I grew up in a family of fixers. Though I have incredible admiration for the men and women in the skilled trades, I do not recall ever seeing one in my house growing up, nor have I ever needed one in my own house. I’ve learned enough of most of the trades to work on plumbing, electrical, framing, roofing, and painting in my own house. The desire to learn to work with my hands has naturally led me to fixing band instruments.

During my years working on my Masters in Music Education at Vandercook College of Music in Chicago, I had the joy of taking their instrument repair class twice. I had the additional blessing of taking the class from a dear friend of mine, Mr. Gary Everett. I’ve known Gary since my college years and he is a phenomenal teacher, friend and continues to be a mentor of mine.

I have been fixing all the instruments within my band programs for nearly 20 years. About 13 years ago I was hired as a woodwind tester and repair tech by Mr. Kevin Velvikis, who had purchased Pacetti’s Music in Kenosha. Once hired I entered a mentorship with the late, great, instrument repairman, Mr. Emil Pacetti. I studied with Emil for about 3 years. It was an exceptional period of time in my life for learning repair. Now that I have been full time at Pacettis I have the privilege to work with and learn from the master repairman Pol Martinez. We work side by side daily and he freely shares his decades of repair experience.

If you need an instrument repaired or just need some advice, feel free to contact me: 1-262-818-2398 rovikband@gmail.com

Here are a few random pics from work I’ve done.