January Rosettes Etc.
A handful of photos and a couple short videos from last month. Getting rosettes ready for new Torres/Hauser and Torres/Romanillos style guitars.
New Guitars, Festivals etc.
Just strung up two new of my Modern Concert Models. The main difference between these an my more traditional Torres/Hauser/Romanillos style instruments is that they are slightly larger, stiffer and meant to project in a bigger room. They are, however, still relatively traditional by today’s standards. Spanish construction with hide glue, fan bracing, french polish finish.
1. Spruce top, Indian rosewod back and sides, cedro neck with elevated fingerboard, ebony fingerboard, 650mm scale length, 52mm nut width, 58mm string spacing at bridge, Scheller tuning machines with snakewood buttons.
2. Spruce top, Indian rosewod back and sides, cedro neck with elevated fingerboard, ebony fingerboard, Soundport with cover, 640mm scale length, 52mm nut width, 58mm string spacing at bridge, Scheller tuning machines with snakewood buttons.
Very happy with how both of them turned out. I’ll be showing the first of the two by appointment in Köln Nov. 12-14th and then at the Antwerp Guitar Festival from Nov. 15-17th. Please contact me if you would like to make an appointment otherwise or see the guitars here in Graz. The second of the two is for a client and will be shipped out in roughly two weeks.
Green Guitar Youth Festival Graz
I’ve been falling a little behind with the website updates and I’m just now getting around to some events and photos from several weeks ago.
Last month, we had the fourth annual Green Guitar Youth Festival Graz. It’s organized by two friends of mine, local guitarists José Maria Obeso and Stefan Skrilecz. It’s a new, ambitious festival and keeps getting better every year! This year opened with a beatiful solo recital by Austrian guitarist Florian Palier featuring works off of his recent CD release Poetry and Colors. It was a real treat to hear him perfoming for the first time on the guitar that I recently made for him. It's not every day that we get to see such an expressive guitarist really testing the nuances, colors and dynamics of our instruments! The Second evening was a guitar and flute duo concert with Hugo Fernando González and Maria Beatrice Cantelli. It was an energetic and musical performance; one of the best renditions of Piazolla’s Histoire du Tango that I’ve seen live. The third evening was a Gypsy Jazz concert on the Murinsel featuring a new Selmer style guitar made by a friend of mine and fellow Grazer guitarbuilder Christoph Seewald. The Sunday matinee concert began with a variety of student ensembles and finished with Rodrigo’s Concerto Andaluz. Four guitars and orchestra! The fifth and final event was a CD release show by local jazz guitarist Stefan Oser at Churcill Bar. I get see him and José play there fairly often since I live just around the corner, but this was a special night with a whole slew of guest artists.
It was a great four days and I was really thankful to be a part of it and also get to see a bit more first-hand how much work this sort of thing can be to organize. They really did an awesome job with the whole thing.
New Videos!
My friend Stefan Steinhauser stopped by the shop a couple of weeks ago on one of the hottest days this summer to record a short piece on the guitar that I made for him this last year. It's one of his own compositions and a real ear-worm! One of five Bagatelles that will be featured on his upcoming album.
Also earlier this week, an excellent young guitarist Laura Molnar was in Graz for the day and stopped by the shop to record three of the five Bennett Impromptus. Great pieces and awesome playing! She's preparing for her entrance exams at music university in about a week and is obviously gonna do great!! Also recorded on his guitar.
Grieg Transcriptions
One of the things I love about guitar building is getting to know so many different people all working on different music and projects. One of my clients recently sent me a collection of songs that he arranged for guitar and voice by Edvard Grieg.
Ordering info here: www.guitarchambermusic.org/
Seckau Festival
The summer festival season is officially over! Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in and displaying an instrument at the Gitarrenfestival Seckau. Compared to some of the larger European festivals, it’s more of a camp style event. The participants, teachers an performers all stay in the Abbey for the week; everyone eats together and stays up late socializing which gives the festival a very local, personable and cozy atmosphere. It also doesn’t hurt that the location is an absolutely beautiful 12th century Benedictine monastery tucked away in the Austrian Alps. The participants work on solo, ensemble and orchestra pieces. There are a number of artist concerts in the evenings and a closing student concert at the end. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get away for a week and have an inspiring and encouraging environment to work on their guitar playing. Here are some photos and a link to a short feature on the local television news:
https://tvthek.orf.at/profile/ZIB-900/71256/ZIB-900/14020977/Gitarren-Festival-in-Seckau/14533893
Spruce/Ziricote Guitar
Recently finished and shipped out this CITES-free (appendix II) guitar. No import or export permit needing and no problems.
I’m very happy with how this one turned out. A lot of custom work and communication with the customer. It was a great experience that resulted and wonderful guitar. Here’s a little “review” from the client:
“…I’d say you build a very “musical” instrument, my friend, with a lyrical and articulate Old World voice, one that somehow manages to combine the clarity and precision of a Northern European guitar with the heart-grabbing “soul” of a Spanish one. It’s suitable for any type of music — contrapuntal, romantic, modern — and is just what I was looking for! The sound is bold and highly nuanced, with excellent clarity, balance and sustain. Even above the 12th fret, the trebles ring out evenly and with a very long decay. The notes carry weight, both individually and together, and there are no weak ones anywhere on the fingerboard that I can find. Trebles are bright, solid, and lively up the neck and don’t distort when played forte; mids are full and loaded with character; basses are deep and clear without any trace of muddiness. The whole package responds beautifully to vibrato everywhere. Overall, I think the sound is highly malleable, responding well to changes in right-hand attack and offering a color palette wide enough to satisfy any discriminating player. For a “traditional” guitar it has plenty of power, enough to fill a hall with clear. penetrating sound, making it a fine choice for the sort of recitalist who values color and beauty of tone above sheer volume. It’s a real winner, Michael, and I’m in love all over again!”
European spruce top
Ziricote back and sides
Spanish cedar neck with elevated fingerboard
Ebony fingerboard
Padouk bridge with 12 hole tie block and brass inserts
Scheller tuning machines
GFA, Heinsberg, Koblenz Summer Festival Season Recap
I was on the road for almost six weeks straight attending summer festivals and taking some vacation. It was a ton of fun, but I’m happy to be back home in Graz and getting back to work in the shop once I can recover from the jet-lag and a cold we all caught at the end. Here’s a bit of a recap.
GFA FESTIVAL
I’ll start with this since it’s freshest in my memory. I was admittedly bad about taking photos during the whole thing. The first ten photos are reposts from the GFA facebook site; I didn’t take them, but they are only from events that I attended. Apart from the weather in Miami feeling like a punch in the face, the festival was wonderful. This year’s guitar comparison was performed by Raphael Feuillatre and Xavier Jara. Their playing was perfect and the hall was particularly well suited to such an event.
I was unfortunately unable attend most of the afternoon concerts because I was back at the hotel with my one-year-old daughter :), but the evening concerts were all beautifully played. It was otherwise, great to catch up with some old guitar builder friends, players and competitors, as well as to make many new friends that I hope to keep in touch with at future festivals in the years to come. One thing that was strange, but interesting was that I kept ending up in sub-groups of German speakers. A big congrats to all the competitors and especially my two friends Michael Butten and Dmytro Olmechak, who I’ve gotten to know over the years of doing these festivals; they are awesome musicians and very nice people!
HEINSBERG FESTIVAL
Heisnberg festival and competition already seems like a million years away, but it was one of my favorite festivals of all. Hosted by the great Ukrainian guitarist Roman Viazovskiy, this biennial festival has a a cozier and more familial atmosphere. The performers, competitors, luthiers, concertgoers and volunteers all mix much more than in many of the larger festivals; the whole city has a part in it. These were some of the highlights: All of the concerts. Meeting the luthier Karl-Heinz Römmich, who is not only a great guitar builder, but somewhat of a strange polymath and extremely funny and generous person. A private guitar comparison with Roman Viazovskiy, Artyom Devroed and Qingchuan Li. Playing the only Hauser Viennese style guitar I know of with a cut-away :). Hanging out at the expo and festival bar with some other great luthiers Karl-Heinz Römmich, Hideo Sato, Steven Den Toom, Walter Verreydt, Götz Bürki and Jean Marquet.
SEATTLE
Seattle was a whirlwind mostly of visiting family and friends, but I did make a few work related stops. I went up to the Rosewood guitar shop to drop of a guitar and visit with the owner Bill Clements and some of my old friends there. While I was there, I managed to play and briefly inspect a couple of beautiful 1980’s Ruck guitars from the private collection. My friend and fellow luthier, Max Sipe came up from Portland and we grilled on the lake, drank beers and talked guitars. I also visited Michael Partington and nerded out on guitars from his collection. Last but not least, I visit my friend Ryan Layne Whitney, who just acquired a new/old forte piano. In addition to that, he now has, in his two bedroom downtown apartment, a baby grand piano, a double manual harpsichord, a lute harpsichord and about 5 clavichords and a few other historical keyboard oddities. If you are into that kind of thing, then you should check out his youtube channel.
KOBLENZ FESTIVAL
I was only able to attend the first few days of the Koblenz because I had to get back home to my family, but it was great to be back again and to lounge along the Rhein/Mosel at the Beer gardens with the other guitar builders. The concerts were great. I particularly enjoyed Lukasz Kuraposcewski’s afternoon concert. And, of course, catching up with my old Graz guitar buddies that I met in German class, Miguel Mandelli. Still sad that he moved away, but happy he is doing well and now studying in Köln.
That’s it for now. I probably forgot a lot of stuff, but that’s already a lot. Hope it’s interesting or helpful for people that don’t make it out to these things, but are interested in checking out some of these other great guitarists and guitar builders!
Festivals
Flying out bright and early tomorrow morning! I'll be showing this guitar at the Heinsberg Guitar Festival and directly after for the first half of the Koblenz Guitar Festival in Germany.
-Spruce top
-Indian Rosewood back and sides
-Spanish cedar neck
-Ebony fingerboard
-650mm scale length
-52mm nut width/62mm width at the 12th fret
-43mm string spacing at nut/57 at the saddle
-Scheller tuning machines with snakewood buttons
