The first step in making new guitars is choosing wood. I sorted through my stash of american rosewood and checked that my back and side matching was still to my liking and chose the wood for the next batch of instruments. I still have some very nice wood and just love getting it out, smelling it and seeing how it responds to the tools. I’ll be making three Santos copies and one maple Torres copy. I still make the Torres quite regularly but I might well end up making more Santos than Torres. Here are two photos of the latest Santos copy I made.
Tag Archives: luthery
Welcome to Almeria
Antonio de Torres’ house
I took a little trip to Almeria yesterday and spent the day with Carlos González, Aarón García, Pepe Zapata and, of course, Antonio de Torres Jurado. The importance of Almeria in terms of guitar-making is not limited to Torres but he does represent the focal point and one of their few international references from the past. However, the fact that the town council agreed some years ago to establish a museum dedicated to his memory is a huge coup given the spanish tendency to ignore the guitar as a money-maker, tourist draw and cultural reference. We stopped in to visit the Casa Museo de Antonio de Torres in la Cañada and although there wasn’t much to see there are plans to organize some activities there in the near future. For now a peña flamenca meets there on a regular basis. The highlight of the day was an extensive tour of the Antonio de Torres museum in Almeria itself. The occasion was the exhibition “Cinco siglos de la guitarra española” centered around an incredible guitar by Thomás Durán from 1684. 
This is the oldest guitar from Spain! At least as far as reliably dated instruments go. I found the documentation displayed quite interesting as one display case showed publications about the Durán guitar and another showed the first literature dedicated to the guitar. Some of the more interesting instruments which can be seen in the museum right now are a guitars by Panormo, Roudhloff, Maccaferri, Aubert a Troyes; these all recently donated to the museum by an English collector. There are a few well-made copies of interesting instruments and a few more minor pieces and a very unusual Torres guitar.
The exhibition was organized by Carlos González, well-known maker of early instruments and tireless historical researcher. It was a pleasure to spend some time with him and to learn more about the history of the museum and his plans to expand the collection and the activities offered there.
Pepe Zapata, Carlos González and Aarón García
El Decameron Negro – Javier Riba
This piece by Leo Brouwer is very important to me. It represents the best of contemporary guitar, is a flagship for compositions from the New World and is my favourite Brouwer piece. I have only ever met him in passing but have enjoyed him as a composer and conductor and been inspired by him for years. I heard El Decameron Negro in Montreal at about the same time I began classical guitar lessons (1987?) and was hooked. I ran out and bought a recording by Jorge Oraison and the sheet music shown in the photo. Only at 22 could I have ever believed that learning to play this was within my possibilities. As you can see I still have the sheet music and still pull it out every now and then and try to understand how the beauty of Ballade de la Demoiselle Amoureuse can possibly be distilled into the black and white that I see on the page. Speaking of that 3rd movement, if you are not really a fan of guitar or music in general just jump to 9:00 and listen to that. For the rest of you listen to the whole thing from start to finish, won’t disappoint.
So here we are over 30 years later and I still can’t play the music but I can make the perfect guitar to play it on and I have a dear friend who plays it beautifully. Thank you Javier!
Satisfaction
We live for creating beautiful instruments and selling them to great players. Hearing truly beautiful music played on an instrument that you have made is as good as it gets. However, since so many of them go far away I find satisfaction often comes from something closer to home . Completing an instrument and hearing the first golden notes is definitely a high but just admiring the beauty of the wood we work with is food for the soul as well.
Thomas Durán 1684
The Antonio de Torres Museum has organized an exhibition “Five centuries of the Spanish guitar” with a guitar made by Thomas Durán as its central piece. I am looking forward to attending later this month if I can manage it. The main strength of the museum as I have experienced it is the temporary exhibitions as well the concerts and conferences organised by the Sociedad Guitarrística de Almería – Antonio de Torres. In this case the person responsible for the exhibition is the luthier Carlos González from Almeria.