(Extra)Ordinary Nature I’ve been lucky to be able to travel to some amazing places and see some of the iconic natural places in the world – places like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, the Galapagos, and the Kimberley of Western Australia. As well as that, I’ve been fortunate as an ecologist to be able to visit…
Posts
A violin needs a bow
The previous post looked at classic violins and the future of violin making. It’s easy to forget, when delving into the world of Stradivari and classic violins, that without a bow a violin is – well, maybe just a fancy ukulele. Although the bow generally plays second fiddle to the violin itself (OK, sorry, I…
Stradivari, Cremona and violin mystique
In this post, I’m straying a bit from the focus on guitars to consider another wooden stringed instrument, the violin. There are a number of threads to this story and it does relate to the overall themes of the Nature of Music (trust me on this…). A few things to clarify to begin with. First…
The house of a thousand guitars: on being obsessed
John Stubbins titled his beautifully crafted book about guitars “The Devil is In It: Love, Obsession and the American Acoustic Guitar”. In this post, I want to focus on the “obsession” bit. As a biologist, I’ve been surrounded by friends and colleagues that are all passionate about their interest in the natural world, with that…
Trees that nobody loves: weedy guitars
Weeds: plants in the wrong place A recent post focused on my quest for a guitar made entirely from Australian timbers. The guitar made by Aaron Fenech featuring Wandoo wood from here in Western Australia is certainly a magnificent guitar in all regards. There is much more to be said about native Australian woods in…
And . . . what are we going to do about it?
In an earlier post, I discussed the multiple dimensions of our individual responses to ecological damage and change. I likened this to the grieving process – grief over what is being lost and destroyed and despair about our individual collective ability to do anything about it. Grief elicits a series of reactions including anger, denial…
Wheatbelt woodlands in Western Australia: loss, hope and a guitar
A Scot ends up in Australia Although I grew up and spent the first part of my life in Scotland, I’ve now lived in Western Australia for over half my life and most of my professional life. I arrived in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia in July 1984, having spent the previous 2…
Re-use, recycle, repair, restore
Restoring things – whether it’s aeroplanes, trains, ecosystems or guitars – is fun and important. But deciding how – and how much – to restore is not always straightforward. My life as an ecologist got me involved in all sorts of stuff, and most of my career was focused on trying to find better ways…
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky
This time January 2020…. “And after every plan had failed and there was nothing more to tellAnd you know that we shall meet again if your memory serves you well” “This Wheel’s on Fire” was written by Bob Dylan & Rick Danko, performed first by the Band 1967, and subsequently covered by the Byrds and…
Out of Africa: Changing the world one guitar at a time
So, the recent series of posts might give the impression that this site is focussed on artisan guitar makers using unusual woods to make high quality (=expensive) guitars. Certainly, I can readily be categorised as one of those privileged old white males who have the capacity to follow our dreams – and the financial independence…