We’re slashing expenses and can’t justify your fee…
If you continue adopting the recession obsession of saving money instead
of realistically looking at cost-effectiveness and concentrating on making money, your organization could be missing opportunities. Our all-inclusive Performance
Fee compares more than favorably with the hire fees charged by other companies
for a piece of sensitive specialist equipment of similar value.
We found someone cheaper…
The miracle of private enterprise: Use them, enjoy what you pay for and what
you save—and we look forward to hearing from you next time around.
Our player will use his own…
This can work out quite well, but beware the many pitfalls. There should always
be genuine artistic reasons for the choice of instrument, and harpsichords come
in a bewildering array of shapes, sizes and styles. It is no longer possible
to make a positive impression on persons of refined taste just by the presence
of any old harpsichord on stage. It is no more ‘authentic’, for example,
to use a French Double for accompanying Monteverdi than it is to play Bach on
the piano. The harpsichord should rightly be a group expense—an artist
must not be out of pocket for any professional cartage costs, but cannot be entitled
to an additional hire fee above the other players simply because of the use of
his own instrument. (All the orchestras in the world would fold the instant the
violinists began demanding extra for the use of their own old Italian master
fiddles, some worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars!) Lastly, and
perhaps surprisingly, some players own decidedly inferior instruments, and manage
to keep them in abysmal condition. Yech! These instruments are best avoided,
for they give all harpsichords (and often all music) a bad name.
We’re thinking of purchasing an instrument, and don’t want
to lose money hiring one…
Hiring a instrument can let you put it through its paces to see just how well
it performs under a variety of circumstances. When the purchase question looms
seriously, we will match you with the best possible harpsichord for your requirements:
We often have suitable new instruments for delivery ex stock.
We’re going to try to borrow one from someone else…
Good. But when you tire of wasting your valuable time trying to find an even
remotely suitable instrument, ascertaining its condition, checking insurance
cover, organizing safe return transport (or hiring a vehicle and lugging it yourself!)
and ensuring it will be properly prepared for the concert, all with different
parties, call or eMail us. You don’t need an MBA from Harvard to realize
the cost benefit of using our services to deliver the best quality instruments
on time with a minimum of fuss, and releasing all those hours for what you do
best.
We have our own harpsichord…
If your organization already owns an instrument, it must often be used to justify
its existence: If the initial choice was a good one, this need not be a bad thing.
With the ownership of any instrument, however, comes the responsibility of upkeep.
Some institutions balk at paying even 1% of the replacement price each year on
professional maintenance, and as a result their harpsichords languish along with
all their other instruments. Hopefully not your establishment! But unless you
need to use a harpsichord publicly at least half a dozen times per year, you
might be better served by calling us to help dispose of your current instrument
before it becomes a liability that nobody wants to play even reluctantly, and
then you can hire the best quality instrument, matched to your repertoire on
an as need basis throughout the year.
It’s not an important enough event to warrant even a half-decent
harpsichord…
Then don’t waste your time, or that of all your musicians, in being involved
with it. You wouldn’t expect your string players to make music on $150
plywood fiddles with screws, so don’t insult your harpsichordist similarly.
We’re playing several venues, and can use the harpsichords there….
There are enough stressful variables attached to performing in different environments
without having to cope with vastly different instruments, even if we could assume
they are all in perfect working order. A rank and file string player wouldn’t
consider playing a different instrument each night of the week, let alone a principal
player or leader, so why should the harpsichordist? When you are convinced of
the genuine artistic benefits of using high quality instruments chosen for the
repertoire, a tour or series becomes so much easier for the players with the
consistency of the same keyboard instrument throughout.
But we have a hectic touring schedule…
Are you challenging us to keep up? If we can’t do it by road, our flightcase
can go anywhere your group can by air, often on the same scheduled passenger
flights. And if you’re already flying a small orchestra around, perhaps
booking extra seats for fragile stringed instruments and freighting bulky double-basses,
how much extra is a real harpsichord going to cost?
OK, we’re convinced…
Now you’re talking. Refer to our Hire
details page. It lists our instruments available with service details and
enough pricing to help you plan your project with ease.
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