Viola-Matic!

Things have been getting pretty heavy around here lately (it's the winter doldrums - I swear I'll stop going off on rants once the sun comes out,) so it's definitely time for a mental health break. This oughta be just the ticket - it's a crazy dweebish video that's been making the rounds of the music world this past week, and it stars, as all great dweebish music-related videos should, the viola...



Okay, quick explanation for those of you who haven't played a stringed instrument for a while, or ever. As you are no doubt aware, our instruments are traditionally made out of wood, and we make an absolutely absurd deal about what kind of wood it is, and how it was harvested, and whether it ever spent several decades floating in the Mediterranean Sea, and on and on. (Personally, my viola's made out of a Canadian barn that came crashing down a few decades back, and I've decided that this is way cool.)

But a while back, this fabulous light-weight-but-indestructible substance called carbon fiber was invented, and wouldn't you know, someone came up with the idea to start making stringed instruments out of it. It was a brilliant idea - not that carbon fiber violins sound anywhere near as good as a quality wood version, because they don't. But professional musicians frequently have to play a lot of gigs in what you might call less than ideal climatological conditions. Outdoor weddings, Fourth of July concerts - these are not necessarily the places you want to be toting your 1678 Amati. (Please don't write a snooty comment telling me that Amati wasn't making violins in 1678. I don't care and I couldn't be bothered to check. He's old and Italian, and old Italians were making great violins in 1678.)

So carbon fiber violins, violas, and cellos started to pop up in the hands of various gigging musicians, as a sort of backup to their main instruments. (Did I mention that carbon fiber is cheap?) I've never considered getting one myself, just because, well - did I mention that my viola is made out of a barn? I just assume it considers the outdoors to be its natural habitat. But they do seem to be a positive development in the lives of musicians whose primary instruments cost more than their homes. And if they can slice... er, dice... um, mash the living hell out of a tomato too, well then, bonus, right?