Transcriber: Cellina Song Reviewer: Lisa Thompson
A brief talk about what makes 3D printing interesting
and what trends are going on.
And the trend that makes my heart tick at the moment
is that the technology is getting very, very close to the general public,
to us consumers, to you and I, basically.
Like I said on this slide you can see, everyone is a maker.
That's because the current, latest 3D printers, the home 3D printers,
are almost as easy to use as any inkjet printer we have at home.
To create content to be printed on these machines,
we have 3D scanners and 3D design software that's become very, very affordable,
easy to use, and very easy to learn as well.
In addition to this, we see online communities popping up,
where 3D designs made by designers are shared,
and you can also download designs made by others.
A new company called 3D Hubs is making a network of 3D printers,
where you can find the closest 3D printer in your neighborhood
and have something printed just around the corner.
It's true - the start of local manufacturing.
And last but not least, 3D concept stores are being opened all around the world,
where you can not only buy 3D technology, but you can truly experience it.
You can just walk in and join a workshop and learn all about 3D printing
and start being creative yourself.
Like I said, everyone is a maker.
I did a quick search on the Internet on 3D printed instruments
because that's what we're here to talk about further.
On the sheet, you see some examples:
a 3D-printed guitar
and a new wind instrument
made by a Dutch designer with a 3D printer.
And actually, from one of these online communities,
I downloaded the file for a ukulele and printed it at my printer at home.
So you see the first step of our own manufacturing.
Okay, but then you ask,
are we going to print our own professional 3D printers?
Well, not unless you have a million dollars or so to spare
because the machine you see in the slide as well
that's been used to make this -
I'll pick it up now -
this beautiful violin
is a true industrial-type 3D printer
that's usually only used to manufacture
medical applications like implants
or in the semiconductor industry,
using a very high-grade plastic called PEEK.
So what do you see after this machine does its trick?
And the trick is it uses a laser to melt this powder
into this beautiful violin.
You see a cake of powder, basically, with the violin hidden in it.
And by carefully removing all the powder that has not been melted by the laser,
you end up with two 3D-printed violins.
So I'll hand it over to Joanna,
who can tell you more about how it feels.
Jim Stolze: Is it, like, a one million euros violin?
Sander Smit: Well, the machine that was used to build it
was a million euros, yes.
JS: Okay, right.
SS: But the violin itself, well -
JS: And the material is expensive.
SS: The material is very, very expensive,
so this violin will cost 10 to 20 thousand euros too.
JS: Okay, then I suggest you put it back then.
And so the proof of the pudding is in eating
and the proof of the violin is in the playing,
so let's put it to the test.
We have two violins.
We have one 3D printed violin and one traditional violin,
so we invite the very talented Joanna Wronko on stage
to demonstrate and play on both of these instruments.
Please welcome Joanna Wronko.
(Applause) (Music)
JS: And you're going to start with which instrument?
Joanna Wronko: I will start with the 3D printed violin.
JS: With the 3D.
JW: And I will play for you one short piece,
and half of it, I will play on the 3D printed violin,
and then I switch to the normal one
so you can - in a very close proximity - you can see the difference in sound.
(Music played on 3D printed violin)
(Music played on traditional violin)
(Applause)
Jim Stolze: Thank you, Anna.
I was pretty close.
I was pretty nearby, so I could hear the difference also in volume in -
I think you call that a projection of the -
Joanna Wronko: Yes, actually it's both.
They are two different things.
I mean, one, the obvious thing is that the violin, the 3D printed violin,
just sounds less:
it's quite small in sound.
JS: Right.
JW: But it also doesn't really project.
So right now we have mics;
we have also a lot of extra noise.
But normally the hall is used for the classical music concerts,
and it's very beautiful for its acoustics.
JS: Normally, if you would play the violin, it wouldn't be miked;
there wouldn't be, like, all these speakers.
It would just be the violin.
And that is something you couldn't do right now -
you wouldn't reach the people in the back.
JW: Yeah, we didn't really try it; it's an experiment.
But I assume without mics -
JS: I'm all for experiments.
Could we kill the microphone? That doesn't sound very nice.
Could we shut down the volume of Joanna's microphone
and then just listen to the plain sound of the violin?
JW: Okay.
JS: Could you say something? All right.
(Music played on 3D printed violin)
JS: And now on the acoustic.
(Music played on traditional violin)
JS: I see people in the back going like, "Ah. Thank you."
(Applause)
One other thing that I noticed -
when you played the traditional violin,
your whole body posture changed; you became one with it.
Is it your own instrument?
JW: Well, it doesn't belong to me, but I play it for eight years now.
JS: It's yours. All right.
JW: Yeah, this is my baby.
JS: Yeah, and that didn't happen with the 3D violin.
You think - is that possible that you become one with this instrument?
JW: Wow, that's a big question.
A very practical thing:
it's just much heavier than the normal violin,
so I can't imagine to play the whole long concert on it
as I can do with a normal violin.
But, I mean,
it's an incredible thing that it actually plays.
I can't really believe that it sounds like a violin, actually.
But it's missing a certain vibration.
I mean, the very special thing about every wooden violin
is that every [one] is a one of a kind because it's handmade.
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 spots.
JS: Each instrument has its character,
and each 3D product would be the same as the other.
JW: Exactly the same.
JS: Is there something especially that you could do with this violin
that you couldn't do with the wooden?
(Laughter)
Okay, that's obvious.
JW: Um, I don't know.
I mean, I was actually talking to a friend today,
and she asked a similar question -
you know, what it would be good for.
And she made, actually, a point I didn't think about before,
that maybe it could be used for non-classical music things -
you know, for studio things when it's actually amplified
because it is so equal that you probably could modify the sounds
much more than the sound of a natural violin.
But in classical music world, I would say no.
JS: Right, so the ukulele is like 10 euros,
and there we have the poor man's Stradivarius then.
JW: Yeah.
JS: Yeah. Okay, well, time's up,
but could you please [do] just one encore on the 3D violin,
and then a short piece on the wooden?
JW: Yes.
I will just play a short piece, a Polish capriccio,
which will show you a little bit of a slow opening
and a bit that's all quiet, so to show you what the violin can do.
Although you cannot really print imperfection like on the violin -
which the imperfection is that what gives beauty to music for me,
but it's still quite astonishing.
(Music played on 3D printed violin)
Wooh!
(Applause)