What is 3D printing? Technically speaking, it’s the process of fabrication (also known as ‘additive manufacturing’) in which a computerised, digital design is made by machine that adds successive layers on to a flat surface to create a three-dimensional object. Thus far, the conversation around 3D printing within a musical milieu has been dominated by how far it can be used to create concert-worthy instruments. But this has taken focus away from an arguably more intriguing dimension. As Harry Mairson, a professor of computer science at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, wrote in this magazine (Making Matters, July 2021): ‘Violin making depends on having good tools’.
