David Burgess Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Things are coming together for the 2010 Restoration Workshops. ______________________ Quote: "The VSA/Oberlin program will have two restoration workshops in the summer of 2010, one for instruments and one for bows. These are one week long, run at the same time, and are across the hall from each other in the same building, making it convenient for participants in either one to learn a little about the other. The VSA/Oberlin programs take place at Oberlin College, Oberlin Ohio, near Cleveland." _______________________ For more information, including some "before and after" photos of work performed by the 2010 staff, see THIS LINK. Check out the two "big guns" we have for Instrument Restoration, with backgrounds working at the London Beare shop, William Moennig, Carl Becker, and Kenneth Warren and Son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjodor Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 That is some pretty amazing repairs in the pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 That is some pretty amazing repairs in the pictures! Yes. Of the pictures so far, one is from Jeffrey and has appeared here before, and three are from Jerry Pasewicz. There are more to come. There were a couple of people from "The Pegbox" who contacted me a while back about attending the workshop, and I said something like, "Get back to me when we're a little farther along". We are now "farther along", so this would be a good time to contact Jeffrey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Nedregard Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Thanks for the update, looks very interesting! Fairfax was at West Dean a few years ago too, he's very good! How many participants will you allow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted September 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2009 Thanks for the update, looks very interesting! Fairfax was at West Dean a few years ago too, he's very good! How many participants will you allow? We've successfully had 30 people in that work space before. A number of disassembled cello projects might cut back on that a little. This picture was taken during a lecture by Norman Pickering, but you can get an idea of the room. The rearmost person (black shirt, hand supporting chin) is about half way back in the room. Notice our late friend Sam Compton sitting in the front. I couldn't come up with a picture of the "bow room". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Miller Posted September 14, 2009 Report Share Posted September 14, 2009 David, I sent you my contact info a little while ago. I'm really looking forward to the workshop and to meeting you and any other Maestronetters who participate. Is there a plan for how much time will be allocated to lectures versus work time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted September 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 David, I sent you my contact info a little while ago. I'm really looking forward to the workshop and to meeting you and any other Maestronetters who participate. Is there a plan for how much time will be allocated to lectures versus work time? Kevin, I expect it will be mostly work time, but I haven't discussed yet with the teachers what presentations they think would be valuable. When something interesting, useful or unusual comes up, we'll certainly get the group together, and we'll also do something where people share interesting gadgets, tools, clamps etc. There may be nothing as good as looking over someones shoulder when they're working, or having someone look over your shoulder. You have some experience with this though, and we solicit input. What do you think is a good breakdown, and which was most valuable in the Hans Nebel workshops you attended? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Miller Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 I think what you're describing sounds good. At the Nebel workshops I've done I found a lot of useful stuff just by making sure to go watch when he was demonstrating something to someone else. I think I got almost as much out of that as from the more structured demonstrations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Tucker Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Notice our late friend Sam Compton sitting in the front. Cool, what a joy to chance upon a picture of Sam that I haven't seen before! Thanks for posting this picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 There are a few new photos on the page linked in the first post. It also looks like we've gotten Paul Siefried on board to teach in the bow restoration section. I'll put his name and bio on the page once it's a sure thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASEWICZ Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 There are a few new photos on the page linked in the first post.It also looks like we've gotten Paul Siefried on board to teach in the bow restoration section. I'll put his name and bio on the page once it's a sure thing. I just talked to Mr. Siefried, he confirmed that he will be teaching this year at Oberlin. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Liu Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 I went to the bow course a few years ago. It was really good! There hasn't been a violin restoration course at Oberlin in years, has ther? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Noykos Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 David, This will be my first time attending the Oberlin Restoration Workshop. What kind of project or projects would you suggest to bring? My employer suggests to focus on taking notes and observing, which I plan to do. But I'm assuming there will also be ample bench time where I should be working on something? Would it be a good idea to bring parts of instruments or practice fragments such as varnished pieces to hone in on touch up? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted October 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 I went to the bow course a few years ago. It was really good! There hasn't been a violin restoration course at Oberlin in years, has ther? No there hasn't, except that the Setup and Advanced Topics workshops have always had some peripheral restoration content. The VSA/Oberlin programs started out as a restoration workshop with Nigogosian. Nigo eventually passed this on to Chris Germain. Chris found that there was greater interest in making, and the emphasis shifted, quite successfully. A "who's who" of modern makers will include a high number who have attended this workshop, so kudos to Chris. At the same time, we realize that most people in the business, including most violin making school graduates, will primarily make their living by doing repairs, maintenance and restoration. Even if they should eventually become established as makers, a common and valuable interim step is working in a major shop. It's one of the best ways to have access to lots of great instruments, inside and out, and have expert commentary on them at the same time. Think of it like "grad school". One goal of the VSA is to "raise the bar", and we hope the Restoration Workshop can contribute to this by providing career-track training which will prove useful, even if the long-term goal is making. The VSA site has been updated to show most of the 2010 programs. VSA/Oberlin Schedule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Burgess Posted October 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 David, This will be my first time attending the Oberlin Restoration Workshop. What kind of project or projects would you suggest to bring? My employer suggests to focus on taking notes and observing, which I plan to do. But I'm assuming there will also be ample bench time where I should be working on something? Would it be a good idea to bring parts of instruments or practice fragments such as varnished pieces to hone in on touch up? Matt There will be a lot of bench time. I'd suggest bringing a project or projects needing a variety of repairs. That way, if a method is presented which is particularly interesting to you, there's a greater chance that it can be applied to your project. And there's nothing like trying a technique for the first time with people there to coach you. Fragments should be fine for touchup. If needed, we can even make them into smaller fragments so you can fix them. I plan to have each teacher present a basic overview of their retouching methods and materials. After that, I think the greatest value comes from actually watching them do it, or having them assist you. For now, try to anticipate and bring all hand tools and supplies you will need. We will have a band saw, grinders in the main room, and a bunch of power tools in the woodworking shop across the hall, like table saws etc. I'll be getting an inventory of the tools the VSA owns and will have there, and put this in future communication, so what you need to bring can be pared down some. It's normal for people to forget a few things, or fail to anticipate some things which will be useful, but most people are willing to share. One neat thing about this is that if you see a tool which looks interesting, you can try it right away to see how well it works, rather than needing to make or buy one to try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~ Ben Conover Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Those before and after photos are really great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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