http://www.doranviolins.com Michael Doran is a Seattle-based maker of violins, violas, and cellos and an acomplished restorer of fine instruments. Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:41:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/inlay/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/inlay/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:46:11 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=706 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/a-labor-of-love/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/a-labor-of-love/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 03:53:24 +0000 Michael Doran http://doranviolins.com/?p=769 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/making-purfling/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/making-purfling/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:18:21 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=481 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/a-new-old-way-to-clamp-ribs/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/a-new-old-way-to-clamp-ribs/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:18:28 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=466 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/bridges/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/bridges/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:45:46 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=439 Bridges are a very important piece of the the violin family instruments. Bridges allow the vibrations from the strings to be transferred to the large resonating body of the instrument. They also hold the strings away from the fingerboard at the proper height for playing. Bridges are made from maple with very tight annual growth rings. The best bridgewood grows high in the mountains where the winters are long. The wood for bridges comes to violin-makers as "bridge blanks" with some of the intricate carving started. [...]]]> 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/where-i-get-my-wood/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/where-i-get-my-wood/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:16:33 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=409 Almost all violins are made of maple and spruce. Spruce is used for the front of the instrument because it is light and strong and transmits the vibrations of the strings very well. Maple is used for the back, ribs and neck because it is stable, strong and beautiful. For some of the larger instruments, like violas and cellos, sometimes softer woods like poplar and willow are used for the back and ribs. Spruce from Italy (Picea abies) is highly prized by violin makers, as is Bosnian maple (Acer pseudoplatanus). I also use Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmanni) from Canada.]]> 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/new-models-and-templates/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/new-models-and-templates/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:11:25 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=394 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/oberlin-2009/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/oberlin-2009/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:44:42 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=375 I have returned from the Violin Society of America's Violin Making workshop in Oberlin Ohio. I feel like I am just settling back into my normal routine. The workshop is a unique experience. About 40 professional makers from around the world come together to learn from each other and work side-by-side for two weeks. Each year there is a topic that we focus on and each year we make a group instrument. Chris Germain directs the workshop and thinks of it as graduate school for violin-makers. [...]]]> 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/rib-structures-bending-ribs/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/rib-structures-bending-ribs/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:52:42 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=357 0 http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/rib-structure-pt-1/ http://www.doranviolins.com/workbench/rib-structure-pt-1/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 00:38:57 +0000 Michael Doran http://www.doranviolins.com/?p=338 0