10 ms·

She slept with a violin on her pillow

141 points by tintinnabula 3y ago

nf3 3y ago
https://archive.ph/ymimZ https://archive.ph/ymimZ
sooheon 3y ago
It's interesting they talk more about visual embellishments (aged paper, vintage looking finish) than acoustic properties. What is it about Stradivari or other hand made instruments that make them so coveted, are desirable sonic characteristics measurable and traceable to manufacturing techniques? Or is it all just halo effect?
- ramenbytes 3y ago
  Indeed. I've heard that certain acoustic guitar makers are starting do certain types of scientific analyses of the wood they buy for the guitar body to ascertain how it will behave, I wonder if there is any work being done in the violin community to quantify the behavior of their instruments. If anyone knows of an equivalent of Zollner's Physics of the Electric Guitar[0] for violins please share! [0] https://gitec-forum-eng.de/the-book/ https://gitec-forum-eng.de/the-book/
  - john61 3y ago
    The guitar maker I know knocks on the raw soundboard and listens very close to the response. He can tell how it will sound in a guitar and how the guitar has to be built to support this particular soundboard and wanted characteristics of the guitar. (There are a lot of variables) He explained the difference in the knock response, and as musicians we could hear the difference too.
    - bluGill 3y ago
      It is called tap tuning and violin makers have been doing it for years. We don't know what Stradivarius, but nobody would be surprised by the claim that he was doing the same thing when making his violins. There is however a lot of debate in the luthier community on if it actually matters. Some claim it does and spend a lot of time on it, and have even setup fancy test fixtures to show patterns with different frequencies. However some claim it makes no difference and [I'm not sure what]. Both produce great instruments.
- lolinder 3y ago
  I suspect the focus on the visuals has more to do with the journalist's perspective as a layperson than the focus of the luthiers. My wife is a professional cellist and cello teacher, and she absolutely can tell the difference between a handmade instrument and a factory-made one. I've watched her appraise dozens of student cellos, and even though I can't hear the difference myself, I know how good an instrument is from the look on her face a few seconds into playing it. She never looks at the label or pays attention to the appearance of the body, the sound is the only thing that sets the good instruments apart for her. As I understand it, the difference between a crafted instrument and a factory one lies in the way the creator adapts (or doesn't) to the natural grain of the wood. A handmade instrument by an expert can't be beaten by a factory process because each piece of wood resonates differently and those differences must be accounted for to get a good sound.
  - livueta 3y ago
    I was only ever a mediocre cellist (Suzuki book 7) but my sister was legit good and won a scholarship-ish thing to borrow some hundreds-of-years-old cello worth six figures. When playing it, even I could immediately tell the difference between it and my mass-produced Yamaha.
    - KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
      > When playing it, even I could immediately tell the difference between it and my mass-produced Yamaha. I would imagine the CNC milled Yamahas to have much better quality control. It's the same in horology, "hand crafted" Swiss/German watches are valued over precision cut assembly line Seikos even though the Seiko complications are magnitudes more accurate and reliable than the Swiss ones.
      - Ekaros 3y ago
        I could see differences due to materials. Wood is not uniform product, so picking the right section for right part might do something minor. Metal is metal and we get very exact and uniform properties with modern manufacturing. Now maybe we could question why have we not come up with anything better for these wood instruments? Like some mixture of plastic?
- radarsat1 3y ago
  There's actually lots of research on that topic, if you search for "Stradivarius blind listening" on Google Scholar you'll find some. Can't recommend a specific article unfortunately, but it's an interesting topic. My current understanding is that there is no perceptual difference that has been proven, and even later models are blindly judged to be better.
- UberFly 3y ago
  They are like an 18th century Japanese katana. The masters were unparalleled at creating revered quality. They would be my first choice in collecting. Tho, if my life depended on it, I'd take a blade crafted with modern technology.
  - porkbeer 3y ago
    But you would be (half) wrong. Modern metalurgy trounces 10000 times folded, quenched in ancient fire. Modern shaping techiques are better and we can achieve a lighter, more flexible and tough blade. The issue is we dont. There is no reason to. Nobody is trusting their life to a katana today. so very few quality ones are made anymore. they are now more a symbol than a tool.
- bsder 3y ago
  > What is it about Stradivari or other hand made instruments that make them so coveted, are desirable sonic characteristics measurable and traceable to manufacturing techniques? Or is it all just halo effect? It 90% halo effect. However, the wood, in particular, for the Stradivarii came from forests that had suffered droughts and was quite a bit denser than expected for that species. That having been said, wood degrades. It doesn't matter if you put magic varnish on it or not. Wood ages nicely in instruments for about 10 years. Then it's good for about 50 years. After 50 it starts noticably degrading, and the more heavily used the more it degrades. You will note that the Strads are long past the point that the wood is "good". People who play violins can tell. However, nobody involved in a "blind" test is going to slag violins that might be Strads--that would be bad for their reputation. Ironically, those Strads aren't completely original, either. They have been repaired to various degrees over the years, given more modern bridges, etc. So, we get a Ship of Theseus argument. As for modern handmade violins, the top ones are easily as good or even better than Strads. Strads may have been "magic" in the 1700s and 1800s, but we have really good control of things, better measurement, better analysis, better materials, etc. in the modern era. Luthierie in the 2000s is still art, but it's got a lot of science backing it up nowadays.
ultimoo 3y ago
“Oh cool violin! Looks like it has a lot of history?” “Nah it was actually made in 2022 and that’s a made up name on a fake label lol” Sorry if I come across as ignorant but scratching something with pasta and using yellowed book pages to give it an artificially aged look is dishonest, especially for a $18k object made by a skilled artisan. I’m sure it looks and plays great in its mint form.
- metadat 3y ago
  This part also rubbed me the wrong way. Synthetic aging techniques kill the appeal of the craft of creating a truly genuine, exquisite instrument. It seems like what a cheap knock off manufacturer would do.. imagine if McLaren did this, what, just scuffing up the door handle with an old key. Outlandish and backwards, haha. Or perhaps our repulsion reveals how unrefined and plebeish our opinions are on this topic, which is still kind of hilarious but also unfortunate, because it means a group of folks has effectively settled on preferring their McLaren with the intentional scratches.
  - cannam 3y ago
    > imagine if McLaren did this In some sense car manufacturers do do this - their designs are famous for being full of functionally empty retro cues that customers nonetheless go for.
  - julian_t 3y ago
    Synthetic aging... there's quite a lot of this going on in the guitar world. On the purely cosmetic level, you can find a lot of 'relic' electric guitars, made to look like they've been on the road since the 60s. Some acoustic makers are experimenting with torrefaction and other techniques to age the top wood, and opinions are divided on whether this makes any difference. But I'm just a pleb here... if an instrument feels good to play and sounds good, then that'll do!
    - guappa 3y ago
      It makes a difference in price for sure :)
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
tkgally 3y ago
Do any string instrument players here have opinions about the differences between wooden and carbon fiber violins, violas, cellos, etc.? I’ve watched some YouTube videos comparing them, and I can’t hear the difference. I imagine the sound and response might seem very different, though, to the performer.
- jdietrich 3y ago
  They're OK enough as a travel instrument, but they don't sound particularly great because no manufacturer has taken composite technologies seriously. They're using archaic manufacturing methods (wet layup and vacuum bag) that produces a composite with too much resin - more plastic than carbon. They cannot properly control the acoustic properties of the material, because they can't control the material period. If you see the a high-gloss finish and a characteristic woven pattern, you're looking at a showpiece rather than a serious instrument. That's not what a high-performance composite looks like - you should expect to see the satin finish and linear "grain" of unidirectional pre-preg. I'm yet to see that on any musical instrument.
  - 83 3y ago
    What does satin/gloss finish have to do with anything? That's a choice made at the finishing stage as to what clear coat to put on it for uv protection and scratch resistance. And while uni might be appropriate for parts of the violin, you still need to orient plys in multiple axis for flexural strength, so you might as well do some of that on the outer cosmetic layer to make the product more appealing to consumers.
    - jdietrich 3y ago
      Viscoelastic polymers are poison for stringed instruments, because they have very high damping coefficients. They turn the precious vibrational energy from the strings into useless heat. Only cheap mass-produced instruments are finished in polyurethane; quality instruments of traditional wood construction use a shellac-based finish (sometimes nitrocellulose lacquer on guitars), which have lower damping and can be applied more thinly in practice. In the context of high-quality instruments, the difference is not subtle. Wood instruments need a finish to protect them against moisture, but that isn't an issue for CFRP. Any finish - especially the kind of thick finish you need to get a high gloss over woven reinforcement - makes the instrument worse for no benefit other than cosmetics. If you would choose a shiny instrument over one that sounds better, you're buying a showpiece rather than a serious musical instrument. Epoxy is a necessary evil in CFRP, but we want the absolute highest possible fiber volume ratio. Unidirectional or spread-tow reinforcement will always allow for a higher fiber ratio than woven material.
kashunstva 3y ago
I was surprised to find no mention whatsoever about the tonal qualities of her instruments. The antiquing process may appeal to her target buyer; but most serious contemporary luthiers don’t engage in the practice. The instruments she’s making are not cheap; but they are by no means expensive in the world of bowed instruments. But an article about violin-making that doesn’t once touch on the tonal outcome is strange indeed.
- analog31 3y ago
  Indeed, I'm a double bassist, and belong to a family of string players. I don't want an antiqued instrument. I'll age it myself. Most of the deliberately antiqued instruments I've handled were student models, and I wonder if it makes it easier to hide minor defects in workmanship. In those cases, we didn't outright reject an instrument for being antiqued, since there are only so many things you can be particular about before the supply of acceptable instruments dries up. We were much more concerned with sound. When my kids moved up to professional grade instruments, like you say, no more antiquing.
- Xeyz0r 3y ago
  Some proponents of artificial aging claim that it can improve the tone or resonance of an instrument over time, simulating the effects of natural aging on wood and other materials.
grujicd 3y ago
We can argue whether artificial aging an instrument is a bad thing or not. But I hope we can all agree that such kind of passion and drive in a young person is a very nice thing to see. Especially now when many kids are only interested in quick tik tok style of entertainment and rarely show an urge to do something hard on their own. Or I'm just looking with middle aged eyes and it was always a rare thing for a kid to be really passionate about something.
- stavros 3y ago
  Yeah, it always was. The "kids these days, with their" part of the complaint has always been the same, it's only the next words that have changed through the ages. Remembering my childhood peer group, I definitely don't remember many kids exhibiting this kind of passion for anything.
- gwervc 3y ago
  > Or I'm just looking with middle aged eyes and it was always a rare thing for a kid to be really passionate about something. I'd say that most of the time passion is killed in the egg by parents without them noticing by the lack of support (buying a book, materials), interest or attention ("I don't have time to look at what you made") or just plain shunning. Outside big cities, pre-internet time, lack of available knowledge or place to get it can also be a big problem. School also play a role, even if just by robbing kids of most of their free time. The corporate-like schedule which is incompatible with reading a book from cover to cover in one go is why I didn't read much fiction at the time.
  - bluefirebrand 3y ago
    > The corporate-like schedule which is incompatible with reading a book from cover to cover in one go is why I didn't read much fiction at the time I read books like crazy when I was younger, I loved to read School did everything it possibly could to make sure I stopped enjoying it though, and sure enough by the time my Grade 12 literature class was done with me it had finally bludgeoned out the last enjoyment of reading I had It took me a long time to realize that a lot of book studies, film studies, really any media studies, is just snobbery and not worth a damn. It's better to just enjoy what you enjoy
laborcontract 3y ago
I have a short attention span, so I find the subject's endeavor both admirable and wholly unrelatable. I can relate to two things. My parents weren't particularly wealthy. I remember as a kid when getting new shoes, I'd sleep with them next to me on the pillow. I feel fortunate to live in slightly greater abundance. Second thing is about goal realization. About 12 years ago a photo of the Japanese coastline popped up in Reddit. I found it so striking that I made it a goal to visit, and I also set it as the wallpaper for my work computer. I've set goals for myself in the past, some of them a lot harder than this. However, the feeling of logging into the computer of a soul-deadening job, seeing the wallpaper every day, and then, after several years, finally visiting the place is unreal. It's the closest I've had to an out of body experience.
- kome 3y ago
  Which photo was it?
  - laborcontract 3y ago
    Tsunoshima bridge. This is the image: https://imgur.com/a/tsj9kk6 https://imgur.com/a/tsj9kk6 I'm not sure why it struck me so much, but I always suspected a large part had to do with playing so many japanese video games growing up that it felt like a place already well worn in my imagination. I think it particularly triggered a memory of when my father used to take me to CompUSA as a kid, and I'd be there taking turns playing the Dreamcast demo of Sonic the Hedgehog (timestamped link to the level: https://youtu.be/XwtNXo1aQgs?t=432 https://youtu.be/XwtNXo1aQgs?t=432). Driving on the coast and bridge with my now wife.. unforgettable. [EDIT] found the post: https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/qcy5m/where_is_this_on_earth/ https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/qcy5m/where_is_this_o... I'm very pleased that my 12 years ago time estimation was right on the money!
    - Shinchy 3y ago
      That's a great picture, it reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy XV.
    - 3y ago
siborg 3y ago
| An uses rocks or dry pasta “to scratch the instrument so it looks more antique,” she said. That's why people buy fusilli pasta.
eleveriven 3y ago
It's so satisfying to watch. Creating a musical instrument is akin to creating a work of art.
phkahler 3y ago
>> Also present: dentist’s tools to scratch the instrument for a more antique look. >> at the suggestion of a mentor, she created an artist’s name, Anna Arietti, to better fit in with Italian culture. >> To make her label, An stamps her ink signature onto a small piece of paper — a browned page from a secondhand book, giving the impression of age. I'm sure there is a lot of great craftsmanship in one of these, but some aspects are not entirely authentic.
- itzprime 3y ago
  That is just the current instrument market. It hates most things that look new and super polished. Also the classical world is super biased in their ways when it comes to equipment
pkteison 3y ago
Related, this is one of my favorite videos ever: Building a classical guitar from scratch (with a pro luthier): https://youtu.be/qmDAIlEGO_Q?si=uLyMOGBMXEGMkIFt https://youtu.be/qmDAIlEGO_Q?si=uLyMOGBMXEGMkIFt Everything about the process is fascinating.
- Xeyz0r 3y ago
  wow! Thanks for the video... Really interesting
strikelaserclaw 3y ago
pretty interesting how she found such an esoteric craft as her passion at such a young age. I love reading stories about people who are obsessed with their craft.
48864w6ui 3y ago
Passion is wonderful; I'd just like to point out a 2nd or 3rd order effect: often a startup starts up and everybody is passionate, but with growth some new hires are less passionate than others. The situation to avoid is having an ipo where very passionate people discover more mercenary people had much higher option allocations.

141 points by tintinnabula 3y ago

nf3 3y ago

https://archive.ph/ymimZ https://archive.ph/ymimZ

It's interesting they talk more about visual embellishments (aged paper, vintage looking finish) than acoustic properties. What is it about Stradivari or other hand made instruments that make them so coveted, are desirable sonic characteristics measurable and traceable to manufacturing techniques? Or is it all just halo effect?

ramenbytes 3y ago
Indeed. I've heard that certain acoustic guitar makers are starting do certain types of scientific analyses of the wood they buy for the guitar body to ascertain how it will behave, I wonder if there is any work being done in the violin community to quantify the behavior of their instruments. If anyone knows of an equivalent of Zollner's Physics of the Electric Guitar[0] for violins please share! [0] https://gitec-forum-eng.de/the-book/ https://gitec-forum-eng.de/the-book/
- john61 3y ago
  The guitar maker I know knocks on the raw soundboard and listens very close to the response. He can tell how it will sound in a guitar and how the guitar has to be built to support this particular soundboard and wanted characteristics of the guitar. (There are a lot of variables) He explained the difference in the knock response, and as musicians we could hear the difference too.
  - bluGill 3y ago
    It is called tap tuning and violin makers have been doing it for years. We don't know what Stradivarius, but nobody would be surprised by the claim that he was doing the same thing when making his violins. There is however a lot of debate in the luthier community on if it actually matters. Some claim it does and spend a lot of time on it, and have even setup fancy test fixtures to show patterns with different frequencies. However some claim it makes no difference and [I'm not sure what]. Both produce great instruments.
lolinder 3y ago
I suspect the focus on the visuals has more to do with the journalist's perspective as a layperson than the focus of the luthiers. My wife is a professional cellist and cello teacher, and she absolutely can tell the difference between a handmade instrument and a factory-made one. I've watched her appraise dozens of student cellos, and even though I can't hear the difference myself, I know how good an instrument is from the look on her face a few seconds into playing it. She never looks at the label or pays attention to the appearance of the body, the sound is the only thing that sets the good instruments apart for her. As I understand it, the difference between a crafted instrument and a factory one lies in the way the creator adapts (or doesn't) to the natural grain of the wood. A handmade instrument by an expert can't be beaten by a factory process because each piece of wood resonates differently and those differences must be accounted for to get a good sound.
- livueta 3y ago
  I was only ever a mediocre cellist (Suzuki book 7) but my sister was legit good and won a scholarship-ish thing to borrow some hundreds-of-years-old cello worth six figures. When playing it, even I could immediately tell the difference between it and my mass-produced Yamaha.
  - KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
    > When playing it, even I could immediately tell the difference between it and my mass-produced Yamaha. I would imagine the CNC milled Yamahas to have much better quality control. It's the same in horology, "hand crafted" Swiss/German watches are valued over precision cut assembly line Seikos even though the Seiko complications are magnitudes more accurate and reliable than the Swiss ones.
    - Ekaros 3y ago
      I could see differences due to materials. Wood is not uniform product, so picking the right section for right part might do something minor. Metal is metal and we get very exact and uniform properties with modern manufacturing. Now maybe we could question why have we not come up with anything better for these wood instruments? Like some mixture of plastic?
radarsat1 3y ago
There's actually lots of research on that topic, if you search for "Stradivarius blind listening" on Google Scholar you'll find some. Can't recommend a specific article unfortunately, but it's an interesting topic. My current understanding is that there is no perceptual difference that has been proven, and even later models are blindly judged to be better.
UberFly 3y ago
They are like an 18th century Japanese katana. The masters were unparalleled at creating revered quality. They would be my first choice in collecting. Tho, if my life depended on it, I'd take a blade crafted with modern technology.
- porkbeer 3y ago
  But you would be (half) wrong. Modern metalurgy trounces 10000 times folded, quenched in ancient fire. Modern shaping techiques are better and we can achieve a lighter, more flexible and tough blade. The issue is we dont. There is no reason to. Nobody is trusting their life to a katana today. so very few quality ones are made anymore. they are now more a symbol than a tool.
bsder 3y ago
> What is it about Stradivari or other hand made instruments that make them so coveted, are desirable sonic characteristics measurable and traceable to manufacturing techniques? Or is it all just halo effect? It 90% halo effect. However, the wood, in particular, for the Stradivarii came from forests that had suffered droughts and was quite a bit denser than expected for that species. That having been said, wood degrades. It doesn't matter if you put magic varnish on it or not. Wood ages nicely in instruments for about 10 years. Then it's good for about 50 years. After 50 it starts noticably degrading, and the more heavily used the more it degrades. You will note that the Strads are long past the point that the wood is "good". People who play violins can tell. However, nobody involved in a "blind" test is going to slag violins that might be Strads--that would be bad for their reputation. Ironically, those Strads aren't completely original, either. They have been repaired to various degrees over the years, given more modern bridges, etc. So, we get a Ship of Theseus argument. As for modern handmade violins, the top ones are easily as good or even better than Strads. Strads may have been "magic" in the 1700s and 1800s, but we have really good control of things, better measurement, better analysis, better materials, etc. in the modern era. Luthierie in the 2000s is still art, but it's got a lot of science backing it up nowadays.

ultimoo 3y ago

“Oh cool violin! Looks like it has a lot of history?” “Nah it was actually made in 2022 and that’s a made up name on a fake label lol” Sorry if I come across as ignorant but scratching something with pasta and using yellowed book pages to give it an artificially aged look is dishonest, especially for a $18k object made by a skilled artisan. I’m sure it looks and plays great in its mint form.

metadat 3y ago
This part also rubbed me the wrong way. Synthetic aging techniques kill the appeal of the craft of creating a truly genuine, exquisite instrument. It seems like what a cheap knock off manufacturer would do.. imagine if McLaren did this, what, just scuffing up the door handle with an old key. Outlandish and backwards, haha. Or perhaps our repulsion reveals how unrefined and plebeish our opinions are on this topic, which is still kind of hilarious but also unfortunate, because it means a group of folks has effectively settled on preferring their McLaren with the intentional scratches.
- cannam 3y ago
  > imagine if McLaren did this In some sense car manufacturers do do this - their designs are famous for being full of functionally empty retro cues that customers nonetheless go for.
- julian_t 3y ago
  Synthetic aging... there's quite a lot of this going on in the guitar world. On the purely cosmetic level, you can find a lot of 'relic' electric guitars, made to look like they've been on the road since the 60s. Some acoustic makers are experimenting with torrefaction and other techniques to age the top wood, and opinions are divided on whether this makes any difference. But I'm just a pleb here... if an instrument feels good to play and sounds good, then that'll do!
  - guappa 3y ago
    It makes a difference in price for sure :)

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

tkgally 3y ago

Do any string instrument players here have opinions about the differences between wooden and carbon fiber violins, violas, cellos, etc.? I’ve watched some YouTube videos comparing them, and I can’t hear the difference. I imagine the sound and response might seem very different, though, to the performer.

jdietrich 3y ago
They're OK enough as a travel instrument, but they don't sound particularly great because no manufacturer has taken composite technologies seriously. They're using archaic manufacturing methods (wet layup and vacuum bag) that produces a composite with too much resin - more plastic than carbon. They cannot properly control the acoustic properties of the material, because they can't control the material period. If you see the a high-gloss finish and a characteristic woven pattern, you're looking at a showpiece rather than a serious instrument. That's not what a high-performance composite looks like - you should expect to see the satin finish and linear "grain" of unidirectional pre-preg. I'm yet to see that on any musical instrument.
- 83 3y ago
  What does satin/gloss finish have to do with anything? That's a choice made at the finishing stage as to what clear coat to put on it for uv protection and scratch resistance. And while uni might be appropriate for parts of the violin, you still need to orient plys in multiple axis for flexural strength, so you might as well do some of that on the outer cosmetic layer to make the product more appealing to consumers.
  - jdietrich 3y ago
    Viscoelastic polymers are poison for stringed instruments, because they have very high damping coefficients. They turn the precious vibrational energy from the strings into useless heat. Only cheap mass-produced instruments are finished in polyurethane; quality instruments of traditional wood construction use a shellac-based finish (sometimes nitrocellulose lacquer on guitars), which have lower damping and can be applied more thinly in practice. In the context of high-quality instruments, the difference is not subtle. Wood instruments need a finish to protect them against moisture, but that isn't an issue for CFRP. Any finish - especially the kind of thick finish you need to get a high gloss over woven reinforcement - makes the instrument worse for no benefit other than cosmetics. If you would choose a shiny instrument over one that sounds better, you're buying a showpiece rather than a serious musical instrument. Epoxy is a necessary evil in CFRP, but we want the absolute highest possible fiber volume ratio. Unidirectional or spread-tow reinforcement will always allow for a higher fiber ratio than woven material.

kashunstva 3y ago

I was surprised to find no mention whatsoever about the tonal qualities of her instruments. The antiquing process may appeal to her target buyer; but most serious contemporary luthiers don’t engage in the practice. The instruments she’s making are not cheap; but they are by no means expensive in the world of bowed instruments. But an article about violin-making that doesn’t once touch on the tonal outcome is strange indeed.

analog31 3y ago
Indeed, I'm a double bassist, and belong to a family of string players. I don't want an antiqued instrument. I'll age it myself. Most of the deliberately antiqued instruments I've handled were student models, and I wonder if it makes it easier to hide minor defects in workmanship. In those cases, we didn't outright reject an instrument for being antiqued, since there are only so many things you can be particular about before the supply of acceptable instruments dries up. We were much more concerned with sound. When my kids moved up to professional grade instruments, like you say, no more antiquing.
Xeyz0r 3y ago
Some proponents of artificial aging claim that it can improve the tone or resonance of an instrument over time, simulating the effects of natural aging on wood and other materials.

grujicd 3y ago

We can argue whether artificial aging an instrument is a bad thing or not. But I hope we can all agree that such kind of passion and drive in a young person is a very nice thing to see. Especially now when many kids are only interested in quick tik tok style of entertainment and rarely show an urge to do something hard on their own. Or I'm just looking with middle aged eyes and it was always a rare thing for a kid to be really passionate about something.

stavros 3y ago
Yeah, it always was. The "kids these days, with their" part of the complaint has always been the same, it's only the next words that have changed through the ages. Remembering my childhood peer group, I definitely don't remember many kids exhibiting this kind of passion for anything.
gwervc 3y ago
> Or I'm just looking with middle aged eyes and it was always a rare thing for a kid to be really passionate about something. I'd say that most of the time passion is killed in the egg by parents without them noticing by the lack of support (buying a book, materials), interest or attention ("I don't have time to look at what you made") or just plain shunning. Outside big cities, pre-internet time, lack of available knowledge or place to get it can also be a big problem. School also play a role, even if just by robbing kids of most of their free time. The corporate-like schedule which is incompatible with reading a book from cover to cover in one go is why I didn't read much fiction at the time.
- bluefirebrand 3y ago
  > The corporate-like schedule which is incompatible with reading a book from cover to cover in one go is why I didn't read much fiction at the time I read books like crazy when I was younger, I loved to read School did everything it possibly could to make sure I stopped enjoying it though, and sure enough by the time my Grade 12 literature class was done with me it had finally bludgeoned out the last enjoyment of reading I had It took me a long time to realize that a lot of book studies, film studies, really any media studies, is just snobbery and not worth a damn. It's better to just enjoy what you enjoy

laborcontract 3y ago

I have a short attention span, so I find the subject's endeavor both admirable and wholly unrelatable. I can relate to two things. My parents weren't particularly wealthy. I remember as a kid when getting new shoes, I'd sleep with them next to me on the pillow. I feel fortunate to live in slightly greater abundance. Second thing is about goal realization. About 12 years ago a photo of the Japanese coastline popped up in Reddit. I found it so striking that I made it a goal to visit, and I also set it as the wallpaper for my work computer. I've set goals for myself in the past, some of them a lot harder than this. However, the feeling of logging into the computer of a soul-deadening job, seeing the wallpaper every day, and then, after several years, finally visiting the place is unreal. It's the closest I've had to an out of body experience.

kome 3y ago
Which photo was it?
- laborcontract 3y ago
  Tsunoshima bridge. This is the image: https://imgur.com/a/tsj9kk6 https://imgur.com/a/tsj9kk6 I'm not sure why it struck me so much, but I always suspected a large part had to do with playing so many japanese video games growing up that it felt like a place already well worn in my imagination. I think it particularly triggered a memory of when my father used to take me to CompUSA as a kid, and I'd be there taking turns playing the Dreamcast demo of Sonic the Hedgehog (timestamped link to the level: https://youtu.be/XwtNXo1aQgs?t=432 https://youtu.be/XwtNXo1aQgs?t=432). Driving on the coast and bridge with my now wife.. unforgettable. [EDIT] found the post: https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/qcy5m/where_is_this_on_earth/ https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/qcy5m/where_is_this_o... I'm very pleased that my 12 years ago time estimation was right on the money!
  - Shinchy 3y ago
    That's a great picture, it reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy XV.
  - 3y ago

siborg 3y ago

| An uses rocks or dry pasta “to scratch the instrument so it looks more antique,” she said. That's why people buy fusilli pasta.

eleveriven 3y ago

It's so satisfying to watch. Creating a musical instrument is akin to creating a work of art.

phkahler 3y ago

>> Also present: dentist’s tools to scratch the instrument for a more antique look. >> at the suggestion of a mentor, she created an artist’s name, Anna Arietti, to better fit in with Italian culture. >> To make her label, An stamps her ink signature onto a small piece of paper — a browned page from a secondhand book, giving the impression of age. I'm sure there is a lot of great craftsmanship in one of these, but some aspects are not entirely authentic.

itzprime 3y ago
That is just the current instrument market. It hates most things that look new and super polished. Also the classical world is super biased in their ways when it comes to equipment

pkteison 3y ago

Related, this is one of my favorite videos ever: Building a classical guitar from scratch (with a pro luthier): https://youtu.be/qmDAIlEGO_Q?si=uLyMOGBMXEGMkIFt https://youtu.be/qmDAIlEGO_Q?si=uLyMOGBMXEGMkIFt Everything about the process is fascinating.

Xeyz0r 3y ago
wow! Thanks for the video... Really interesting

strikelaserclaw 3y ago

pretty interesting how she found such an esoteric craft as her passion at such a young age. I love reading stories about people who are obsessed with their craft.

48864w6ui 3y ago

Passion is wonderful; I'd just like to point out a 2nd or 3rd order effect: often a startup starts up and everybody is passionate, but with growth some new hires are less passionate than others. The situation to avoid is having an ipo where very passionate people discover more mercenary people had much higher option allocations.