Building a violin......

[autobodyman]

holder ;D Someday I may try to build a violin, for now though just the hanger. I bought a violin in November thinking I could learn to play Greensleeves in time for Christmas. I think I got carried away thinking I could do/learn almost anything. Not a prayer, I might get it figured out by next Christmas (might not). Meantime I decided to make a violin hanger. I created this background in Coreldraw and Corelphoto:


The picture is 24.5" wide and 32.5" tall, here's a crop at 100%

I uploaded it to epingo.com and am having it developed/printed on canvas with a satin coating, they say I should receive it around the 11th.

I plan to stretch the canvas picture over some plywood and then screw this hanger I made today over the picture.

I tried to carve the ends to look similar to the violin top.


I just finished the hanger today, stained it. I'll clearcoat it tomorrow.







I haven't decided if I'll just make a picture frame to put it all in or build a hanging display case with a framed glass door. I figured when I bought this violin that it might just be possible I'd never figure out how to play (I haven't given up yet) but figured it would still make a nice "art" display on the wall, figured it cost less than a Terry Redlin.

What do you think?
Thanks ~Mike

[TDHofstetter]

THERE's an instrument I never got comfortable with. I ended up selling mine before I ever pulled anything out of it I could let anybody else hear. That and anything with a "brass mouthpiece" (raspberry cup).

[fredbelknap]

I got a fiddle when I was a teenager, my mom sold it. I think I was driving her crazy. I did learn a few songs.

[woodmannie]

I have one my great grandfather made. It needs some help, but I can get the parts from a music store in town. That's one thing I'm determined to get done this year. I'd be happy to get any sound out of it. The neighbor's kids both play, so I'll get them to tune it for me.
Nice rack, Mike

Tom

[autobodyman]

I have one my great grandfather made. It needs some help, but I can get the parts from a music store in town. That's one thing I'm determined to get done this year. I'd be happy to get any sound out of it. The neighbor's kids both play, so I'll get them to tune it for me.
When I ordered this violin, it said it came with a digital tuner. Thank goodness for that or I'd be completely screwed. I can't even read sheet music. Really all I wanted to do with it is learn that 32 second violin solo from the theme song from National Treasure Book of Secrets "Page 47". Sadly Disney never released the sheet music, I've got a couple musically inclined friends working on figuring out the notes in that section (so they said).

Nice rack, Mike
;D Thanks Tom.

~Mike

[lexrex]

For violin you need a good ear, in other words, you at least need relative pitch, and probably years of training to get the intonation and technique down. It's fretless so you are relying on your own internal sense of relative pitch to find the fingerings on your own and work through the scales, then it's muscle memory. But if your muscles memorize the pitches just a bit off one way or another you could be screwed for a good long while.

I have known two people with perfect pitch, it's an amazing gift. One guy would turn his back and you could hammer down as many random keys on a piano all at ONCE and he could identify every note. Another could tell you if your fundamental was perfect or just a "hair" sharp/flat. Really cool.

[Ruffnek]

I remember Jack Benny telling a story years ago about tuning his violin. He didn't have anything to set the pitch so he called up some lady friend who was a singer and asked her to give him a middle C over the phone as she supposedly had perfect pitch.

Speaking of tuning, I notice in that one pic that the tuning keys seem to be suspending the violin in the hanger. Won't that knock it out of tune?

[autobodyman]

Cody,
It looks like it's hangin on the tuning peg but it's not. I got a digital tuner with the violin (thank goodness, I wouldn't know a C sharp from a G flat) and I've noticed that everytime I go to use the violin, it seems to be out of tune just sitting around. I assume it's from humidity changes, maybe it's a bad violin, could be cause I don't use it much.

Wonder how come this thread got moved to finished flatwork projects, it's not finished yet, though I am working on it.

Thanks ~Mike

[Beamer]

Mike,

Mostly because it really didn't fit in the StB forum - and i figured it was finished. I'll put it in General Woodworking, then