Wiz Wiz, Chop Chop

The Instrument Maker is Hard at Work

Leo Kim

Upon arriving at the Austin Performing Arts Center, you check in with your ticket and quickly navigate your way into the main hall. You seat yourself into your respective spot and notice that there aren’t any musicians on the stage. ‘Strange’ you think to yourself. As you put your phone on silent and put your apple watch in theater mode, the conductor and musicians start to get into position. The lights dim down, and you applaud along with the crowd as the concertmaster walks into the room. Right before the concert starts, you wonder, ‘How did this all happen?’ Music is an arrangement and combination of different sounds (called notes) that create a melody, whether that is vocal or instrumental. This has existed among humans for tens of thousands of years and has become a universal trait for humanity. That being said, music is a great way of expressing your emotions, and is considered as a form of art. Much like other forms of art, music has changed over time and modernized to what it is today.

“Music composition is writing original music for voices or instruments, orchestras, ensembles, any kind of performing organization, and even electronic, synthetic music, computer music.” Donald Grantham explains. Grantham has been “teaching [composition] at UT, the Butler School of Music since 1975.” He is also a well-known composer and has received many awards for his work. “I primarily write instrumental and vocal music. I’ve written a lot of music for wind ensemble, 50 pieces or more, and I’ve also written music for chorus and orchestra and chamber music.” Grantham started composing when he was 13, when he knew how to play

Picture of Donald Grantham (Courtesy of Grantham) the trumpet and piano. “It’s something I’ve always had a great interest in… I started out writing music for my own instruments and playing that.” He expanded on his interest onto other instruments, “writing for his friends who were also brass players, and wrote music for his high school band, high school choir, church choir, and just continued it from that point.” As long as you have the interest and the time for music composition, you can be a

brilliant composer regardless of talent. According to Grantham, “It’s just like every person learns how to write an essay, every person learns how to be able to write.” If this is a hobby that you would like to have, then you can teach yourself how to write music through trial and error and practice. “I was just able to start off by trial and error, and come up with some pretty primitive elementary pieces.” And if you have the passion to enhance your composition, you can go to a composition teacher and receive lessons. “I take a look at what they do, and

Do not compare make suggestions yourself to othabout how they could make some er students, because improvements… that’s just almost and also give pointless. You have them musical literature that one person that you’re they can listen going to compete to and study against is yourself. that will help them,” Grantham says. I also -Jason Kwak recommended that you know a little about music theory. Once you have enough experience, you can start going to competitions and submit your work. “The Austin Symphony sponsors a competition every year for young composers of high school age… the young composers who won in the previous year are going to have their pieces performed.” Grantham said. These pieces that are created by composers go to musicians, like Jason Kwak (gwak), to be performed in a concert or performance. This leads to the second component. Instrument playing is the act of playing a musical instrument in which you produce a series of notes to create a rhythm and melody. “I have been playing the piano for 46 years,” Kwak said, the professor of piano at Texas State University of San Marcos. “I teach piano majors, the students that come to Texas state that want to be a piano major, those are the students that I teach.” Jason Kwak has devoted his life

to music because “that’s just who [he is], all of us have an identity.”

Picture of Jason Kwak. (Courtesy of Kwak) At a very young age, Kwak started learning piano and was receiving lessons from his school and his mother. “Growing up in Korea, everybody played the piano at [3]... My mother happened to be my first piano teacher.” When Kwak was in second grade, his family moved to the United States.” Kwak mentioned that “[he] realized not everybody played the piano.” He was even told that he was very good. Soon, he took part in a competition “for the entire state of Georgia,” and from here on out, Kwak has continued on his interest and became a piano major. “The fact that I can keep playing the piano that could actually be a part of my life as a main thing was incredibly interesting to me, so that’s when I decided to become a piano major, and I have never looked back since.” Although it seems like being a good musician requires talent, this is just a myth, as anyone can be a skilled musician. According to Kwak, “It comes from [talent and practice], but the third thing that is much more important is they have to have a passion for it.” This means that if you would like to learn an instrument, then you should go for it. You can start off by finding an instructor near you to start receiving lessons. For those that have some experience, practice as much as you can, as having the passion will always out-weigh the talent. This misconception can also bring bad news. If you have the talent for an instrument, but don’t have the passion for it, then it is recommended that you quit. “It sounds like a very harsh thing that I’m calling somebody, but it’s actually not.” Kwak says.

“What I’m trying to do is save them from years and years of real difficult life.” The instruments that musicians use to produce music the pinnacle of woodworking is musical instruments. -Mark Lea didn’t come from nowhere.

They have been created by others who have spent many hours practicing how to create these intricate pieces of work.

Mark Lea is one of those people.

“So I started with just general woodworking like I built that TV stand [in his living room], like just furniture stuff.” Said Lea, a part-time luthier. Lea started woodworking

Picture of Mark Lea. (Courtesy of Lea) when he was in high school, “I’d actually started when I was in high school building skateboard ramps, so that’s how the whole thing started. Then next thing you know... you’re just doing stuff around the house, like remodeling stuff, and then making furniture and then just graduating musical instruments.” Lea was told to start off by building a ukulele, so he bought a book and built one. “I built it, and he’s impressed… then I learned to play it after I built it. It was pretty cool, and I soon graduated to the guitars and acoustic basses” If you want to have a hobby of making string instruments, you can start by learning basic woodworking skills. “You just need a table saw and Sander to get started.” Lea says. ”You can actually buy wood that’s already bent.” Once you have the material, you can search up instructions on how to put it together. Once you graduate high school, you have the choice to go to a luthier school. “Go from high school to luthier school. They apprentice for a couple

years,” Lea said. Of course, if you decide to become a luthier, you must have the passion to do so because becoming a luthier can be time-consuming. In the modern world, we seek innovative ideas and solutions because of this, “there aren’t any really well-defined career paths for artists these days.” says Grantham, “One of my teachers told me that being a composer is really three jobs, you’ve got to write your music, you’ve got to sell your music in the sense of what I was just talking about, convincing people to be interested in it, and deploy it. And then you’ve got to do something to make a living.” It is very difficult for modern composers to make a living now. It is very common that “[composers] have to teach or perform or conduct or do some other activity that will help underwrite their creative work,” Grantham explains.

Instrument making is also in a very similar situation. Once graduated from a luthier school, “they go to a Gibson or Fender shop. And then it takes them a long, long time to build those skills. And then they open up their Mark Lea’s progress on making a guitar. (Image by Leonard Kim) own brand,” Lea says. “It’s something that you have to work nonstop at.” After doing all of that, you “have to find the right clientele that want to pay $10,000 per guitar. That’s the only way you can make money.” As for being a musician, you will mostly “make a living with a combination of teaching and performing,” Kwak says. “I am a full professor at Texas State, and I perform 20 to 30 times a year, which all includes an honorarium.” In short, you graduate from college, then you find a job, whether that is private lessons or teaching at a school, and start performing in concerts that includes an honorarium (a payment given for professional services that are rendered nominally without charge.) Although it seems like a very difficult career path to go through in the modern world, it doesn’t matter. As long as you are doing what you love, you will be happy. People like Donald Grantham and Jason Kwak have spent their entire lives in the music department because it is their identity, passion, and interest. Of course, you can also have this as a hobby, Mark Lea is a great example. In conclusion, if you dream to become something, then you should alway strive for passion and never give up.