AMORI Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Thanks for all the advice guys. Come to think of it, a combination of some books, DVD and Maestronet is ideal. A DVD would be particularly good for me, having to learn something as "complicated" as violin making without ever having seen the process has been dificult. So, where can I obtain the Lovi DVD? And what other recommendations for DVD's can you make? I will definitely order the Muratov book too. I would like to establish a "library" of diverse books on the subject. I forgot to mention that I got quite a lot of usefull information from the 2 Hill books that I have, particularly the one about Stradivari. Another source has been some novels I have read recently, obviously partly based on non-fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackc Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 I think Juliet Barker's book is worthwhile. Not the defniitive text, by any means, but worth having for differences in technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llama Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Quote: Let's say if there is a book/CD that contains all the information above, wouldn't you buy it? It does not have to be a single author. It may be a collection of authors. Like a "Holy Bible of violin making". The only missing criteria is a publisher who is willing to pull everything together. Nothing difficult about that. I've been thinking for a while of establishing a wiki to conain a lot of this information. The value that's contained in these forums represents a number of different perspectives on different topics - something that all of these references lack. Unless Michael or anyone else here does actually want to embark on a commercial project that collates all of this information, I think the next best option is to collate and publish that information here. I think a group effort is going to be much richer than the work of any individual, without detracting at all from individual experience. I don't know how many times I've gone and done something, then several weeks later when searching for something else, come across a thread that would have meant I'd made a better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMORI Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 A compilation of relavant Maestronet threads would be fantastic. Who feels upto it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMORI Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I have been looking for the Lovi DVD, Flores CD and Karl Roy book on Amazon and they are not listed. Where else can one find these? Any other book ot DVD suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMORI Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I have been Googling. www.dvdviolinmaker.com Is where the Lovi DVD is supposed to be but this website no longer exists. According to a few people at http://www.hwforums.com Mr. Lovi may be less than honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Darnton Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Which forum? There doesn't seem to be a violin-related one listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronos Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 If you look at the list of boards under "New Users" you'll notice it contains a link to Soundpost Online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Jesseph Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 Medical textbooks are most often written by many authors, and edited by one (or maybe two or three). Authors tend to focus their attention a bit better on a single topic this way. I could picture a two or three volume violin text with dozens of authors, each writing a long detailed chapter about a topic of interest and expertise. It's not uncommon to find conflicting data or information within one medical text, and I assume the same would go in luthery. Any comments on the usefulness and entertainment value of Robert Lundberg's book on lute making? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andres Sender Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 The Lundberg book is fantastic. Just the way he approached the various issues is thought-provoking and interesting, regardless of whether you ever plan to build a lute. He was a fascinating guy who was very first-handed in his approach to things, so there are a lot of great ideas in the book. At the price it's a steal IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieNH Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 You can get the Flores CD at International Violins (probably other places, too). Look under the CD section - "The Art of Modern Violin Making". Like all source material, there are some things useful and some things not. As for the LOVI DVD's...well, Mr. Lovi tends to disappear and reappear. I signed up for a "lifetime subscription" to his violin-making website. The price was a modest $69. I downloaded the videos (.avi files) which are about 14 hours long. He was going to add some other information, but the site never returned. While this maybe unethical, I cannot complain too much, as I received what I was after. The content was OK and it really got my interest up. In any case, he is gone (for now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean_Lapinel Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llama Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Well, I've got a test wiki underway (serving out of my 'workshop' atm). http://llama.dnsalias.org/mediawiki/ After looking at much of the major Wiki software, MediaWiki (WikiPedia) is by far the winner so far. I've done a couple of test entries to experiment with the format. I would think the idea here is to have some objective material, as well as subjective comments arranged in a logical fashion. I've taken a few threads and ruthlessly ripped content from them. I thought this would be a painstaking process, but it's actually surprisingly quick once you find some meaty threads. The concept of a wiki is for everyone to have editorial access to the pages, and as long as everything falls within a certian editorial policy, the thing should mature pretty quickly as other users add, edit and re-organise the material. There's a comprehensive version control system, so if someone edits something stupid, the entry can be rolled back to a more sensible version. Questions that arise : Permission and licensing - does anyone object to being quoted and have their images used? I would of course intend for copyright to be preserved as they are here. How might this work? Naming - I've used real names from the profiles, but would people would rather use nicks? Comments and objections are more than welcome on all of the above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMORI Posted February 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Never heard of this "wiki" before. The test run looks excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Tucker Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 "I also have Henry Wakes Useful Measurements.....I found it only partially "useful". For nothing more, it's another resource to compare. It seems to me that the text part of it is mostly unorganized thoughts put down on paper. The charts in it are okay, but more illustrations would help to demonstrate exactly what the dimension refers to. Oh....and the 5 pages at the end that translate English to German to French and back again are REALLY "useful"....not!" OK, I started my morning by reading this thread and I cannot pass up commenting on the above passage. The book 'Useful Measurements For Violin Makers - a shop reference' - IS exactly what it claims to be, and is perhaps the most used book in the shop. For an aspiring Violin Maker the book may not be that useful, but then again it's not specifically about the violin making process, so, I don't think it's fair criticizing it because it isn't much use in violin making in that regard. It is specifically about useful measurements and not about the making process. For someone in a shop situation, engaged in making and repair of fractional (as well as full size) instruments, I can think of no other book like it, or, no other reference that has saved me as much time and effort. For the shop (which is exactly what its title says), it is probably the best book ever written - my copy is so unbelievably worn that I have had to re cover it a couple of times... As far as the rest of the thread goes, I have to say I love the idea of making knowledge available and I have toyed with the idea of starting an online forum where involved makers would video one particular aspect of the craft, and trade with other makers who have their video up for grabs also... the main difficulty of such an idea is that there has to be a trade of fair value involved, because this IS the information age, and simply giving up such information in trade for no value in return is utter stupidity. Even though I am not really accomplished in the same sense that some of the makers here are, I could video my very strong suit, which is bow rehairing, or some particular aspect of making, like plate joining with a 22" joining plane and a shooting board, and then using the rub joint. The joining method I've worked out is the result of painstaking trial and error. Anyone who has trained themselves to accomplish some of these tasks without formal violin making or woodworking training knows how difficult some of the tasks are to intuit your way through at the start. Tool sharpening, from the violin makers perspective, would be another great violin making video. Varnishing would also. Plate joining, carving a scroll, purfling, & etc would all make entertaining and informative not to mention time saving DVD’s for the beginner and the inquisitive experienced maker also. The simplicity of having a DVD of the various processes would have saved me tons of both time and money in the learning phase. I am currently engaged in making a DVD for my set of xeroxed "Rehair Notes", which some of you are familiar with, but I will probably simply put the package up for sale rather than try to organize an online trading forum, unless I get some response from interested makers. I've mentioned the idea a few places and gotten zilch, which doesn't really surprise me. Let me add that someone who has spent a half a lifetime learning the various processes, and who depends on such knowledge or processes for their income, might not want the information to become easily available. Such concerns are legitimate and have been the operating principal behind crafts and guilds for a great part of history. The fact is though, that in the information age such knowledge has become the modern form currency, and will soon become widely available anyway. I have to struggle with such thoughts in regard to making the "secrets" of rehairing easily available, because I make a good percentage of my income by doing rehairs, and I had to pay to learn the technique, and then spend many years perfecting my own technique. Still, the fact is that of all the people who access the information, there will be very few who will be willing to do what it takes to become proficient at it. My opinion is that with the advent of computers and easily available media software, the "Best books" will soon be instructional DVD's. These days asking what the Best book is, is sort of asking what the best eight track is. <g> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_barlow Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Quote: "I also have Henry Wakes Useful Measurements.....I found it only partially "useful". For nothing more, it's another resource to compare. It seems to me that the text part of it is mostly unorganized thoughts put down on paper. The charts in it are okay, but more illustrations would help to demonstrate exactly what the dimension refers to. Oh....and the 5 pages at the end that translate English to German to French and back again are REALLY "useful"....not!" OK, I started my morning by reading this thread and I cannot pass up commenting on the above passage. The book 'Useful Measurements For Violin Makers - a shop reference' - IS exactly what it claims to be, and is perhaps the most used book in the shop................... I also think this is a very useful book, even for a beginner. It's by Strobel though, not Wake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Shillitoe Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 The wiki looks like a very good idea. I have already been making my own set of edited files of Maestronet postings, but a cooperative effort should be better - as long as the main contributors don't feel they have been exploited. What do they think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Tucker Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 "I also think this is a very useful book, even for a beginner. It's by Strobel though, not Wake." My apologies, of course you're right - what am I thinking this morning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regis Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 CT I don't know about Wakes usefull measurements but, Strobel's sure come in handy for me. When your DVD is ready, I'll buy one (even though I have your notes and am getting "fairly" proficient). I'm looking forward to it. Regis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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