My Di Zhao Flute
I still remember how I felt when I laid my hands on my first flute. It was the summer before sixth grade, the first year of middle school, and I had chosen band as my elective. The magical metal invention felt so light yet so heavy in my hands. It had a beautiful engraving at the bottom of the head joint of the flute. At that time, I didn’t take much notice of it. But when the store associate told us the price, I quickly understood why. Of course, as a musician, the expenses of buying an instrument and maintaining it were not new to me. Once my father had gotten me a piano after playing for years on my keyboard. But this time, my dad trusted me with an expensive instrument before I knew how to play it. I felt exhilarated to learn to play such a beautiful and high-quality flute. Truthfully, I felt it was almost too fancy for a complete amateur like me. But I was still more excited to have it than to accept my dad’s offer to buy me a flute from Amazon.
Di Zhao’s story
You might be wondering why it matters so much that this flute comes from the Di Zhao brand. Well, a Di Zhao flute isn’t a run-of-the-mill instrument. Di Zhao is one of the best flute companies in the world. The brand is dedicated to crafting hand-made flutes while incorporating modern production techniques to keep up with the market. Mr. Zhao, the company’s founder, was a flutist himself. His father gave him a wooden flute on his 7th birthday. He was ecstatic to play it, but it broke apart two days later. Di Zhao asked his father for a new one. But buying an instrument wasn’t easy due to his family’s financial position. After graduating and becoming the principal flutist of the National Ensemble Orchestra of China, he pursued a master’s degree at the University of Indiana in the United States.
Mr. Zhao wanted beginner musicians to experience top-quality instruments at a reasonable price. When he was younger, instruments of such caliber were typically only afforded to professionals at an expensive price. Di Zhao gained techniques from professional and world-class flute-making companies. He developed a great knowledge of the intricacies of hand-crafted flutes. Equipped with this expertise, Di Zhao decided to found his own flute-making company. Di Zhao’s childhood experience and his dreams to provide his children with what he never had, motivated him. He founded his company in 2006 and quickly grew it. Since then, his company has remained committed to Zhao’s mission, which became a key part of my own journey as a musician and marked the beginning of my life as an avid “band kid”.
Personal Impact
I started my junior year of high school using the same Di Zhao flute for both marching band and concert band. Yet the value of my flute hadn’t struck me until it started to have problems. The repairs, which began with my apprehension about being told to upgrade, triggered the same sense of novelty and care I when I first got the flute. Especially since I wasn’t planning on getting a new flute or returning to the repair shop yet again. I had grown comfortable with it, and my carelessness had resulted in some wear and tear that was starting to show. I was thankful that my flute had lasted me a significant period. Its quality and durability allowed me to advance through different levels of music and experience the joys of marching shows. Unfortunately, it took the physical damage of my flute to remind me of its value in granting me those enjoyable experiences.
The Evolving Value of My Flute
Predictably, I treated the flute carefully back when I first got it because I was aware of its value assigned by the price tag. But after owning it for some time, I grew careless with it. Value is such a strange thing that humans assign to things regularly. Even within my review of my Di Zhao flute, I evaluate its value concerning myself. Value varies from person to person, but it is ultimately determined by how it affects one’s world. The value of our relationships with people or material objects we purchase depends on our criteria. In the seven years of owning my flute, I didn’t bother to learn the about the history or creator behind the brand Di Zhao. It was not until I realized how much the instrument had let me do when it was working properly- allowing me to play music with my friends by myself- that I became curious about the brand. It’s weird how we don’t appreciate the value of things until they leave or inconvenience us. I guess we should be more critical of why we are so quick to qualify something’s value to decide how to treat it.
What is Value?
We often forget how we determine the value of things. We give things value through a mesh of our personal experience and a shared perception of its usefulness projected by society. The world operates on how we place value on things. This is true of each food item that we buy from the grocery store. It holds true within the capitalistic economy that we keep alive and which keeps us alive. Value has become less transient and more decisively stagnant. Fast fashion, fast food, and short-form content push a society geared towards quick, extreme judgments. This guiding perception has infiltrated our lives. Divergence and discussion aren’t encouraged anymore as we continue to let the values decided by others influence our own sense of value.
Conclusion
The value of my flute may come from the unforgettable memories I made through the band with my friends. It may come from the relationship between my experience as a child of immigrants, and Di Zhao’s dream to provide any kid with the chance to play top-quality instruments. Or perhaps the fine craftsmanship and well-reputable brand gives it its value. My determination of its value could be for any specific reason at any point of time.
My review of the Di Zhao flute inevitably ends in a rating. However, the reasons behind the value I assign to it now will likely be different from those I’ll consider years from now. The values someone else places on something can only influence you if you don’t question the motives behind it. We should think more carefully about value, instead of treating it in the haphazard way we’re accustomed to.
At first, on impulse, I had valued my flute for its cost, reputation, and quality. Now, its value to me comes from Di Zhao’s hope for young musicians, the people I met because of it, and the unique musical experiences I’ve had with it.
