Editing The Pen Addict 491/transcript (section)

== Introduction ==


'''Brad:''' We can discuss that. We can discuss that terminology later. That's actually a good point.

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Yeah, I make stuff and I fix stuff so that they may continue to work in the future.

'''Brad:''' That's beautiful. That's exactly what I think. That's a great way to put it. Because I get that question and it's impossible to ask when you do lots of things. I mean, it's impossible to answer when you do a lot of things. And I've boiled it down to when I'm talking with people I don't know, I just say, I talk about pens on the internet. And then they do that sideways dog head tilt. What did you just say? I mean, we can explore that more if you want, but otherwise, I'm good with that. But I like how you said that. I design things to let people use them for the entirety of their life. So that's great. So I want to dig into your background. I asked you that question because knowing you a little bit, I know you're into a lot of things. And when I first discovered you online, I can't remember, it's been years. But I was like, oh, look at Annabelle's Instagram. There's harps everywhere. So let's start with the music background. And tell me what music was a part of your life and how that period of time was for you.

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Right. So the audience can't see me right now, but you can. And there's a harp right behind me, as you can tell. So yeah, I grew up with a ton of music, maybe because I'm Austrian. And that's just a lot of music is very, very important in Austria. It's very heavily funded by the government. It's very easy to get any sort of musical education. And so I was kind of thrown into it at a very, very early age. I started playing the piano when I was six. And I started playing a harp when I was 10. I started conservatory for harp when I was 12.

'''Brad:''' Wow.

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' And just kind of did that. I went to a music high school in Vienna, which is for people like me that would, that started conservatory quite early, but still wanted to get a high school diploma. So there'd be a lot of like music classes baked into that high school. So you could get credit for the conservatory. So I just, I did that a lot. So that was my main thing for, I don't know, for so long. And when I was around 17, I realized that had I actually practiced more, that I could be really, really good. Cause I was, I think I was solid. Like I was, I had potential for sure, which is why I could get away with not practicing for ages. And then at some point I was like, Oh, wait, my colleagues, they're like way ahead of me. Damn it. Okay. Let's, let's buckle down. And let's actually go for this. So I decided to audition at different conservatories all around Europe. And the conservatory in Amsterdam was crazy enough to let me in. And that's why I moved from Austria to the Netherlands to study with this very renowned teacher, um, that teaches here and thought she would give me a chance for whatever reason. Um, so that's kind of my music background. I did that for about a year and a half and then I had to quit for various reasons. Um, but yeah, music was the focus of, of what I thought would be my professional life for well over a decade.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. Yeah. You put a lot of time in, in, in effort into that. And I have to ask you specifically, what drew you to the harp as like your, your preferred instrument of choice?

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Um, several things I'd say. So first I actually wanted to play the cello when I was little, but my mom wouldn't allow us to play an instrument where you had to control the pitch yourself. Cause that can sound very, very bad for a long time before you like get a clip on that.

'''Brad:''' She was, she was, it was self-preservation on her part.

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Yeah, for sure. Um, but when I was 10, um, we were in Salzburg for the summer. Um, Salzburg is also where my mom is from and where Mozart was born and all that fun stuff. And we were just in the inner city and there was a harpist playing on the street, just busking. And I saw that and I was like, why? What's that? That's, that's nice. And I just, I sat down in front of the, like as close as I could, like, you know, as I could get without being too embarrassed. And just, I sat down and listened to her and I thought maybe 10 minutes had gone by, but apparently it's been like two hours. And at some point my mom was like, where's that daughter of mine? What happened? Um, I was just mesmerized. And that's kind of when I decided I wanted to play that. And, uh, my mom being who she is, she was like, okay, I guess, I guess that's her second instrument now. Cause everybody plays at least

'''Brad:''' two instruments. So. So yours was piano. First piano and then harp. And then we also did lots of singing and choir stuff. Gotcha. Gotcha. All right. One, one more, uh, one more harp question, because I, I am just really, really ignorant in, in this whole thing. And I'm, I'm fascinated to know, how would you compare the level of difficulty of playing the harp to like just any other instruments in general, where would it stack as far as complexity? Cause from an outsider, for someone like myself, who knows absolutely nothing, it seems like one of the most intimidating, there's no way I could make this, you know, sound pretty at all type of instruments.

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Right. I mean, so I kind of have a default answer to that, which is every instrument is kind of hard and kind of easy. Um, so, so what's really easy with the harp is just to generally get something that sounds kind of nice. You just pluck a few strings and you're like, Oh, wow. Pretty. Um, however, on the harp, you don't usually just play a chord or a melody. It gets quite complicated. The, um, just the repertoire that we play is kind of tricky. And also the fact that we don't just have two hands, but also two feet, because we have seven pedals that we need to take care of as well. So that's, that's hard. Um, and if we attempt to try anything chromatic, I don't, I don't know if you know how a harp works. Um, I don't know if you know much about music theory in general. Not really. Not really. Okay. So I could get into that, but pedals and chromatic stuff is really, really hard compared to on the piano, for instance, like a piano is fairly easy to just kind of get a, just to play something simple, but there's like the repertoire can get so, so, so hard. Um, whereas a violin, it's really, really hard to make it sound good. And so the threshold to get just something basic to sound good is quite high. I see, but they never have to play harmony. They never have to play like super big chords or whatever. They don't have to

'''Brad:''' coordinate all four limbs. So does that why violinists think they're so special?

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' I mean, the violin is very, very special. If you like, so something that I really, really, I wouldn't say I'm, I'm jealous, but something that I wish the harp was capable of is just having one note and just putting so much, like, I don't know, you can, because with a violin, you can play one note and you can expand, expand it and you can let it get it quiet and loud again. You can add like a vibrato kind of thing, but on the harp, you pluck the string and that's it. It can't grow anymore. It can't, you just pluck it and it fades away. And that's something that I super, super love about string instruments that a harp or a piano just can't do, sadly.

'''Brad:''' I'm assuming that's how your, uh, your very now famous Instagram handle at strings and pedals, which we will share, we will share in the show notes, right?

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Yeah, that's exactly what it is. It just then moved into pen stuff. And now I feel like I can't change it anymore because I've always had it. And that's how people know me. And now that'll be my username.

'''Brad:''' Yep. Yep. I think so. And, and just for listeners out there, that wasn't, uh, Annabelle playing the harp a moment ago. That was actually the bell of the town hall in the background. And I want to leave them in because it was perfectly matched to when you were talking about how to play the harp and these bells started coming in and it was amazing. And I loved it. You told me that might happen and I'm excited that it did.

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' Yeah, it'll happen a few more times. I'm very sorry.

'''Brad:''' No, it's, it's, it's perfect. So you, you started to mention pens, but I'm not going to let you get all the way there yet because you had a transition when you decided that, you know, like pursuing music, you know, for the future wasn't necessarily the plan and you change paths. Um, I don't want to say like completely, like it's a completely different medium, but I think the idea of say moving, moving from music to jewelry making, which you did, I think there's, you know, just the way I think about that type of work. I think there's a lot of crossover in the person who does that in that you're working with your mind, you're working with your hands, you're, you know, you're making something, you know, just from your own creation and then you have a platform to share that thing. So how did you get into jewelry making and what was that transition like? Um, yeah, so actually I'm going

'''Annabelle Hiller:''' to cut you off right there. I don't really care about jewelry and I've never cared about jewelry.

'''Brad:''' Okay. So that's the wrong terminology.