SOPP447: I bought shoes from Organmaster but I didn’t quite like it. Do you have any recommendation?

Vidas: Hi guys!  This is Vidas.
 
Ausra:  And Ausra.
 
V: Let’s start episode 447 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast.  This question was sent by David, And he writes:
 
Hi Vidas, I bought shoes from Organmaster but I didn’t quite like it. Do you have any recommendation? Regards, David
 
Well, what would you say to David, Ausra? Because I have my own recommendations.
 
A: Well, if I would be, you know, Mr. Bennett, from The Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, I would say it seems like a hopeless business, but since I’m not… Well, I don’t like the Organmaster shoes myself so well, and why I don’t because they are not made from genuine leather, except of the…
 
V: Soles?
 
A: Soles, yes.
 
V: Really?
 
A: Yes. And that’s why I don’t find them of really high quality. At least, that’s my opinion. But, after using them for many years, they sort of softened, and it’s becoming more comfortable.
 
V: Do you remember, Ausra, when we first bought Organmaster shoes? How long did it take for you to get used to your shoes? How many weeks?
 
A: It took quite a while. A month, maybe.
 
V: A month. So if David, and this is the start of my recommendation, if David doesn’t like the shoes at first, maybe it doesn’t mean the shoes are bad at first. Maybe he just needs to play for a few weeks to a month, and see if they soften up a little bit, and your feet get used to your shoes this way. Do you think, sometimes, that might be the case?
 
A: Yes. It’s like with any new shoes. They often give a struggle at the beginning, so.
 
V: But not all shoes.
 
A: No, not all shoes, but some of them, yes. I’m not talking about sneakers.
 
V: Mm-hmm. Sneakers are very comfortable. What I would suggest, also, to take a look, for David, into TicTacToes. This is another company, which specializes in shoes. Let’s see their website.  TicTacToe.  TicTacToe Shoes,” I think. There is a game called Tic-Tac-Toe. These are shoes for ballroom dancing, and organ shoes and square dancing. You know, all kinds of shoes they have, and in addition to that, they have a collection for organ shoes, and if I click to enter their collection, they have men’s organ shoes, they have women’s organ shoes, and they also have special organ shoes, which look… (laughs) strange, Ausra, right?
 
A: Well, they’re shoes that look really soft and you can bend it, you know?
 
V: Yes, it’s bent, like, at a ninety-degree angle, downward.
 
A: I don’t think anybody could… do their foot like this. They would break it.
 
V: So that’s my also recommendation; to look at TicTacToes.com
 
A: But, anyway, you know, I wonder how David is doing with other shoes. Are other shoes comfortable for him? Because it might not be a problem with these complete shoes, but it might be, you know, a problem with, I don’t know… feet? (inaudible) Or what he wears on a daily basis? It’s really hard to tell, because, actually, he didn’t explain why he doesn’t like these shoes. We don’t know what the problem is.
 
V: Exactly. I think when I wrote to him and answered in an email about TicTacToes, he was quite happy with it. Maybe that solved his problem. So anyway, organist shoes, sometimes, it’s a great challenge to find for us, right, and not every person has the, you know, the ability to buy something online and get shipped from overseas to their country. They need to buy something locally. For example, in Venus, we have, also, a store for dancers. And I found that our Unda Maris students also need organ shoes, so I recommended them to take a look at their collection for dancing shoes, ballroom dancing, specifically.
 
A: Ballroom? Do you think those shoes are fitted? For men, maybe, but for women, I highly doubt it.
 
V: No? Why not?
 
A: Because, well, look at women’s shoes. You know, ballroom dancing shoes.
 
V: They’re very similar. I mean, some of them.
 
A: Well, this company, yes, but in general, they’re not, because the heel is much higher than short in these.
 
V: But, remember, if you play with--
 
A: You have professional dancers on the TV. We never wear shoes like these.
 
V: Ah, I see. So maybe, full dancing, then…
 
A: Yes, I would say it’s more like full dancing shoes. But also, if it’s to play the organ.
 
V: Uh-huh. Could be, could be. Interesting. So basically, you could accommodate your own feet this way with various kinds of shoes, and sometimes, you might even don’t need to buy something. You could look at your own shoe collection at home, if you have one, and see what you can use for the organ. Sometimes, you can find one. Not always, though. Right?
 
A: It depends.
 
V: It depends, as everything in life. Thank you guys. This was Vidas…
 
A: And Ausra.
 
V: We hope this was useful to you, and please keep sending us your wonderful questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice…
 
A: Miracles happen.