Take your Blog to Work Day

Let's talk about what I do for a living. Whenever people ask me what I do, I always hesitate for a second because I don't know what to say first. The most concise explanation I usually answer with is, "I play the violin and I fix them." ("and I teach violin and I make bows and I travel a lot and I do whatever else I can to pay my bills") People are usually/always boggled when they find out that I am a luthier. The fact that something like that exists as a career is such a funny small corner of music, people just don't think of it.

But, that's what I do. And it's pretty fun. It has its ups and downs, like any job.

The biggest part of my job is rehairing bows. I usually compare it to getting your oil changed in your car. It has to be done every few months (or years, depending on how frequently you play). I think there's an official number of playing hours on horse hair, but it's really up to the player if they feel that they need some new hair. Or every 10 months. Whichever comes first.

FAQ:

So it's actually real horsehair?
Yes. They have not come up with anything that is better than the real thing. The best hair is off of living horses, it apparently makes a huge difference. My shop gets the best hair that is available! (and you might be surprised at how much it costs, but think of all the sorting that has to be done to get a whole pound of good hair with no kinks or blemishes or bugs)

Where do you even go to learn something like this?
I started out at the Minnesota State College Southeast Technical String Instrument Repair Program, which is where I learned to rehair, but there wasn't much focus on bow repairs, and I knew I was coming back to a job being a bow luthier, so for further study I went to the bow repair workshop with Lynn Hannings and George Rubino, and later studied bowmaking with Lynn.

And you actually make a living doing this?
Well, I also teach violin, which is really helpful, and I gig around town doing weddings and playing with bands and other stuff. So between everything, I usually get my bills paid. :)

Doing the same thing over and over, don't you get bored?
Yes. Actually, rehairs are a funny thing, and not many luthiers like to do them. It's a bad combination of hard to do, easy to mess up, and very repetitive. So once you're good at them, it's no big deal, but I have to say after 400 or so, you start to want to do other things with your life.