If you’re looking to fund a new instrument, I highly recommend putting together such a page: it gets shared far and wide on social media and reaches people you wouldn’t expect. I am so grateful for the donations of those who contributed. I decided to create a crowdfunding page on GoFundMe which raised almost £1,500 in just a few months.

I asked every professional bassoonist I could for their advice on how to maximise my time and get a feel for any instrument I found within a few short hours.įundraising proved to be quite tricky, but there were a lot of generous people out there who were more than happy to help me find support, and even offer it themselves. Due to my busy college schedule, time for travelling and trying bassoons abroad was rather limited. After exhausting options in the UK, I broadened my search to Europe. My professors Joost Bosdijk and Sarah Burnett were extremely helpful, as was Simon Channing, RCM Head of Woodwind. I asked around for advice on how to find one and fundraise for it. All my professors play on Heckels and encouraged me to look for one too it would last me my whole career and would be worth taking time to search for now, not waiting till graduation. I knew I had to start somewhere, so began applying and searching for funding, getting my name out there as someone seeking a Heckel bassoon.

When I got to the Royal College of Music, all my professors said I needed a new instrument and it was only during my first year recital that I realised this: I was discovering new things I wanted to do with my sound yet couldn’t physically express them on the instrument I had.

These instruments are considered special compared with other bassoons because they have a certain resonance, and each exhibits a different character.

In my sixth form, I heard the name ‘Heckel’ thrown around amongst bassoonists. Hello! My name is Ashby Mayes and I am delighted to have just purchased a new bassoon after almost a year of serious searching.

Heckel bassoon serial numbers