The craft of luthier is complex. It requires solid knowledge in music, sculpture, painting, acoustics, history. The luthier uses all his senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell. All these faculties together will allow an experienced luthier to transform a few kilos of very well chosen wood into some 350 grams of pure sound for a violin.
Craftsmen of genius, such as Andrea Amati, Antonio Stradivari, Giuseppe Guarneri del’ Gesu’, raised this utilitarian object to the rank of a work of art, in a period between the 16th and 18th centuries. These instruments did not remain in their original state, they had to undergo transformations in line with musical evolution. Any designer of musical instruments is part of a triangle. The composer, who imagines the sound, the performer who creates it, the luthier who makes it physically possible. This is an essential notion to understand before starting to build a violin, a viola, a cello or a double bass. The best luthiers in history have always worked closely with composers and performers.
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