Confession of an aspiring carver - sometimes, I masturbate.

[kbadkar]

Hee Hee.

I thought that was funny in relation to JHowell's earlier post.

"Why did you play it that way?" he said. "I thought it sounded good," I replied. "Well, you were wrong," he snapped. "You ignored two appogiaturas, a modulation, AND the orchestration. If your only reason for playing anything a certain way is that you *like* it you're not interpreting, merely masturbating."

[Nick]

Hehehehehe!! I gotta agree. That was too funny!

[KurtHuhn]

I thought that was what you were *supposed* to do!

I guess it holds merit, but there's no accounting for taste. For instance, Jackson Pollock. What drives someone to think that might be a good idea? Why do other folks think it's a good idea? Personally, I think his work sucks, and my 10 year old is a better artist. But, it seems that a lot of folks really enjoy his stuff and go on and on about it - but perhaps they're also masturbating?

I don't know. What I know about art can't compare to those schooled in it, who have studied it for years. I know what I like, I know what "feels right", and I have a basic understanding as to why - the golden ratio, symmetry, movement, balance, color theory, etc. But that doesn't preclude me from feeling very, very lost sometimes.

Now, if y'all will excuse me. I believe I'll go masturbate on the guitar for an hour or so.

[JHowell]

I hope the point wasn't lost that my teacher was training me to be a professional orchestral musician, and most great teachers have their own way of saying the same thing. The famous flute teacher Marcel Moyse would say (imagine an impossibly thick French accent) "Do not put your CA-CA into zee mu-ZEEK." That same advice might be poison to a pop personality/performer, whose success might depend precisely on putting his "ca-ca into zee muzeek."

Nothing wrong with doing whatever floats your boat, and if you can get paid for pure self-indulgence, what the heck? As a professional musician, I feel a responsibility to transmit the composer's ideas as faithfully as possible, and to use my knowledge of musical harmony and forms to make those ideas appear as vividly as possible to the audience. Sometimes that is misinterpreted as playing with "feeling." Now, I'm much more sure of my footing when it comes to music than when it comes to pipemaking, but I think I recognize and respond to that sort of intent in the work of other makers. You can tell when a shape, even an original and fantastic shape, is the result of the logical extension of an idea, tightly focused into a balanced, functional object.

That's my own opinion, my own prejudice. There are obviously those who feel differently, both makers and buyers. I think every field of interest has the same sort of continental divide, with aficionados finding themselves on one side or another, perhaps straddling, perhaps switching back and forth. If you're into knives, do you dream of some 5-lb fantasy sword or would you rather have a nice little Loveless drop point hunter? Maybe you have both, or have made both. Same deal with pipes.

Not saying anyone is right or wrong.

[KurtHuhn]

I hope the point wasn't lost that my teacher was training me to be a professional orchestral musician, and most great teachers have their own way of saying the same thing.

Oh, absolutely not! I think we all got the point, even though it made some of us (maybe just me?) giggle like a schoolgirl. Again, I'm reminded of Random - someone so bent on not following established convention, that it ended up hurting him dearly. Sometimes that works out, most times it doesn't. If all you're doing is the pipe-making equiv of dadaism, you can't get angry when people reject your efforts.

That's my own opinion, my own prejudice. There are obviously those who feel differently, both makers and buyers. I think every field of interest has the same sort of continental divide, with aficionados finding themselves on one side or another, perhaps straddling, perhaps switching back and forth. If you're into knives, do you dream of some 5-lb fantasy sword or would you rather have a nice little Loveless drop point hunter? Maybe you have both, or have made both. Same deal with pipes.

That one hits close to home. What I've discovered, after looking at, handling, and evern paying dearly for a couple good handmade knives, that the skills are not dissimilar to pipe making. A good knife has balance, symmetry, movement, and even a "grain". Attention to detail is what counts, and so does "cutting to the bone". The first few knives I made had that "new knifemaker" look - which isn't too different from the "new pipemaker" look. Bulky, awkward, and out of balance. You have to cut them down to where they become elegant artwork.

Now, after playing at knife making for, what, a year now? I think I've finally hit on something - the understanding of understated elegance (for lack of a better word). And at the same time, I think it has complemented my pipe making, helping me to look closer at my work and become more critical of it.

And I agree, do you need a garish, heavy, fantasy sword when going to the hardware store to get some tools, or do you need an A.T . Barr folder? And what looks better in the family room - especially during a Lord Of The Rings marathon?

[Frank]

I guess it holds merit, but there's no accounting for taste. For instance, Jackson Pollock. What drives someone to think that might be a good idea? Why do other folks think it's a good idea? Personally, I think his work sucks, and my 10 year old is a better artist. But, it seems that a lot of folks really enjoy his stuff and go on and on about it - but perhaps they're also masturbating?

I'm 100% in agreement with you on that. I know full well that art is a personal thing, and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when wealthy idiots piss their money away on stuff that the art dealers tout as "genius", all I can do is shake my head in disbelief. Dire Straits illustrate that beautifully in a number called "In The Gallery".
I love the title of this Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_the_Fu ... Pollock%3F .

As for you musicians, I'm curious about your view of Rap. I once saw a stand up comic talking about rap. He pointed out that all you needed to write rap lyrics was enough education to read "Cat In The Hat". He then proceeded to rap "Green Eggs And Ham". It was hilarious, but also proved his point, to me, at any rate.
That's my opinion of rap (I refuse to dignify that crap by calling it music). Now, "Lay on, McDuff". (Oft misquoted as "Lead on, McDuff").

And what looks better in the family room - especially during a Lord Of The Rings marathon?

That puts me in mind of when folk visit our house for the first time. Their initial reaction is your (and Frank Barone's) favourite expression "Holy crap!". They then proceed to spend the next hour wandering around as if they were in a museum.

[hazmat]

Frank.. I'm no musician, but having grown up through the eras in which rap became accepted "music"(through the 80s and into about the mid 90s) I listened to a ton of it and appreciated it for the way some(notice I say some, not all) of these guys were able to manipulate the English language. There's a HUGE difference between what was coming out then as opposed to now. I can't stand any of it at this point and only listen to the stuff I listened to growing up. I've never really considered it real music and have always prefered instruments driving the horsecart as opposed to samples. There is a talent involved, at least in the early days of the genre, but that's been so bastardized over time that it's become impossible to enjoy. Monosyllabic(and mostly derogatory) words spit out in mindless anger and machismo does nothing for me at this point.

[kbadkar]

I worship Jazz. Although Duke Ellingtion is God, I love yardbird the most because he was only human.

[LexKY_Pipe]

I am so musically inept, I have trouble playing iTunes.

[hollywood]

I am so musically inept, I have trouble playing iTunes.

ROFL! I was thinking the same thing!!

[ArtGuy]

I had a painting instructor who used to say the exact same thing only he would tell us to concentrate and stop jerking off. lol

[ArtGuy]

The other thread on learning basics reminded me of a story from my early days as an artist in training.

I was in a beginning drawing class taught by a Chicago based painter named Joe Hronek. Joe was a professional painter who taught part time at a local community college. The atmosphere of this place was akin to an artists boot camp. Anyhow, I was working on some drawings using a bamboo reed pen and ink and was having trouble getting things to work right. I started looking through books and came across some Van Gogh drawings using the same tool. Van Gogh was known for using symbolic, somewhat decorative marks to create an expressive drawing where accuracy was secondary. I thought since my marks were starting to look somewhat like these, and Van Gogh was a good artist, that I must be doing a pretty good job. Right? Confident of this, I figured I would ask Joe for an impromptu critique on my newfound style, and impress him with my sudden expressive breakthrough.

"Hi Joe, do you mind taking a look at this for me?...What do you think it needs?"

Joe got a look on his face like it was a bug he wanted to smash. (You see this was not a class in symbolic, decorative mark-making )

"What do I think it needs! I think it needs a priest! That's what I think it needs!"

Everyone else in the class began to cover up their own drawings. I stood there in shock realizing that I had awakened the beast. Joe walks over to THE WALL as we called it. The wall where Joe displayed examples from students over the past 100 years from those who actually did it right. (There were about twenty) He points at the first one and says...

"You see these marks? These marks are telling you that this object is made of wood..."

Pointing at my drawing he says,

"Those marks! Those marks are not telling you a damned thing."

He then began a 10 minute lecture on how every drawing on that wall was better than mine. Harsh lesson but it made a better draftsman out of me and drove the point home that expression and individual voice would come on its own after I first learned the fundamentals.

[Nick]

Ouch!