Saturday, January 15, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
done.
Done with the first half of the program!
Successfully finished all projects, finals, including a "violin playing test" which somehow, a bachelors degree in violin performance didn't excuse me from?
Anyhow. That wasn't so bad, lets get on with the second semester!
Successfully finished all projects, finals, including a "violin playing test" which somehow, a bachelors degree in violin performance didn't excuse me from?
Anyhow. That wasn't so bad, lets get on with the second semester!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
things
So, this week has dragged on for other reasons besides the fact that Ebony class is lame and boring. But, it's going well. I finished my saddle, and it was lovely. Started a cello nut, and continued with the maple violin fingerboard. Actually, the maple fingerboard is horrible, and hard, and a pain in the butt. Have I mentioned that Ebony is my least favorite class?
Varnish class has been going much better than it was last time I wrote about it. I am much better at touch up (using the layering method - after Thanksgiving we start trying to master the pigment method, which is better in some circumstances but not all) We have cooked some varnish, using our newfound knowledge of interesting resins. We have.... learned all sorts of neat things about linseed oil. I'm trying to make this not sound boring to y'all, but I'm having a really fun time.
Bow Repair is...interesting. It's once a week, and the lectures tend to be a little ahead of when we actually get to the project. (for example, last week we had a lecture on how to recamber a bow - this week, only one person was to the point of being able to try it. Next week we're off for thanksgiving, so in two weeks, a few of us will have to get out our notes and have to figure out how to do it, all over again.) I am currently almost finished replacing a bone tip plate. (Last week was a plastic tip plate- so much easier than bone!) The class is, apparently, unusually spread out as far as pace goes. But, I'm staying in the front few, so its good.
Violin History. My favorite, really. We had an exam on all of Italy (which was really hard. We had to match makers to what towns they were from, and which instruments they were famous for. Then we had a week off, for veterans day. (Not the whole week off - just the friday, but history is our only friday class)
Hmm, I think that's it. We've got classes next week, and the break for Thanksgiving will be nice. :)
Oh. And I bought some european maple for a violin back (through Ms. Butler, from the VSA convention). Guess I have to make a violin now.
Varnish class has been going much better than it was last time I wrote about it. I am much better at touch up (using the layering method - after Thanksgiving we start trying to master the pigment method, which is better in some circumstances but not all) We have cooked some varnish, using our newfound knowledge of interesting resins. We have.... learned all sorts of neat things about linseed oil. I'm trying to make this not sound boring to y'all, but I'm having a really fun time.
Bow Repair is...interesting. It's once a week, and the lectures tend to be a little ahead of when we actually get to the project. (for example, last week we had a lecture on how to recamber a bow - this week, only one person was to the point of being able to try it. Next week we're off for thanksgiving, so in two weeks, a few of us will have to get out our notes and have to figure out how to do it, all over again.) I am currently almost finished replacing a bone tip plate. (Last week was a plastic tip plate- so much easier than bone!) The class is, apparently, unusually spread out as far as pace goes. But, I'm staying in the front few, so its good.
Violin History. My favorite, really. We had an exam on all of Italy (which was really hard. We had to match makers to what towns they were from, and which instruments they were famous for. Then we had a week off, for veterans day. (Not the whole week off - just the friday, but history is our only friday class)
Hmm, I think that's it. We've got classes next week, and the break for Thanksgiving will be nice. :)
Oh. And I bought some european maple for a violin back (through Ms. Butler, from the VSA convention). Guess I have to make a violin now.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Ebony update.
The other day, a guitar repair student asked what we were working on in our class, because apparently we "never look happy in there."
It's true, we have been working pretty hard and none of it is very fun. Shaping tiny nuts and saddles to minuscule measurements, to her exact expectations is hard. And now we're making a maple fingerboard out of scratch. It's a lot of numbers and things to think about, and there are a lot of things to screw up.
I have to say that Ebony is my least favorite class so far. Bow rehairing was tough, but it was at least very satisfying when it was done right. And since we got good at it, it became inscreasingly satisfying. I suppose since we were just doing the same thing over and over again, perfecting it. Ebony on the other hand, we make one nut, we get graded, thats it. No practice. We make one saddle. If it sucks, you get a bad grade on it. The next saddle you make from scratch will be probably in a year from now, for a customer, and we'll all be digging through our notes trying to figure out what the heck the angle curve magical tail gut loop groove things are supposed to look like.
Other people in my class feel the opposite way. If you cant fit a tip wedge, you can't finish rehairing the bow. However, if one of your tiny measurements is slightly off, you can generally work around it, depending on what it is. At least for the sake of the class, its easier. But to me, I feel much more prepared to go out and rehair bows than I do to go out and work on ebony. Plus ebony is just dirty and more dirty.
Anyhow, my thumb is doing much better. I had a very clumsy week last week. I twisted or stubbed or sanded off pretty much every loose appendage. Here's hoping this week is better. Stay tuned for a Varnish rant, coming soon!
It's true, we have been working pretty hard and none of it is very fun. Shaping tiny nuts and saddles to minuscule measurements, to her exact expectations is hard. And now we're making a maple fingerboard out of scratch. It's a lot of numbers and things to think about, and there are a lot of things to screw up.
I have to say that Ebony is my least favorite class so far. Bow rehairing was tough, but it was at least very satisfying when it was done right. And since we got good at it, it became inscreasingly satisfying. I suppose since we were just doing the same thing over and over again, perfecting it. Ebony on the other hand, we make one nut, we get graded, thats it. No practice. We make one saddle. If it sucks, you get a bad grade on it. The next saddle you make from scratch will be probably in a year from now, for a customer, and we'll all be digging through our notes trying to figure out what the heck the angle curve magical tail gut loop groove things are supposed to look like.
Other people in my class feel the opposite way. If you cant fit a tip wedge, you can't finish rehairing the bow. However, if one of your tiny measurements is slightly off, you can generally work around it, depending on what it is. At least for the sake of the class, its easier. But to me, I feel much more prepared to go out and rehair bows than I do to go out and work on ebony. Plus ebony is just dirty and more dirty.
Anyhow, my thumb is doing much better. I had a very clumsy week last week. I twisted or stubbed or sanded off pretty much every loose appendage. Here's hoping this week is better. Stay tuned for a Varnish rant, coming soon!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Injury #2
They say that most injuries from power tools come from being too tired while working (if I may throw a statistic at you, we learned that the greatest number of power tool injuries happened between 1-3pm - after lunch) or overconfidence and not paying attention.
This one involved both. Today I had a tussle with the belt sander and sanded half my thumbnail off.
It sucks.
[edit] for those who really want to see the gory details (not gory at all, quite cleaned up.. and I made it black and white so that it would be friendlier. I'm not going to post it ON here, so it is completely your choice whether or not you want to see it: Here.
This one involved both. Today I had a tussle with the belt sander and sanded half my thumbnail off.
It sucks.
[edit] for those who really want to see the gory details (not gory at all, quite cleaned up.. and I made it black and white so that it would be friendlier. I'm not going to post it ON here, so it is completely your choice whether or not you want to see it: Here.
Monday, October 25, 2010
First day of Ebony Class
Our schedule for the next 8 weeks is very similar to the last four, except that Ebony replaces Bow Rehair. We add an hour of Varnish on Wednesdays, we keep Varnish in the morning on Thursdays and Bow Repair on Thursday afternoons. Friday is still Violin History.
Today, we fit pegs to a fake pegbox. Hooray!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)