Tyler Thackray's Experimental Instagram Account To Destroy Violins

Better known as @violintorture on Instagram, Thackray self-described himself as “engineer by day, experimental luthier by night”

With over 13,000 followers on Instagram, Tyler Thackray has been gaining traction on the app by sharing content of his unique violins and the experiments in which he puts them through.

From putting a violin in the dishwasher to using one as a beehive, his goal is to “disrupt the long-held standards of what a violin should be.”

Thackray told us he one day hopes to become a skilled luthier, but in the meantime, enjoys seeing people’s reaction to him deviating from the norm.

“I want people to think about violin in a different way, and realize it is not as fragile as we are told,” he said. “I want to show that luthiery can be fun… my statement is made by deviating to the extreme and challenging the long-held belief of what a violin should be.”

 

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“Right now, I am a successful Android Engineer in the Bay area, previously working at top companies like Netflix,” Thackray told VC. “My entire life has been a combination of art, music, and technology; in my high school metal band I did the website, CDs, and even made a video game.”

In high school, he quickly fell in love with the upright bass, but at the time, didn’t have the money or space. Thackray went to the Rochester Institute of Technology for Computer Engineering, with hopes to build synthesizers, but shifted to mobile phone software.

“Fast forward to Covid — I had just moved to a house with a garage and now had a ton of disposable income, so I figured it would be a good time to get into violin repair,” Thackray said. “I figured violins would be a better starting place, as upright basses are just too big and expensive.”

“Pretty quickly I realized violin repair was more like violin torture, and my Instagram was born! Early on someone suggested combining a ukulele with a violin, and after making that hybrid I knew there was no turning back.”

 

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You can see more of Thackray’s work on his Instagram, @violintorture.