Festival de la Guitarra de Granada

It’s here!

The work on the Torres Invencible is coming along although I have other projects and making new molds and jigs is very time-consuming. Here is the rosette just before installing in the top. It is very simple and very narrow but the colours and the combination of elements is perfect. There seem to be two kinds of guitar-makers: one that tries basically makes a new rosette for every guitar and the other that tries to establish a signature which will tell buyers who made the guitar. Torres was of the first type while I am more the second. My approach is to develop a rosette which will identify me as the maker of the guitar that you hold in your hands. There may be changes over time as my aesthetic sense improves or as I learn something new which helps me to better define my expression. However, as I am asked to copy more and more historic instruments I find myself making many types of rosettes as I delve into the work of past masters. As a rough calculation I think I have made something like 20 different rosettes since I began. In a past post called Artistry or Craftsmanship I posted photos of some of these rosettes. Some makers have made as many rosettes as guitars but that seems to me to be overkill as the decorative elements of the rosette have no funcional purpose in the guitar; a series of concentric rings is just as effective architecturally as a complicated mosaic. Some even attach so little importance to the rosette that they order their own design in pre-fabricated rosettes, something that I can never see myself doing.

This past weekend the Music Conservatory in Granada hosted a guitar-makers show just as they did last year and invited all of us to take an instrument to be played publicly. The idea is that the students can hear these instruments and afterwards try them out if they so desire. The association organized the participants and got the word out to the makers but as always participation could have been better; only 12 makers signed up. Guitarist Adam Marec did the honours and played the same pieces on each of the guitars and there were clearly some differences in quality of sound.

This was all part of the 2º Guitar Encuentro which we hope will be an annual affair. Thank you to the Real Conservatorio Superior Victoria Eugenia and to the Asociación para el estudio de la guitarra.

Vicente Coves of the European Guitar Foundation has announced that the Granada Guitar  Festival will be repeated this year and that the competition will be held 8–10 AUGUST, 2018  http://www.europeanguitarfoundation.com/Antonio-Marin-Guitar-Making-Competition-2018/Bases/ It looks as though the jury will be much the same as last year and since they did a great job I won’t be complaining about that aspect. The only category this year is classical perhaps in response to the lumping together of the classical and flamenco in the previous edition. I would imagine that some of the same makers will be back this year and I hope participation is even better.This photo shows some of the jury members just before the start of the competition last year.