Rod Wuetherick on fri 22 apr 05
"possible" merits of hand calculation
> I'm willing to talk about why it could be so if you would care to explore
a
> bit.
Ron,
Here I don't think I agree with you. In the sense that "if" a person had a
strong chemistry background then sure they could do it by hand. Really hand
calculation is really just looking up molecular weights, etc. Then simple
multiplication, division and subtraction, lots of looking up, etc.
The reason why I think it is a good thing for "most" potters to do at least
a few times is so they understand what a unity formula REALLY is. Why does
working a glaze recipe out from unity usually lead to a stable glaze faster?
How are oxides sourced? What is their distribution in materials. Why when I
use G-200 do some of my glazes look different than when I use Custer?
Put another way. if someone says what is 100/10 what does that mean? How do
I teach 100/10 to a 6 year old? Once I lay some blocks on a table and show
them physically then suddenly they get the idea. But explaining it
"completely" abstractly it is difficult to get the idea across.
When you work 3 or 4 glazes out by hand. Even say just a few transparent
glazes and you need to satisfy your unity formula by sourcing from complex
materials. Suddenly a light goes on - hey this is kinda tough but hey I
really understand what it going on.
Then when a person moves to glaze calculation software after these 3,4, etc
time consuming attempts. Suddenly expansion coefficients don't just look
like Greek anymore. What their materials really are, what they are composed
of on an oxide level makes more sense.
Again put another way. For example when learning music one begins by their
basic music theory. Where the notes are on the bass and treble clef. Timing
of whole notes, half notes etc. Then they learn what intervals are after the
intervals they learn how to put a basic major, minor scale together - the
interval pattern. After learning the interval pattern they learn triads
(basic chord voicing), then once you learn triads you may progress to
learning simple progressions. After you learn these progressions you want to
learn what modes work well over what progression, mixolydian, dorian, etc.
The idea is each of these basic (sometimes complex) subjects can exist as
separate ideas. In other words when you say "chord" to most people they
"kinda" know what it is. A chord is the harmonic relationship of a group of
notes in a vertical direction. A melody is a horizontal relation in time.
When learning music the power comes from understanding the little building
blocks and putting them together to make a cohesive whole. Say you are a
person that wants to learn to play guitar but you don't want to learn music.
You can and many amazing musicians have done it Django Reinhardt is one who
played entirely by ear. BUT they are what we would call our greats. If you
are a mere mortal such as I am knowing the musical relationships makes you a
musician than can compose and write your own music.
What I mean is say you look up chords in a chord book. Suddenly your heart
fills with fear you see literally thousands of chords - and think, "how
could I ever learn all this?" If you look at jazz chords you are doubly
filled with fear as I would say for every 10 chords a rock, pop musician
knows a jazz player knows 100. How do you remember all of these. Intervals!
Relationships. Suddenly if someone says play a A+ - maybe you don't know how
to play an augmented A or you have never played it before. BUT if you know
your A and basic chordal structure and intervals you know "HOW" to augment
that A major into a A+.
So to end this ramble I feel that when a person does some "paper" work and
builds some mechanical relationships in theory, in their minds it becomes
easier for them to manipulate much more abstract relationships. Or on the
other hand, such as with glazes. Having a basic knowledge of the
complexities allows one when they use their glaze software to see
relationships that they would never been able to see unless they had at
least done it by hand once.
On a computer it can seem ethereal and magical and one tends to let the
computer do the figuring and perhaps you still don't know what you are doing
but you know by looking and Mr. Roy's limits that you need to get yours
closer. So you spend hours punching in material after material trying to get
it to work. Doing in once by hand - boy do you know and understand how those
"glaze programs" source dem' oxides.
And yes you think if you ever get a chance you will kiss the guy who wrote
the program
Remember the chord analogy with the A Major and A+(augmented)....
This is what I mean... I think ;)
peace,
rod
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