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.

Happy Windsday, Owl!

Yesterday was definitely a blustery day.

The weather was weird all day - very warm, sunny, windy. There was a tornado watch in effect for the whole day, and it was supposed to get very bad in the late afternoon. There was an interesting variety of reactions to the whole situation, my own was nearer to the cynical "it's going to hit outside the city and not right on top of me" opinion. (rather than the other side of the spectrum: "ALL THE MATTRESSES IN THE WORLD CANNOT KEEP ME SAFE FROM THIS EARTH SHATTERING TORNADO MESS" or "atmitwckmsftestm" for short)

It got dark, and I went out to the front porch with my cup of tea to wait for the apocolypse. (Nashville was really treating it like the end of the world. Schools closed early, everything cancelled due to paranoid atmitwckmsftestm-ers. I stayed at work, because I don't have a basement at home, and well, if I'm going to die in a tornado I'd rather be with my friends at work than alone above a garage.

As predicted, it got very bad at about 4pm. We heard there was an official tornado warning, and it started raining very hard. So, of course, we all were on front porch watching it. And ran around in it..

(Danielle "blowing away")

Then it started hailing really hard, and we went inside. The electricity flickered, but didn't go out! (I did worry enough at one point to make sure I had my violin and my computer with me, of course)

Here's a video I took of the hail. (It was supposed to be a picture, not a video, hence my surprised "oh!" at the beginning, just fyi.)

Look at how big some of the the hail was:

After it cleared up, there was an absolutely terrific sunset (no editing done to the photo):

mlergh.

Something so simple as a cold can turn even the bravest heart into a sad, whiny baby.

Today I am a sad and whiny baby. I wouldn't even be at work, except that the other luthiers all happen to be out of town this weekend, and someone needs to be at the shop in case of any emergencies. String instrument emergencies, don't laugh, it happens.

Yesterday, a violinist called up and needed her bow fixed immediately - the silver winding had come undone, and her senior recital is Saturday. Not something that you can drop off and leave for a week.

One time, Edgar Meyer had a broken tuning gear on his bass, and called up frantically saying he had Bela Fleck and a bunch of other people over at his house right then to record and needed it to be fixed right then.

Another time, Elvis Presley said the world would end if we didn't glue up an open seam on his viola.

Two truths and a lie. My point is, I'm snuggled in a blanket and eating soup and being very anti-social, but at my bench instead of on my couch, and I feel very crappy. And yes, in my brainworld, Elvis is secretly a violist. He'd probably be mad that I've outed him on my blog. To all two of my readers.

a day in the life

Outside my window… greywhite sky, gravel parking lot, alleyway, old houses, Music Row.

I am thinking… about what I will be doing the rest of the week.

I am thankful for… this job. It is easy to take something so great for granted, but doing what I love pays the bills, and I'm luckier than most.

From the kitchen… hot soup and hot lemon tea. Perfect for today.

I am wearing… a new purple shirt, jeans, and boots.

I am creating… order in a world of broken, dirty chaos.

I am going… to Dickson tonight to play string quartets with some of my favorite people, and drink prosecco by a large fireplace.

I am reading… The Contributor, a newspaper by homeless people.

I am hearing… Beethoven's 7th. Cold blah days make me want to listen to Beethoven.

Around the house… violins, string instruments, tools, horse hair.

One of my favorite things… my old scuffed up violin mug.

A few plans for the rest of the week… a friend's birthday tomorrow, a chocolate martini party on friday, irish music on saturday!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing…

doors

Would you like to know what I like best about my job?

There are many reasons a luthier career is perfect for me - a blend of music and art and science. It's not just making things pretty (although that's important too!), its making things exact. It's nice for someone whose brain is made up of squares instead of circles. I also enjoy the flexibility the job allows. I am here all day every day, but if I'd like to take a long lunch out with someone, or leave early for a rehearsal or something, I can do that as long as I stick with the deadlines given to me by the customers, and depending on how much work I have to do (which, on the other hand, sometimes kicks me in the foot when I have too much work to do, staying late or working all weekend). I pretty much live here - I have better food on my shelf at work than I do at home. I learn a lot, new things come in all the time. New little problems and challenges to fix. New little emergencies, someone is in town just for a few hours and needs something fixed quick.

But what I like best about my job is my door.

I have a glorious door that I can close whenever I want to, and I play music and work on my projects and rarely be bothered. I still come out to talk to my customers, when they drop off their bows and instruments and when they pick them up, but it is just the right amount of customer interaction for me.

violin lessons!

Tomorrow, I start up my spring semester of violin lessons. I'm excited! I have a really good slew of students this year. I've never til the recent couple years thought of myself as the teacher type, but when it's good, it's good.

This sort of thing helps:

adorable.

But I still like teaching adults best. Even though they get discouraged initially - because learning the violin sounds terrible at first, and they know it (where a 5 year old has no idea how bad it is, and forges ahead no matter what) - adults learn so much more quickly, and blow through the easy things pretty quickly. Once they understand that it'll take some time, they can joke about it, and get through it. I always admire when someone works hard even when it doesn't sound good, and won't for a while. (and I know when that 13 year old kid is stalling and trying to distract me from the fact that he didn't practice. can't foo me! I've been there!)

In other news, has anyone ever noticed how many cheese-related commercials there are on television these days? As if I need motivation to eat more cheese. Psh.

.magical extra day this week

This morning, I was very stressed.

I got to work feeling very sick and very cranky. My annual sinus infection is in full force, making me not sick enough to take any time off, but sick enough to be entirely miserable.

I have a handful of bows to get done by the 6th. I planned on doing them all today. But I also had some overflow work from yesterday. And I had a guy call ahead and bring me a bow to do a same-day-rehair on. (Which I found out via sticky note, whoever took the note down did not ask me if I was able to do it)

I had no idea how I was going to get everything done by tomorrow.

Then I looked at my calendar, and realized today is the 4th, not the 5th, and now I have two days to get done everything I thought I had to do in one day.

I wish I had the ability to add an extra day of the week whenever I need it, because this was certainly nice!

II. The Squirrel Dilemma

My lovably odd boss has taken it upon himself to rid our area of Music Row of squirrels. Our shop has a problem: squirrels get into a hole in our roof, run around between the floors of the house, frolic in the sawdust among the band saws and sanders in the basement, jump all over violins that are being varnished, occasionally wreaking havoc among the employees - you get the point, it's occasionally a problem. The best solution would be to get a new roof. Since that is expensive, the second best solution is, in the opinion of some, to catch the squirrels before they even get into the house (luring them onto our back porch with peanuts and a squirrel trap) and then relocating them to a park about 2 miles away. According to a study by some smart people, squirrels travel no further than 200 yards in their lifetime, so if we catch them and move them away, they won't come back, right? (in a recent poll, 9 out of 10 people think this is ridiculous) Anyway, it's right outside my window, so I get to watch the endeavor from the front row.