A Perfectly Normal Day in the Life of a Violin Maker

A Perfectly Normal Day in the Life of a Violin Maker:

The day starts like all serious violin making days should. Breakfast, followed immediately by a very serious espresso.

I walk into the workshop and look at the violin I worked on yesterday. It looked perfect last night. This morning, however, I immediately discover at least twelve catastrophic mistakes that somehow appeared overnight. Everything must be fixed. Immediately.

After carefully correcting things that only another violin maker could possibly notice, it is time for lunch. A plate of pasta appears, as tradition demands. No violin has ever been improved on an empty stomach.

Next, I feed the cats. They supervise my work and offer constant emotional support. Then I go feed the ducks in the nearby pond, who listen patiently and never comment on my f-holes.

Sometimes I go to the shops with my wife. We buy good food and spend an unreasonable amount of time choosing the right wine for dinner, which requires the same concentration as selecting right wood for my next instrument. Balance is important.

Back to the workshop. More work, more adjustments, more conversations with the violin.

Dinner happens. Then, late at night, when everything is quiet, the best ideas suddenly arrive. Brilliant ideas. Revolutionary ideas. Ideas that absolutely cannot be implemented now.

Those ideas are carefully stored for tomorrow morning, when I will look at them again and think,“What was I thinking?”

And that is how violins are made...