It takes work to create art. An artist may spend months on a single painting; a musician rehearses for hours before an audience hears them play. Every performance requires countless hands who set up the stage, the lights, and build the set.
The Key to Piano Manufacturing
This piano builder carves blocks of wood to make the keys for a piano. Once he finishes shaping them, he will cover the carved wood with thin strips of ivory to complete the white keys of the piano.
The piano maker is experienced and goes about his work confidently.
Old Violin Maker in His Workshop (circa. 20th century) by Andreas KrugGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
A Violin Maker's Workshop
This man constructs and repairs all instruments in the string family, not just violins. His workshop is filled with instruments in various stages of completion. Lutes, cellos, and basses are among the instruments filling the workshop.
Carving the Scroll
This violin maker is carving the neck of a violin. The finished product will have a "scroll:" the distinctive spiral carving on the end of the instrument's neck.
The Luthier (1698) by Cristoph WeigalGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
The Luthier
A luthier is an instrument maker who specializes in stringed instruments, especially lutes or violins.
This luthier is carving the neck of a highly decorated string instrument: he holds the instrument in one hand and the knife in the other.
Lute Roses
In this particular seventeenth century engraving, the luthier is working on a lute, not a violin. A lute can be distinguished by an intricate design called a "rose" carved into the instrument's soundboard.
This lute has a ornate rose carved into it, forming a geometric pattern.
Violin Maker Otto Möckel in His Workshop (1921) by Fritz TennigkeitGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
Famous Instrument Makers
Throughout the history of music, certain individuals have gained fame for the quality of instruments that they produced.
For example, the Stradivari family's Renaissance-era workshop was renowned for violins. Even today, Stradivarius violins are still highly sought after.
The person depicted at work in this painting is Otto Möckel,
one of the most well-known violin makers of early twentieth-century Berlin, Germany.
His violins are still used and appreciated by musicians today.
Violins may outlast their maker by generations, even centuries.
The Pipemaker (Music) (1698) by Christoph WeigalGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
Musical Pipes
This engraving depicts a man making pipes for an instrument.
However, he is not carving a pipe organ:
this pipe-maker produces double reed instruments.
Double reeds instruments belong to the woodwind instrument family.
Double Reeds
A variety of early modern double reed instruments
are represented in this engraving,
such as the curved oboe de caccia...
... and the dulcian, the precursor to the bassoon.
Music Instrument Making
Instruments are still traditionally made the same way as they historically have been.
Though this illustration portrays methods of instrument manufacture similar to those depicted in earlier works, this woodcut was actually published in a book from the mid-nineteenth century.
Making Music
The construction of the instrument is just the first step in making music.
Performing music is the end result, but composing and rehearsing are necessary before the musician can share their work with an audience.
Serenade
This violinist is in a precarious position in more than one way as he balances on a ladder that leans against a rooftop.
Even though we do not see the object of his affections, nor how his song is being received by them, it is clear that he plays this love song to woo someone.
The Magician in the Barn (1862) by Ludwig KnausGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
The Magic Show
Not all performing arts are music-centric.
This magician is staging a show for a group of nineteenth-century villagers gathered in a large barn.
He is in the middle of his performance as he lifts the barn owner’s hat to reveal three small yellow birds.
As payment for the performance, the magician and his young assistants, his children, will be allowed to spend the night in the barn, out of the cold.
In the morning, they will be on the road again, traveling to the next village that will host them in exchange for a magic show.
Behind the Scenes (1880) by Ludwig KnausGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
Behind the Scenes
Much work goes into any performance, musical or theatrical.
Rehearsing, costuming, and building the set are all time-consuming tasks.
This painting highlights the work behind a successful show: the work that the audience seldom gets to see.
Behind the Scenes
In this peek from behind the curtain of a makeshift stage, a family attempts to maintain a balance between their work as performers and their personal lives as they cook supper while still wearing their costumes.
Work Hard, Play Hard
Music is combined with industry in this work: the musician plays a tuba with the valves and pipes of a machine.
The original German title of the work, "Bläser," can be translated into English as "wind player."
Bläser (1994) by Rolf WetterGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
But in industrial contexts, "Bläser" refers to an exhaust fan on machinery.
The mixture of heavy industry and heavy musical instruments shows how much work the performing arts can be.
Listening to Music (At the Tape Recorder) (1977) by Elisabeth Bieneck-RoosGrohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
Listening to Music
A figure listens to music recordings in a studio decorated
with posters of Mozart and other historical composers.
Iconic music from centuries ago is juxtaposed with
modern ways to play it.
Innovations in technology provide new ways for artists
to create and share their work with others.
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