Playing the 3D-printed violin | Joanna Wronko | TEDxAmsterdam

Joanna is playing as a violin soloist, chamber musician and a guest player in top european orchestras. At TEDxAmsterdam she plays a stunning 3D printed violin!

Technician Sander Smit is the artist who printed her extraordinary violin with his 3D printer.

Joanna Wronko: I will play for you
one short piece, half of it I will play

on the 3D-printed violin
and then I'll switch to the normal one

so in close proximity
you can see the difference in sound.

(Playing the violin)

(Applause)

Jim Stolze: Thank you Joanna.

I was pretty close, I was pretty nearby
so I could hear

the difference also in volume,
I think you call that the projection.

JW: Yeah, it's actually, it's both.
There are two different things,

I mean one of the obvious things
is that the 3D printed violin

just sounds less, it's quieter in sound.

JS: Right.

JW: But it also doesn't really project,
right now we have mic's.

We have also a lot of extra noise
but normally the hall is used

for a classical music concert
and it's very beautiful

for its acoustics.

JS: Normally, if you were playing
the violin, it wouldn't mic-ed

it wouldn't be all these speakers
it would just be the violin.

And then there's something
you couldn't do right now.

You couldn't reach the people
in the back, right?

JW: We didn't really try it,
it's an experiment

but I assumed it wouldn't...

JS: I'm all for experiment.
Could we kill the microphone,

That doesn't sound very nice.

Could you shut the volume
of Joanna's microphone?

And then just listen to
the plain sound of the violin.

JW: OK

JS: Could you say something?

JW: No.

JS: Alright.

(Playing the violin)

JS: And now on the acoustic.

(Playing the violin)

JS: I see people in the back
going: "Ah, thank you."

(Applause)

JS: One other thing that I noticed

when you played the traditional violin,

your whole body posture changed,
you became one.

Is it your own instrument?

JW: Well, it doesn't belong to me
but I played for eight years now.

JS: It's yours, alright.

JW: Yeah it's my baby.

JS: And that didn't happen
with the 3D violin,

is it possible that you
become one with this instrument?

JW: Wow, that's a big question.

I think, one very practical
thing is that it's much

heavier than the normal violin

so I can't imagine to play
the whole long concert

on it as I can do on a normal violin.

But, I mean it's an incredible thing
that actually plays.

I can't really believe it.

It sounds like a violin actually,
but it's missing a certain vibration.

A special thing about every wooden violin
is that every one is one of a kind

because it's hand made,
so every single instrument has

spots and notes which are
a little bit weaker

a little bit stronger,
so as a musician when you get

to know the instrument,
you just look for the spot.

JS: Each instrument has its character

and each 3D product
will be the same as the other.

Is there something especially

that you could do with this violin
that you couldn't do with the wooden?

OK it's obvious.

JW: I don't know.

I was actually talking to a friend today
and she asked a similar question.

What it would be good for.

She made actually a point
that I didn't think about before,

that maybe it could be used
for a non classical thing

for a studio thing.

When it's actually amplified,
because it is so equal

that you could probably
modify the sound much more

than the sound of a natural violin.

But in the classical world,
I would say no.

JS: Right.

So the Ukulélé's like 10 euros, and then
we have the poor man Stradivarius.

JW: Yeah.

JS: Time's up. So could you please
just one encore on the 3D violin

and then a short piece
on the wooden violin?

JW: Yes, I would play a short piece,
Polish Capriccio,

which will show you a slow opening

and which will show
what the violin can do.

Although, you can't really print
imperfection on the violin,

which the imperfection is what gives
the violin beauty to music for me,

it's still quite astonishing.

(Playing the violin)

(Applause)