,948
"Oh, you guys play?

308
00:22:04,032 --> 00:22:05,825
Hey, get out your instruments
and play some."

309
00:22:05,909 --> 00:22:08,244
We had
these silly hillbilly band routines.

310
00:22:08,328 --> 00:22:12,624
A bunch of, like, shakers and spoons.
Played some tunes, a little show.

311
00:22:12,707 --> 00:22:16,211
The banjo player, you know,
did the funny thing with his eyes.

312
00:22:19,297 --> 00:22:21,925
-He grabs the phone, dials up…
-[phone dialing]

313
00:22:22,008 --> 00:22:24,552
…starts talking on the phone,
puts the phone down.

314
00:22:24,636 --> 00:22:28,181
Next thing we know, this Cadillac pulls up
in front of the store.

315
00:22:28,723 --> 00:22:29,974
And out comes this guy.

316
00:22:31,351 --> 00:22:35,188
Colonel Tom Parker,
Elvis Presley's manager.

317
00:22:35,689 --> 00:22:40,777
And of course, Colonel Parker is friends
with Liberace, Frank Sinatra.

318
00:22:41,277 --> 00:22:44,364
Next thing you know,
we're gonna go to Frank's house,

319
00:22:44,447 --> 00:22:46,574
and we're gonna play
a little concert for him.

320
00:22:47,075 --> 00:22:49,828
We're gonna go to Liberace's house
and play a little concert.

321
00:22:49,911 --> 00:22:51,121
-[snaps]
-Snap, like that.

322
00:22:51,204 --> 00:22:54,290
-It was 1975. New Year's Eve…
-[crowd cheering, applauding]

323
00:22:55,709 --> 00:22:59,546
…at Pontiac Dome Stadium.
The Colonel put us on the Elvis show.

324
00:22:59,629 --> 00:23:01,214
[performer]
Gonna feature Mr. Duane Michaels.

325
00:23:01,297 --> 00:23:03,299
[Duane] And there were 73,000 people.

326
00:23:03,383 --> 00:23:05,552
-[bluegrass music playing]
-And we were the first ones onstage.

327
00:23:05,635 --> 00:23:07,637
We're all wearing overalls and--

328
00:23:07,721 --> 00:23:12,100
and everybody waiting to see Elvis,
looking like, "Who are these hillbillies?"

329
00:23:12,183 --> 00:23:13,685
[bluegrass music continues]

330
00:23:13,768 --> 00:23:17,355
But this is the highest grossing
one-night show that Elvis put on.

331
00:23:17,439 --> 00:23:18,982
-[crowd cheering]
-[shutter clicks]

332
00:23:22,027 --> 00:23:25,447
A few years after that, they hired us
to play at Knott's Berry Farm.

333
00:23:25,530 --> 00:23:28,324
And so we played there.
That's how I met my wife.

334
00:23:28,408 --> 00:23:31,494
She saw me playing at Knott's Berry Farm.

335
00:23:31,578 --> 00:23:35,123
Thought I was the greatest thing ever
because I was up there playin' the fiddle.

336
00:23:35,206 --> 00:23:37,834
And then next thing you know,
Disneyland sent a talent scout

337
00:23:37,917 --> 00:23:39,419
and just hired us on the spot.

338
00:23:39,502 --> 00:23:43,548
"The only thing is,
we need you in Florida at Disney World."

339
00:23:43,631 --> 00:23:44,716
[people screaming, cheering]

340
00:23:44,799 --> 00:23:46,301
"Sure!"

341
00:23:47,677 --> 00:23:50,221
The Colonel, we had a close relationship.

342
00:23:50,305 --> 00:23:53,516
Yeah. Colonel Parker was
my son's godfather.

343
00:23:54,517 --> 00:23:57,479
Sounds like a made-up story,
but, I mean, it really isn't.

344
00:23:57,562 --> 00:24:03,568
That $20 fiddle I found at a swap meet
has taken me all over the world.

345
00:24:05,945 --> 00:24:10,533
That $20 fiddle has taken me everywhere.

346
00:24:14,037 --> 00:24:15,538
[bluegrass music ends]

347
00:24:15,622 --> 00:24:17,624
-[crowd cheering]
-[performer] Thank you very much.

348
00:24:17,707 --> 00:24:19,334
By the way,
we're the Bodie Mountain Express.

349
00:24:19,417 --> 00:24:20,543
We'll be back in just a few…

350
00:24:20,627 --> 00:24:22,879
[Duane] And that brings us
to where I'm at now.

351
00:24:23,546 --> 00:24:28,385
Getting these instruments to play easily
for a wonderful purpose.

352
00:24:28,468 --> 00:24:33,056
The fact that the kids have a chance to
play instruments if they can't afford it.

353
00:24:34,015 --> 00:24:37,602
-That one instrument…
-[flute trills]

354
00:24:42,357 --> 00:24:44,150
…could change their whole life.

355
00:24:45,860 --> 00:24:49,572
In a way, you know, you can feel like,
you know, you're fixing an instrument

356
00:24:49,656 --> 00:24:51,616
for the future GRAMMY winner,

357
00:24:51,700 --> 00:24:53,993
if you wanna kinda dream a little bit,
you know?

358
00:24:54,077 --> 00:24:55,161
[chuckles]

359
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:01,584
[birds twittering]

360
00:25:01,668 --> 00:25:04,295
[student 2] When I was three years old,
my dad taught me how to play

361
00:25:04,379 --> 00:25:06,464
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
on the piano.

362
00:25:06,548 --> 00:25:09,175
I actually vividly remember that.

363
00:25:09,259 --> 00:25:11,928
I've been playing the piano
for, like, nine years now.

364
00:25:12,012 --> 00:25:14,472
You know, I just have
a connection with it. [giggles]

365
00:25:14,556 --> 00:25:16,516
I'm getting emotional.

366
00:25:17,267 --> 00:25:20,395
I've just been playing for a while.
Playing for a long time.

367
00:25:22,105 --> 00:25:25,900
Mental health is something that's,
like, very hard to manage sometimes.

368
00:25:25,984 --> 00:25:28,403
Especially with everything
that's going on in your life,

369
00:25:28,486 --> 00:25:31,781
like school and thinking of
what you want to be.

370
00:25:31,865 --> 00:25:33,533
It's very stressful sometimes.

371
00:25:33,616 --> 00:25:36,369
I guess I'm just scared of,
like, failure, you know?

372
00:25:37,912 --> 00:25:41,416
Like, I'm scared, like,
I won't, like, find a purpose in life.

373
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:46,880
But once I go onstage,
all that tension goes away.

374
00:25:46,963 --> 00:25:50,717
When you play onstage, you have,
like, this overwhelming presence,

375
00:25:51,259 --> 00:25:56,056
and, like, you know,
the audience is, like, somewhat, like,

376
00:25:56,139 --> 00:25:57,682
attracted to it, you know?

377
00:26:00,393 --> 00:26:02,354
Everyone's just watching you.

378
00:26:03,396 --> 00:26:07,108
And you feel… a certain power.

379
00:26:07,192 --> 00:26:10,320
[Beethoven's "Sonata No. 8
Op. 13 Pathétique" playing on piano]

380
00:26:48,441 --> 00:26:50,360
Something like that. [giggles]

381
00:26:50,443 --> 00:26:51,945
-[person applauds]
-[giggles]

382
00:26:53,029 --> 00:26:54,030
[supervisor] Pianos.

383
00:26:54,114 --> 00:26:57,158
Let's see if we find anything…

384
00:26:59,452 --> 00:27:00,954
interesting here.

385
00:27:01,037 --> 00:27:04,249
As supervisor, I have to make sure

386
00:27:04,332 --> 00:27:07,544
that all instruments are repaired
in a timely manner.

387
00:27:07,627 --> 00:27:12,882
That shop is all up to the safety
and all the employees are happy,

388
00:27:12,966 --> 00:27:16,678
because we are a family here.

389
00:27:19,723 --> 00:27:21,391
I'm a supervisor here…

390
00:27:23,393 --> 00:27:25,520
but I started as a piano technician.

391
00:27:29,399 --> 00:27:33,361
I always remember
the first time I saw a piano.

392
00:27:34,654 --> 00:27:38,867
I was a little Armenian boy
and living in Baku City

393
00:27:38,950 --> 00:27:42,662
of former Soviet Union,
Republic of Azerbaijan.

394
00:27:45,540 --> 00:27:48,335
The piano tuner would come
in the middle of our music class

395
00:27:48,418 --> 00:27:50,128
and take the piano apart.

396
00:27:51,171 --> 00:27:55,008
And he would mute every string
and then go to another one,

397
00:27:55,091 --> 00:27:56,843
and go move to another one
and another one.

398
00:27:56,926 --> 00:27:58,511
And I was sitting at the first row.

399
00:27:59,137 --> 00:28:02,098
I'm thinking, "God, so many strings.

400
00:28:02,182 --> 00:28:04,601
And he had to do every single one.

401
00:28:05,602 --> 00:28:08,063
So many parts. How does he do that?

402
00:28:08,980 --> 00:28:10,231
Wow."

403
00:28:10,732 --> 00:28:11,900
[slide projector clicks]

404
00:28:12,609 --> 00:28:17,364
Late '60s, early '70s,
my brother, he's 10 years older than me,

405
00:28:18,281 --> 00:28:19,574
he bought a guitar.

406
00:28:21,409 --> 00:28:23,119
And he told me not to touch it.

407
00:28:23,203 --> 00:28:25,455
[chuckles]

408
00:28:25,538 --> 00:28:29,209
One day, he was at the college,
so I took the guitar.

409
00:28:29,292 --> 00:28:32,212
And he comes home. "Who touched my guitar?
I told you not to touch it."

410
00:28:32,295 --> 00:28:34,172
I said,
"Well, I just played a little bit."

411
00:28:34,255 --> 00:28:36,800
He says, "You mean you play the guitar?"
I go, like, "Yeah."

412
00:28:36,883 --> 00:28:42,013
My brother realized that I wasn't just,
uh, touching a guitar,

413
00:28:42,097 --> 00:28:44,933
-I was actually trying to play.
-[slide projector clicks]

414
00:28:48,645 --> 00:28:50,146
And he gave me the guitar.

415
00:28:55,735 --> 00:29:00,782
I had the guitar all the way until
the day I moved to United States. Yep.

416
00:29:04,786 --> 00:29:08,123
My parents couldn't imagine
that something bad can happen because,

417
00:29:08,206 --> 00:29:11,209
God, we had friends,

418
00:29:11,292 --> 00:29:16,214
we had neighbors that we lived
for all these years side by side,

419
00:29:16,297 --> 00:29:21,511
and so nobody could think
that a war would start.

420
00:29:21,594 --> 00:29:24,139
[people clamoring]

421
00:29:24,222 --> 00:29:27,600
Uh, it was 1987,

422
00:29:28,768 --> 00:29:32,188
'86 or '87, city of Baku.

423
00:29:33,398 --> 00:29:36,026
They start kicking all the Armenians out.

424
00:29:38,987 --> 00:29:42,282
Day by day, it was becoming difficult.

425
00:29:42,365 --> 00:29:46,161
We would gather together
outside of our buildings on the streets,

426
00:29:46,244 --> 00:29:51,416
and we would make bonfires
and just guard our homes all night.

427
00:29:52,959 --> 00:29:56,963
But day by day, there's less
and less and less people with us,

428
00:29:57,047 --> 00:29:59,299
because people are moving out.

429
00:29:59,382 --> 00:30:01,176
They're afraid to stay.

430
00:30:01,259 --> 00:30:04,179
-[slide projector clicks]
-[person speaking on loudspeaker]

431
00:30:04,721 --> 00:30:08,767
My dad was optimistic because,
"Steve, I'm not moving anywhere.

432
00:30:08,850 --> 00:30:12,854
I never harmed anybody.
I never did anything bad to anybody.

433
00:30:12,937 --> 00:30:14,189
We live in Soviet Union.

434
00:30:14,272 --> 00:30:18,735
Our government will never
let anything like that to happen."

435
00:30:22,113 --> 00:30:26,326
Well, uh, he was very wise man, but, uh…

436
00:30:28,578 --> 00:30:30,330
what a mistake that he did.

437
00:30:32,582 --> 00:30:34,334
That he didn't listen.

438
00:30:34,417 --> 00:30:35,919
[piano ends]

439
00:30:37,587 --> 00:30:42,634
He was at work, and somebody
just came from behind and killed him.

440
00:30:43,718 --> 00:30:44,886
Um…

441
00:30:50,725 --> 00:30:52,143
I don't know.

442
00:30:56,189 --> 00:30:57,273
[whispers] Sorry.

443
00:31:04,698 --> 00:31:05,699
Samson.

444
00:31:11,955 --> 00:31:12,956
[slide projector clicks]

445
00:31:16,751 --> 00:31:17,877
[clicking]

446
00:31:18,586 --> 00:31:20,213
That's my son's name.

447
00:31:25,051 --> 00:31:26,720
I was 20 years old.

448
00:31:27,303 --> 00:31:29,472
I had to take my mom and get out of there.

449
00:31:29,556 --> 00:31:32,225
So, we just pretty much locked the doors.

450
00:31:32,308 --> 00:31:35,311
We left everything. Family albums.

451
00:31:35,395 --> 00:31:38,773
And of course, my brother's gift.

452
00:31:41,109 --> 00:31:42,402
The guitar.

453
00:31:43,194 --> 00:31:44,779
[people clamoring]

454
00:31:44,863 --> 00:31:50,285
It wasn't easy even to get to airport
because we still look like Armenian.

455
00:31:50,368 --> 00:31:53,538
And on the street,
people can stop you and harm you.

456
00:31:54,581 --> 00:31:57,375
So thanks to my friends,
Azerbaijani friends,

457
00:31:57,459 --> 00:31:59,085
they took us to airport.

458
00:31:59,169 --> 00:32:03,173
And, uh, they basically created
a human corridor

459
00:32:04,215 --> 00:32:08,136
in airport so we can go through it.

460
00:32:16,686 --> 00:32:22,275
When we arrived in United States,
they found a sponsor, Ken and Veronica.

461
00:32:22,859 --> 00:32:25,737
I maybe knew how to say "hello."

462
00:32:27,113 --> 00:32:30,450
I had small Russian-English dictionary.

463
00:32:30,533 --> 00:32:33,578
So if I want to say something,
I would just go find a word,

464
00:32:33,661 --> 00:32:35,455
and show it to Ken.

465
00:32:35,538 --> 00:32:37,832
And when I ask him what he does for a job,

466
00:32:38,375 --> 00:32:44,506
he tried to tell me through dictionary,
but he couldn't find the right words.

467
00:32:45,215 --> 00:32:47,092
But he had this picture,

468
00:32:47,175 --> 00:32:50,512
beautiful painting,
on his wall above his piano.

469
00:32:51,096 --> 00:32:53,473
The artist is Norman Rockwell.

470
00:33:01,106 --> 00:33:03,483
So, he pointed at that picture.

471
00:33:03,566 --> 00:33:08,196
And I remembered me watching
the piano tuner

472
00:33:08,279 --> 00:33:10,615
at the school in the classroom.

473
00:33:11,825 --> 00:33:15,328
And I went, "Oh, God.
Is it possible that he tunes pianos?"

474
00:33:15,412 --> 00:33:19,207
And then, of course, ding, ding, ding.
"You tune?" He's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

475
00:33:19,290 --> 00:33:20,792
And we started laughing,

476
00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:24,462
and he says, "Would you like to help me
around the piano shop?"

477
00:33:24,546 --> 00:33:26,715
I was delivering pizzas.
I was shoveling snow,

478
00:33:26,798 --> 00:33:28,925
moving furniture and doing anything.

479
00:33:29,009 --> 00:33:33,221
And I said, "Pfft, sure. Uh, absolutely."

480
00:33:33,304 --> 00:33:34,848
"You're starting tomorrow.

481
00:33:35,765 --> 00:33:37,267
4.25 an hour."

482
00:33:37,350 --> 00:33:39,144
I said, "Pfft, yes."

483
00:33:39,894 --> 00:33:44,149
Then of course,
Ken would send me to Yamaha schools,

484
00:33:44,232 --> 00:33:46,943
to Baldwin schools, to Steinway school.

485
00:33:49,446 --> 00:33:55,744
After what happened in the past,
I lost the urge to follow the music,

486
00:33:55,827 --> 00:33:57,912
to be in the music,
to stay with the music.

487
00:33:57,996 --> 00:34:00,582
But life brought me back to it.

488
00:34:02,876 --> 00:34:04,878
Ended up being a piano tuner.

489
00:34:09,466 --> 00:34:11,217
I mean, see how life is?

490
00:34:19,267 --> 00:34:20,977
[children laughing]

491
00:34:21,061 --> 00:34:24,397
[bird cooing]

492
00:34:29,861 --> 00:34:31,446
I love the violin.

493
00:34:48,546 --> 00:34:51,007
[Dana] I think a lot of people
see a broken thing,

494
00:34:51,091 --> 00:34:52,467
and they just think it's broken.

495
00:34:53,968 --> 00:34:55,303
Could be anything.

496
00:34:56,471 --> 00:34:58,306
Maybe it's public schools.

497
00:34:59,349 --> 00:35:03,520
Or maybe it's the United States
or any other part of the world.

498
00:35:04,521 --> 00:35:07,816
[Duane] Maybe it's just a $20 fiddle
found at a swap meet.

499
00:35:09,484 --> 00:35:11,569
[Dana] But when we see a broken thing,

500
00:35:12,737 --> 00:35:16,449
we think, "Oh, with a little something
here, a little something there,

501
00:35:16,950 --> 00:35:21,371
we can fix the part that's broken
and make things whole again."

502
00:35:22,497 --> 00:35:23,998
[Paty] It's difficult work.

503
00:35:24,082 --> 00:35:25,583
But no matter what--

504
00:35:25,667 --> 00:35:26,960
You do whatever it takes because--

505
00:35:27,043 --> 00:35:29,546
It is one of the best things
that humans do.

506
00:35:30,213 --> 00:35:35,176
That's why this is not just
a musical instrument repair shop.

507
00:35:35,260 --> 00:35:36,720
[tapping]

508
00:35:36,803 --> 00:35:41,558
When an instrument breaks,
there's a student without an instrument.

509
00:35:42,267 --> 00:35:44,769
No, no, no. Not in our city.

510
00:35:45,854 --> 00:35:49,232
[Duane]
We know it could change their whole life.

511
00:35:51,443 --> 00:35:53,570
Even if they don't know me…

512
00:36:11,171 --> 00:36:12,672
I'm part of that.

513
00:36:13,465 --> 00:36:18,720
[music continues]

514
00:36:21,681 --> 00:36:23,683
["The Alumni" playing]

515
00:37:50,186 --> 00:37:51,938
["Repair Shop Hoedown" playing]

516
00:38:36,316 --> 00:38:37,734
["Repair Shop Hoedown" ends]

517
00:38:37,817 --> 00:38:39,444
["The Alumni" resumes]

518
00:39:34,833 --> 00:39:36,126
[plucks string]

519
00:39:36,209 --> 00:39:37,544
[music ends]

520
00:39:38,837 --> 00:39:41,172
-[musicians stomping, tapping]
-[person cheers]