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It is my mission to empower my clients to live a life full of opportunity and free of constraints, so they can match their potential and inspire others to do the same. How do I do this? I offer a unique service to design beautiful, original instruments. They are crafted with the player’s tonal desires and measurements in mind.
“Is there a NEED for bespoke instrument design?”
Absolutely yes! Medical research in Germany shows that “Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) in professional musicians are common. Existing literature demonstrates that up to 86% of musicians are affected.”
A 2016 Canadian study reported that up to 80% of professional musicians can develop injuries that hinder their professional capabilities.
The areas specifically at risk are: muscles, joints, ligaments and nerves of the neck, back, shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, hands and fingers.
More recent research continues to support this massive problem. Up to 85% of professionals and enthusiastic amateurs could get injured over time, as for most their instrument isn’t right for them.
“So WHY could up to 85% of professionals and enthusiastic amateurs get injured over time?”
The answer is simple: for most, their instrument isn’t the right size for them. The resonance bodies of violin-like instruments are standardised and set-ups are almost always the exact same on all ‘full size’ instruments. So consider this…
In the 16th century CE, when the violin family instruments emerged and standard instrument sizes were (more or less) established, they were made predominantly for male performers.
Humans were surprisingly tall then, similar to modern people actually.
If you look up average heights worldwide for women and men, it is embarrassingly clear who will be more at risk of suffering for their art. I work hard to change that for musicians worldwide with my bespoke instruments and by sharing ideas with other luthiers open to this concept. Most modern makers and manufacturers just reproduce those standardized antique models that were created for European men of the 16th century who are no longer with us.
It is time that instruments are made to fit living musicians in all our diversity, don’t you think?
“So, ergonomic instruments?”
You could call them ergonomic, yes. Our new made instruments are tailored perfectly to a specific person. When you use an instrument that is the wrong size and tone for you, you’ll likely feel discomfort when playing it after a while.
If you play an instrument that is the correct size for you, the discomfort can be reversed and further damage prevented. Looking only into pain management and not considering the reason for the problem, just means the pain from playing will stay. Nobody enjoys using something that causes pain, so players stop and look for other ways to spend their free time or make a living.
“What are specific problems, that musicians experience, when the instrument isn’t right for them?”
Well, shorter players stretch further in the lower positions and they bend their arms further around the instrument to get to the higher positions.
Moving down to a three quarter size is not constructive as everything is proportionally smaller so the instrument body doesn’t have the air volume to resonate. This restricts overtones, harmonics and depth of sound. And to a lesser extent, so do the 7/8th sizes.
Tall performers instead struggle with interval distances in the higher positions where notes are proportionally closer together and there is nothing bigger than the standard ‘full size’.
Lack of comfort either way forces players to compensate to hit the right notes. So both kinds compromise on playing comfort, tone control, and musical interpretation.
“How do you start a project?”
My job as an instrument maker is to find out exactly which specific sound the client wants. This is not so easy to put into words. Emotions, feelings and desires are rooted in our limbic brain, which has no capacity for language whatsoever! To start we have a very in-depth conversation. Do they like a moody and dark sound, or more towards bright and happy? Those are very different requirements and need a very different choice of design.
With the data from the consultation, combined with the ideal string length for their anatomy, I plan the instrument’s lengths, widths, depths and proportions. I use an equivalent tool to what the Ancient Greeks used to design and build their theaters with legendary acoustics. This tool and further learnings taken from various historical treatises allow me to plan the instrument musically, rather than mathematically. From there the whole instrument emerges naturally.
Then I draw.
The creation process is absolutely fascinating to experience as a client.
With very regular contact during the build it will be as if you are here in the workshop to witness a wood curl falling towards the floor, or the smooth movement of recently sharpened chisels and gauges in my hands.
You see how bit by bit the instrument’s shape is revealed from the raw timber, and when the figure in the wood catches the light just right…
Precision measurement, flawless design, crisp outlines. The tuning up of the strings. A final tonal adjustment. There is a scent of whisky grounds, spirit and oil varnish in the air. Your instrument’s first test run…
I am passionate to empower my clients to live a life full of opportunity and free of constraints, so they can match their potential and inspire others to do the same. So it is wonderful to get you personally involved at key parts of the creative process and I am very proud to be one of a handful of instrument makers worldwide looking at the creating process from this angle.
And once the instrument is in the hands of the musician, it isn’t the end of the road, it only marks the beginning of the partnership!