Anyone Here Going to Oberlin?
 

I have been asked to be a faculty member at this June's institute at Oberlin, the week of the 10th. Topics will be bass making, set-up, repair, etc. This will be a hands-on situation. I'm curious about the level of interest, will appreciate any comments/suggestions. Thanks!

Unfortunately I won't make it.

Is Oberlin anywhere near Taupo?

Would love to but it's a couple thousand miles too far for me. :D

Excuses, excuses! :confused:

hi arnold, i don´t know what "oberlin" is, but i sounds interesting.
can you please explain it?
thank you!

Oberlin College is a private liberal college in Oberlin, Ohio. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the country. The college's motto is "Learning and Labor." I do wish Americans would spell 'labour' correctly! It is, after all, supposed to a place that packs out lots of PhDs - obviously not in spelling. :(

How dare you.

Nathan, although I'm certainly not one of their biggest fans, I believe the English invented English.

Perhaps. But we made it better.

Now back on topic. Here's a link to the Oberlin luthier workshop, which is what Arnold will be participating in:

http://www.vsa.to/oberlin-workshops

Yea. :rolleyes:

Thanks for posting that; I didn't realize it was a multi-day workshop. For some reason I was thinking it was a brief lecture/demo kind of thing.

Sounds like it would be interesting and definitely worth attending. With the cost of airfare, hotel and everything else though it still would be prohibitive for me. I would definitely attend something like this on the west coast though...

Going to try to make plans to attend! Hope to see you there Arnold!

Brian

I think it's cheap to stay in the dorms. And you can hitchhike! See you there then...

The motto at the Oberlin workshop is "Everybody learns, everybody teaches". Hope to see you there.

Hitch-hiking. Now there's a thought.

Ah yes, I was just thinking how I could use a little more kidnapping, rape, robbery, stabbing and/or bedbugs in my life!

Despite crime being way down from last century, it seems that most people believe that life is way more dangerous now. I blame the scum-sucking commercial media, who depend on horrific stories to sell their advertising. Sorry for the derail; I was just recalling fondly my cross-country trips as a youngster, using only my upturned thumb to get around. :)

Do you know what the timeline for registering/paying for this is?

I'm not sure, but will post links as soon as I can.

I sent an email to the contact at Oberlin, and she forwarded it to James Ham. That was on Monday, and I haven't heard anything back yet...

Just FYI,

Brian

Yes, Jim had forwarded me your email, so I got back the other day.

Once David and Arnold okay the brochure, we'll get those sent out along with an application form (in which you'll give contact info and bass lutherie experience). I'll collect the forms and, once we agree on the list, forward the list to the Oberlin office. They'll then send out billing and further details.

As has been said, we're meeting the same week as the Acoustics Workshop. We'll plan on some joint topics with them. And we will likely come up with some topics that will challenge them. We got a start looking at some wolftone effects last time, and Chris Dungey will join us with an update on what he's been working on since then.

The dorms seem the best route to go, and it keeps us all together. While they don't have A/C, we usually have a bunch of box fans to spread around. And this time we're looking to East or Asia for the dorm. We'll plan to have dinner together with the Acoustics group, but a kitchen won't be available this year (Alumni events on campus). So we're planning on using a cafeteria this time.

It's a great week, and all are exhausted by the end. But it creates a great opportunity to spend time and share ideas with other luthiers.

Here's the link to the online brochure:
http://www.catgutacoustical.org/conf/basswk12.htm

Sounds really cool, especially for someone like me, who knows just enough to keep from getting in over his head.

We have a great group signed up. Several are luthiers I would gladly pay money to for a brain-picking session! Anyway, there are only a few spots left, so anybody still on the fence should get their application in quickly. This is shaping up to be a great week.

Man oh man I wish I could make it! Hopefully next year.

I'll just pick your brain afterwards and get the short notes on it. ;)

The group is completely full. Two weeks to go, and this should be a jam-packed workshop. David, Jay and I met in NYC last week and went over the projects and presentations. There is a lot of ground being covered.

We have participants coming from all over the USA, Japan, Australia and Singapore. Too bad Ken couldn't make it (in case things got too mellow).

i start my long swim tomorrow at dawn. How long does it take to hitch a ride from Mexico to Cleveland?

For an attractive young lady, two days. For you, two weeks. :D

See you soon,
Brian

It was GREAT! Really glad to meet Brian and Matthew. Great bunch of guys and gals. It was intense and the hours long. I learned a tremendous amount. The acoustic guys were meeting at the same time with all their fancy equipment and lots of ideas and observations were shared. Jay did a great job of organizing it all.

The tentative date for the 2014 Oberlin Bass Workshop is June 8-13, 2014. We are already starting to put together a participant list. Hope to see many returnees and new faces there!

Count me in!
BG