Official Luthiers Forum!

Video presentation about the construction of bridge for bouzouki, acoustic and folk guitar musical instruments
[youtube]https://youtu.be/m1dKPvnAUZw[/youtube]
(spoken language Greek with English subtitles)

The aim of this presentation is not only to create a video with techniques around instrument construction; after all, there is so much information on the Internet that any such addition would be superfluous.

The ‘space’ of the ‘world café’ allows for dissemination of information which is mostly offered without any documentation, a fact that makes necessary a strict assessment of it.

Moreover, the overwhelming majority of similar information focuses on the manner, namely, how an instrument is constructed. On the contrary, theoretical studies with adequate documentation on why this or that should be done, i.e., what is the cause, the reasoning for adopting this or that technique, are extremely limited.

If theory were not so neglected, it would be easier for us to evaluate, to transform the technical information into fruitful and evolving knowledge.

Of course, the talent, inventiveness and functional capacity of a craftsman will always be the self-evident conditions or, if you prefer, the virtues sine qua non for a maker. If these indispensable qualifications are completed through the acquisition and gradual incorporation of the theory which without exaggeration is vast, then the maker will be in a position to design and, to a great extent, secure the sound pursued and, what is more, well before the completion of the instrument.

In such a way, I believe, randomness can be limited and, thus, a maker can become a luthier who will serve more efficiently the unappreciated art of creating musical sounds, namely, the primary material of music which is the essential purpose of luthery. I hope the work that will be presented by us will contribute to bridging this gap -since we will speak about bridges- with whichever weight is accorded to it. That is, I hope that it will be added to that particular side of the scale, so as to somewhat balance the glaring asymmetry between practical application and theory. I include myself among those who believe that theory and practice are not opposite but, necessarily, complementary concepts.

by Christos Spourdalakis
Greek Luthier

_________________
Christos Spourdalakis

Neorion Music Workshop - Handmade music instruments
www.music-instruments.gr

Very nice presentation.
Interesting information on the types of bridges used on the Bouzouki and how the materials affect the sound of the instruments.
Thank you for posting it.