Rue

The 8th wonder of the world?

Gosh! There's just something special about a man in a fez!

Isn't it a little unreasonable to try to find someone to rent out 200 instruments for a school orchestra? I'm thinking of the the effort, expense and possible resulting damage. Kids are rough - especially if they don't 'own' the items they are using. Plus - if you're travelling with an entire orchestra, surely arrangements for the instruments can be made in advance?

Google isn't always the best for things like this. At least that's what I found. Plus, Google is a search engine (profit driven?), not a reliable database.

The target audience is anyone who needs a quick reference. Students, professionals - everyone needs a starting point. Who is a dictionary for? I use it to look up new words, or to look up words I already know - to double check spelling, pronunciation or additional meanings... p.s. Anyone who needs a book on someone, versus a quick reference, wouldn't be accessing this database. But - if they needed to check a spelling, or dates, etc., regarding something they read in the book, this would still be useful.

This is just off the top of my head... Required minimum data entered: Name: Dates: Location: Output: Additional information: Last updated: So, it would start to look something like this - Name: Amati, Nicola Dates: 1596-1684 Location: Italy, Cremona Output: Good example of a factoid I couldn't quickly find. Have to go back to and do some "real" work now... Additional information: One of the earliest well documented luthiers with instruments still in use. A great deal of information is readily available on this maker. Last updated: Rue 20-3-19 Name: Hutchins, Carleen Dates: 1911-2009 Location: USA, Springfield, MA Output: 450 instruments (couldn't find the breakdown quickly...)... Additional information: Best known for her violin octet. Last updated: Rue 20-3-19 Name: Stradivari, Antonio Dates: 1644-1737 Location: Italy, Cremona Output: Lifetime production estimate: 1116 instruments. 960 violins. Extant: 650 instruments, 450-512 violins. Additional information: Extant instruments are among the most expensive in the world. A great deal of additional information is readily available on this maker. Last updated: Rue 20-3-19 Name: Wannabee, William W. Dates: 1864-1964 Location: Mars, Lake Goodwood Output: Total: 15, all still in use. Additional information: Hobby violin maker. Violins highly regarded by local musicians. One is on permanent display at the Mars Museum of Music. Last updated: Rue 20-3-19

If 'we' make it too complicated from inception, then for sure it will never happen. And of course, it would be hard for any database to please everyone - since we all have very different interests, or approaches to our own personal information collection. Start really really simple...build on that. I'm not sure why we'd need a photograph of William Wannabee to start out with. Although, at some point, maybe a photo of an example of one of his violins would be handy.

Lonely childhood?

Woohoo! That's the spirit!

While I see a very clear need, I don't know that I'm qualified - either as a scholar or a computer tech... But of course, I'm one myself, or are you suggesting Mike is a woman? I think there's a lot of interest, but it's all over the place. That's why a quick reference would be useful. Well no...I can't see this being a money maker. It's also 'alive', in that it needs to be kept updated. Can't do that with a book. I don't think so. I think folks would slowly add to it over time. It might be impossible for one person, but not for a global community. Just reading through the posts...look how many of you already have compiled your own databases. Just imagine if we all pooled our resources! Let's not turn a molehill into a mountain just quite yet...

That is different. Gotta admire his skill set. I Googled him. He's also a poet. I wonder what drug his muse is...

Of course. And that was a big issue on Wikipedia when it started up. However, it's corrected itself to a huge degree; for a lot of information it's reliable. It's also a good starting spot for further research. A violin version doesn't need to be the be-all, end-all, but it could be a good starting point. Otherwise, we seem to be disseminating the same info over and over again, with really no built-in/self correcting control for accuracy.

Lol. Thank you. We don't have to overthink it - all it needs to be, to be useful, is a dictionary type input, which could then grow, as people add info, to an encyclopedia. Think how nice it would be to just Google William Wannabee and read: Wannabee, William W. 1864-1964. Hobby violin maker in Lake Goodwood, Mars. Produced 15 violins highly regarded by local musicians. One is on permanent display at the Mars Museum of Music.

So many grumpy men...

Who would sponsor it? I think it would be a boon to any larger violin organization... Other than that, it would build itself over time, just like Wikipedia.