![]() “I wouldn’t be surprised if instrument workshop in China was producing instruments that in the U.S. ![]() “It’s laughable how much rebranding and mismatching and criss-crossing is going on,” adds Jason Torreano, product manager for the string brand of the Music Group (formerly Boosey & Hawkes Musical Instruments), which sells its Chinese instruments under the Andrew Schroetter brand. “We have suppliers who have family-owned workshops and others who will deal with anyone.” “We don’t know where the workshop is unless our suppliers tell us,” explains Matt Zeller, an apprentice violin maker at Donley Violins in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like many domestic manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, Southwest Strings has become an active partner with the Chinese violin industry, selling both factory-produced instruments under the Klaus Mueller label and workshop-made instruments in the Yuan Qin line.Įven the stores that carry these instruments don’t always know who has made them. “I’ve been to dozens of them, and I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface,” reports Stephen Sheppard, president and owner of Tucson, Arizona-based retailer Southwest Strings. Yet it’s impossible to say how many workshops and factories in China are making and manufacturing stringed instruments. Since then, however, those instruments have taken the market by storm-especially at the introductory student level-thanks to a combination of improvements in quality and low prices made possible by cheap labor costs. market now hail from a country far removed geographically and culturally from the European tradition of string music, and this Asian nation has become a major lutherie center.Īs recently as five years ago, there was little love for Chinese-made violins among American instrument buyers and sellers. ![]() Indeed, thousands of stringed instruments on the U.S. But no matter how European-sounding their names, many of these shiny new stringed instruments on display in stores throughout the United States share a common origin: China. They’re sold under such names as Andreas Eastman, Johannes Köhr, Andrew Schroetter, and countless others. The violins, violas, cellos, and double basses can be found in shops from Berkeley, California, to Des Moines, Iowa, from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina. ![]() You will study a range of subjects such as wood machining, Jig making, advanced major repairs, practical acoustics and materials testing, finishing and instrument construction.The Asian nation has become a major player in the US stringed-instrument market You will research and develop methods to enhance the manufacturing process using jigs and machinery, this will further develop your craft skills, improve quality and increase production. This will enable the development of practical skills and provide knowledge and understanding regarding the rationalisation of working methods in a similar way to the production methods found in small workshops. You will produce a minimum of two instruments during the course. ![]() The general aim of the HND Musical Instrument Making and Repair course is to prepare you for working in the industry by examining and utilising some of the production methods used in a small workshop environment. ![]()
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