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Fall 2009 Raffle drawing this Friday (11/20): See This Thread For Details
I just finished reading "The Violin Maker". It follows the construction of a single violin made somewhat recently by a luthier who is arguably the best violin maker alive today. The author also travels to Cremona to get background as well as meeting with the violinist it is for and gathers a lot of background. It is not technical; it doesn't tell you how to build a great violin. But it is full of gems from a top notch builder who provides his take on each choice he faces every step of the way. One of my favorites is "caring more and more about less and less" - zeroing in on the really important details. It is very well written, IMO. Anyway, I recommend it to anyone with an interest in luthery or expert craftsmen. If someone local (Raleigh/Cary) wants to borrow it, PM me.
One passage I can't help but think of at work is how he described their workplace - it was like they didn't have jobs, they just all knew there was this place that had tools and wood they could use to make violins every day.
BTW, I pretty much agree with the author about "the secret".
This past Saturday, our speaker for the August meeting of the Western NC Woodworkers Association was a Violin Maker, Lyle Reedy of Brevard, shown below holding one of his beautiful instruments. He has made more than fifty "fiddles" and as the photograph suggests, he does beautiful work despite an obvious disability. He plays pretty darn well, too!
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Rob Payne
Truths: There is no such thing as a 25 hour day, so why do I keep trying to cram so much into every day so it seems that way!
That is impressive! I am really drawn to earlier instruments, the medieval and Ren stuff. Interestingly enough, one of the most renowned period instrument luthiers in the world lives and works in Efland:
08-09-2009, 09:04 PM
Truths: There is no such thing as a 25 hour day, so why do I keep trying to cram so much into every day so it seems that way! 
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