The Windy City:

Friday, June 28th, 2024

Alright, I lied again. That was a little longer than a couple weeksIn other news, I closed the box on my first violin a little while ago! Currently working on purfling for number 2, but we're not here to talk about that. No, that's boring, you knew that already, too predictable. What, did you think this was only going to be about violin making?
Nah, let's talk about everything else I've been up to since moving to Chicago. This is a long one, boys and girls, so strap in.
Initially, I was gonna do a big travel-style blog about all the stuff I've been up to since September. With pictures and paragraphs about each thing, making this edition about two or three pages long. Then it started to feel like homework and I hated it. So, I did what 12 year old me would've done: a crappy Movie Maker slideshow. (I will eventually do that first thing, but it's been too long since I've updated this page. So here ya go. Next post FOR SURE will be the rest of making that first fiddle, and maybe a bit of starting the new one.)

Now, I'd be remiss if ididn't share this anecdote from what I was drafting to put on this update initially. In that video you'll see the program and twitter post I made from a November Chicago Composer's Orchestra concert, and I had this thought:

"...Now, at the preconcert talk, one of the featured composers, Daron Hagen, said something that stuck with me, so much so that I still almost remember it verbatim: "Technology is making it so that you can create music without knowing anything about anything. And that’s not a bad thing…Music has the potential to go somewhere beyond our understanding…not that we fully understand it now." Alright, kids. Here's where it starts to get lengthy, because I have thoughts. When it comes to classical music, music in general, and lutherie, antiquity is king. Now to me? I love the contemporary. Give me music written in this and the previous century over 18th and 19th, show me an instrument made by a living maker, let's go to a local show and see what's happening right now. However, a lot of people will prefer Bach, Beethoven, and the boys but can't name a living composer in their city. Older instruments sell better, hence why many makers "antique" their instruments. All this to say: in a lot of cases, old=good. It's a trope we see in media pretty often, (yet am too lazy to come up with any concrete examples): new guy comes into the equation with fresh ideas, new tech, and a different way of doing things. Also, I think back into the early days of MuseScore. I was in middle school putting notes on a page using what little music theory I knew simply because I had access to a free, open source tool with an active community of people giving feedback and helping to make it better. Do you see where I'm going with this? Now, I'm not in violin making school to turn around and 3D print and CNC whole instruments, but these tools, and more, are things that I'd love to be able to implement to see how not only the process of making can be streamlined, but what kind of instruments can be made using different methods. Tony Strad might not approve, but he's dead! Who cares!"
As a matter of fact, speaking of 3D printing and CNC, something happened at the school recently that might be worth sharing here. You'll here about it in [come back and edit in the amount of time it takes to write this particular blog post.]

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