Why the Mandolin Cafe is such a great place

[ShawnLeonhardt]

I have been following this website since I first bought a mandolin back in 2007. I made a few posts (under another user name) but otherwise have always been a lurker. Today I realized why this place is so awesome. A little over a month ago I mentioned my charity I am building on another thread, and a mandolin cafe member contacted me. Well not only did I get to meet an intelligent and kind person this morning, I also received many donations from Jim Garber. Of course many of you regulars know him or of him. Any new members will eventually know of him as he has an amazing post count. For someone like me who has been following the Cafe for awhile... it was like meeting a celebrity! He donated many instruments to my cause.

Now 'my cause'... I live in North NJ and am working on building a charity to promote music. Whether it is instrument donation, free lessons (especially for songwriting and music theory), consultation, repairs, or anything musical related. I want to be a music store and lesson studio all in one, for those who cannot afford to play or perhaps think they are not good enough. I have always had a knack for playing and repairing almost any instrument. I also have a great ability to 'teach'. The job of a good teacher isn't to know everything... but to be able to point the student in the right direction or to help them figure out what they want to know. I am not an expert luthier or instrument repair tech, however I learn very quickly. This charity idea was officially started in January. I am in the process of working on fiscal sponsorship (non profit status takes time) so I can do a kickstarter page to build a small monetary base up to help my cause. However in the meantime, I could use any help at all. What kind of help am I looking for? There is a link to my fb page at the end of my post... even a simple 'like' will help. I could also use any repair kits, supplies, strings... anything musical related. For those who live in the tri-state are (NJ, NY, PA) I could also really use any instrument donations (I like road trips!). Even broken stuff can be used for parts. For example today Jim gave me many bowlback mando's in various condition. Some I will repair and find good homes for, other parts I will use to build new homemade instruments, perhaps if I find a student who wants to learn to build their own. (like a cookie tin banjo I posted on the fb page). To be clear I am not getting rich off this idea, or making any money... I still have to work my full-time crappy job (of course I know some people may be looking for work, so I don't mean to complain) . I am even putting my own money into this charity. I call it "Institute of Sound." Yeah that name denotes something big... that's because it will be one day. I hope to use the connectivity of our modern world to build a fund base that will allow me to provide musical services to school bands, community groups, and individuals. Music is what I do best, all aspects of it. I firmly believe that our cynical world that seems to get more violent everyday, needs it's people to start helping each other in anyway they can. If I can put an instrument into the hands of someone who perhaps didn't have the means, and show them how to make some music... well maybe step by step and bit by bit, there might be some more satisfied folks among us. As I said in a community forum when I started this charity... "help me spread some music." Any questions please msg me on here or on my fb page... I will try to keep up with any comments on this post (just very busy at moment!). Thank You

https://www.facebook.com/InstituteofSound?fref=ts

[Keith Newell]

I like it for so many reasons. Not many places are monitored so much but it is a good thing. I have been out of line in the past on some comments and Scott has put it in perspective for me. Good place, great people and the hours they spend making it a place you want to visit is pays great big 0 (ZERO) dollars. I think it was 2000 yr I first saw this place. When did it really start?
Keith

[ShawnLeonhardt]

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend! (Enjoying life, yet remembering what this holiday is really about... ) I figure I will bump my post from a month ago and give an update on my charity involving free musical instrument and lesson donations here in Hackettstown, NJ and the surrounding areas. I now have fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas. Which means people can make tax-deductible contributions to my charity. Everything has been going great and I have made so many connections, met new students, and am building my reputation as an honest and helpful resource for all things musical! As I tell those in my community who give private lessons and own music related businesses... I am not competition, I am simply trying to influence more young people to get into the world of music. The Fine Arts in western NJ definitely needs more people to take interest. My goals and boundaries go beyond NJ though, when I have enough funds I wish to make a website that is the ultimate site for anyone looking for musical links or info on ANY instrument. It will be a site that is built around education and only will connect with reputable and honest businesses and specific instrument links (I hope the Mandolin Cafe will be one of them!). I also wish to start an instrument 'sharing' program through this website, basically a place for new students or musicians to locally find someone who wishes to lend an instrument out for educational purposes. My personal goal in life is to get others into music as much as I am... check my link out below and you will get a slight idea of my music obsession.

Everyday is a learning process with this charity... and not just musically. I am learning that to fund what I am doing, I need earned revenue along with donations from kind and caring people who wish to help me succeed. I bump this post for a number of reasons. First of all anyone who wishes to peruse my Facebook link (attached below) is welcome to like my page. I can always use advice and direction on many things; instrument repair, lesson ideas, song ideas (songwriting lessons are my specialty!), and of course potential donations and recipients. Also, if there is anyone in the west NJ radius who may have any instruments at all (even broken!) to donate, that would be awesome. Summer is coming up and I wish to really try and push more than just the usual guitar or clarinet lessons. I really want to introduce kids to the autoharp, uke, dulcimer, and especially.... the mandolin! I am trying to push these types of instruments as much as possible. Often kids don't think about playing these... until one is offered for free. The donation process doesn't happen overnight, I usually have to refurbish the instrument and then look for a home (that part is getting easier as my charity becomes more well known)... right now I am pretty much using my own money (from my job and any paid lessons) to repair what I have. I have some fundraising events coming up, which will be great because I am in need of basic supplies like strings, nuts, bridges, pads, silicon heating blanket, frets... well you get the idea. "Institute of Sound" is a labor of love, my passion. A family member recently told me to take a day off and relax, and while that is necessary for my night job... this charity is truly fun. Repairing instruments, creating lessons, writing songs, making posts, getting the word out... as long as it is music related, well I hardly consider it work. If anyone reading this happens to be in my area and has any second hand unused instruments around that I could find a home for... or if those farther away are still interested in what I am doing and wish to help, please msg me. I am always on the lookout for help, advice, and even criticism if there is something I could be doing better (as long as it is positive, because optimism is all I recognize anymore).

[Jim Garber]

Keep up the good work, Shawn!

[mandomedic]

When I first started to be a regular to Mandolin Cafe in the late 90's, I was looking for information about repair and ideas for stories that I wanted to write about in Mandolin Magazine. Mandolin Magazine was a brand new publication that I was helping with and as Ginny and I talked about what would be of interest to mandolin enthusiasts, many subjects came up, including repair and reviews of all things mandolin. I thought I knew a lot about mandolins until I came to this well of information. I owe most of what I know and have been able to accomplish to Mandolin cafe. The friendships that I have made through this forum are real and permanent. Thank you MC for the greatest resource in the world for mandolin enthusiasts. Thank you Scott for always looking out for us and providing this forum.