monochord technicalities

Here's a request I received that perhaps some of you could help out with:

>Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 01:14:43 -0800 (PST)
>From: Sam Torrisi
>To: Bill Alves
>Subject: monochord technicalities
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>
>
>Dear Bill Alves:
>
> Well, as I near completion of my resonated monochord, I think I'll
>take you up on your kind offer to answer questions and stuff I might have
>for the furtherance of my education. I'm building the redwood monochord
>that's laid out on page 79 of the fabulous book "Sound Designs" by
>Reinhold Banek and Jon Scoville (perhaps you know it?). I have almost all
>the materials (and cut to size), and this weekend I'll probably drill the
>sound holes and do the necessary sanding and gluing. There are some
>things I'm hoping you'll be able to help me out with since I've never
>built an instrument before, and I know you have experience with these
>things (I've read twice, with increasing fascination, your article in 1/1
>on your gender barung adventure).
>
> I'm planning to glue my walnut bridges to the box. Do you think I
>should bolt them instead?
> I'm planning to drill holes in them and pass my .012 piano wires
>through. Do you recommend passing the wires over instead?
> Should I just avoid any kind of tarnish or stain all together for
>acoustical reasons (which are priority for me), or are there some
>beautifying liquids out there that'll bring out the natural grain of the
>wood without effecting anything else?
> The book suggests pop rivets to hold down the strings at one end.
>Would something else be better?
> Is there a special way to tie piano wire to zither tuning pegs?
>
> Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and I look
>forward to your response.
>
> -Sam Torrisi
>
>

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^ Bill Alves email: alves@hmc.edu ^
^ Harvey Mudd College URL: http://www2.hmc.edu/~alves/ ^
^ 301 E. Twelfth St. (909)607-4170 (office) ^
^ Claremont CA 91711 USA (909)607-7600 (fax) ^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> ... If I were to take this
> essence-of-simplicity approach, I would have done either or both of three

Har har. "Either or both of three"; good work Gary! Yes, as you probably
guessed, this started out as being a list of two things, and I edited the "two" to
"three", but forgot about the "both"!

Gary Morrison wrote:
>
> Also, I probably would have made a minor variant on the subtitle:
Rather
>than "tuning@eartha.mills.edu: a microtonal music experience", I would
have
>suggested, "tuning@eartha.mills.edu: The Experience". That in analogy
with
>the ride at the Universal Studios theme park "Back to the Future: The
>Experience", and similar subtitles.
>

I have to disagree here. The word microtonal definitely needs to be on the
front jacket. The tuning email address will mean nothing to 99.9% of our
customers. Only after they buy the cd will they realize its significance.
>
> I think we'd all agree that color would be very highly desirable, but
not
>exactly cheap either. But it's worth pointing out that one-color (actually
2
>colors counting black) printing is not a WHOLE lot more expensive than
black
>and white.
>

Full color is not that expensive. Complete CD press runs of 1000 copies
with full color 4 page booklets are in the $1500-$2000 price range. That
includes film, CD replication, booklet printing, assembly, shrink wrapping
and in some cases graphic design.
>
> The other consideration, of course, and I'm sure John and all of us
would
>agree, is that it takes a great deal of dedication to produce a CD, and
we're
>very fortunate to have a man of Neil's level of dedication to volunteer to
put
>it all together.
>

Agreed. This project wouldn't have happened without Neil. I do not mean to
denigrate Neil's dedication, just to say that future projects could be true
collaborations with someone like Neil taking the lead but not necessarily
working every last detail, just coordinating them.

Joe Monzo wrote:

> I agree, and suggest a more colorful version of the
> 12-in-a-circle-with-a-line-thru-it ("no 12's allowed")
> used as a background on John Starrett's webpage.
>
The logo you refer to was created by the Just Intonation Network and should
only be used with their permission. But when I mentioned graphics I had
more in mind than just a logo. Perhaps some consistent graphical framework
with photos/artwork that is different with each volume.

John Loffink
jloffink@pdq.net
http://freeweb.pdq.net/jloffink The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site

> I have to disagree here. The word microtonal definitely needs to be on the
> front jacket.

Ah, Good point. Then again, I suppose it might be worth asking whether the
term "microtonal" means much to the proverbial "average Joe" either.

I think that "The Experience" is catchy though.



> Full color is not that expensive. Complete CD press runs of 1000 copies
> with full color 4 page booklets are in the $1500-$2000 price range.

The last time I assessed the costs was back in 1992, when I did the graphics
for the Ivor Darreg CD. In those days anyway, that came to about $1000 more
than you estimated. It wouldn't surprise me of they've gone down since then
though.