How Mark Wood Reinvented the Violin and Inspired a Generation

On this episode of Bobby Owsinski’s Inner Circle, I’m joined by recording artist, performer, inventor, Emmy-winning composer, and music education advocate Mark Wood. Known as the original string master of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mark shares how he revolutionized the world of string instruments with his electric violin designs and helped ignite a movement in music education with his Electrify Your Symphony program. We explore the intersection of classical training and rock performance, the birth of his iconic Viper violin, and the entrepreneurial drive that’s powered his decades-long career.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Music is essential for emotional and creative development
• The violin remained unchanged for over 500 years before Mark’s innovations
• Inspiration came from Hendrix, Van Halen, and his own woodworking family
• The invention of the self-supporting electric violin changed live performance
• Amplifying bowed instruments requires entirely different tech than guitars
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s early days started with skepticism and QVC
• Electrify Your Symphony has reached over a million students in 28 years
• Entrepreneurship is essential for modern musicians
• Juilliard experience shaped his approach, even after leaving
• Self-made artists must think like business owners, not just performers

BEST MOMENTS:
00:02:09. “You might or may not be able to name any other violin maker except Stradivarius.”
00:05:33. “As a 15 year old I was mentored by Leonard Bernstein.”
00:07:13. “What are you going to do with your life? And I said, I want to be a rock violin player.”
00:10:27. “So it's a violin with a hand, right? Carved exactly like it in my hand.”
00:13:29. “With a bow, I'm able to get that sustain the guitar players always are trying to get.”
00:18:09. “We're putting together a rock orchestra. Awesome. And we want you to be the orchestra.”
00:21:00. “A teacher after that came up to me. Mark, can you put together a Trans-Siberian orchestra at our school?”
00:38:22. “Stoicism and real focus on making sure that you're in control of how you respond to the world.”

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