Posted on July 8, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Post-Toronto Reflections Post-Toronto Reflections by Jeffrey R. Elliott Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly 6, #3, 1978 The Canadian-hosted classic guitar festival “Guitar ’78” has left me with several vivid impressions, some of which I felt might merit hearing through the Guild Quarterly. The range and scope of this event was extensive, and to merely remain with the pace was exhausting. While I had hoped to experience something of several other events also scheduled, I soon discovered that to participate in all the luthiers’ happenings meant to forego nearly every other event on the program. With the scheduled four hours of the guitar makers’ workshop each day, meals, the evening concerts, and precious little sleep, any shop talk or visiting with other luthiers meant overlapping with other classes and events. An expected sacrifice from my “Guitar ’75” experience, but extensive and exhausting nonetheless. Of the 600 or so in attendance perhaps 10% were luthiers: having some 60 luthiers around for 24 hours a day, every day for a week, as well as the scheduled 20 hours of lecture-discussion, rendered me totally susceptible and helpless, and I became absorbed in that unique blend of professional and social camaraderie experienced during both the 1977 G.A.L. convention and the “Guitar ’75” festival. Some fine friendships, and solid professional relationships as well, have had their beginnings at these events. The 1978 G.A.L. Convention/Exhibition and the Carmel Classic Guitar Festival ought to round out this year nicely. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 13, 2024May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Octet 2005: First Convention of the New Violin Family Association Octet 2005: First Convention of the New Violin Family Association by Alan Carruth Originally published in American Lutherie #85, 2006 The New Violin Family, also known as the Violin Octet, began more that fifty years ago with a request by composer Henry Brandt to Carleen Hutchins for instruments with the timbre of the violin in other tuning ranges. It has continued to be a collaborative effort between luthiers, scientists, composers, and musicians. The first convention of the New Violin Family Association was intended to extend that collaboration into new generations. The meeting was smaller than a GAL Convention, and this proved to be a plus. Many participants were already acquainted, and the rest soon got to know each other informally. Convention organizing committee chair and NVFA newsletter editor Robert Spear, along with the other organizers, provided ample opportunities for musicians, builders, and “techies” to get together. A good example was a comparison of Octet instruments with their conventional counterparts, where musicians offered critiques of the new instruments. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Carmel 1978: What it Was Carmel 1978: What it Was by David Russell Young Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Quarterly, Volume 7, #1, 1979 The Carmel Classic Guitar Festival (Nov. 3, 4, & 5) provided a valuable opportunity to exhibit guitars to a large number of interested amateurs and accomplished professionals, as well as a chance for interaction among the luthiers. Several guitars were sold or commissioned as a direct result of the exhibition. It was at the previous festival (May ’77) that I first met Jeff Elliott and was talked into joining the G.A.L. Prior to that time, I had worked pretty much in isolation and assumed it would always be like that. Now, through the G.A.L. conventions, the Carmel Festivals, and the friendships that grew out of them, I have a feeling of community with an expanding network of colleagues. The technical information and materials sources that have come out of this have been as valuable as the personal contact has been enjoyable. Another factor, pointed out by Steve Klein, is that being in the G.A.L. is almost like belonging to a union; you can find out what others of comparable abilities are getting for what work, and make appropriate adjustments. This is more important than it might seem at first glance, as some rather great disparities crop up. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 13, 2024May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Fourth International Puerto Rican Tiple Conference Fourth International Puerto Rican Tiple Conference by C.F. Casey Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 What am I doing here? I’ve never been a speaker at an international conference before! And it’s not in my native language! These thoughts raced through my head on the evening of February 11, 2006, as I sat at a long table in a restaurant in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Others present were my wife, singer-songwriter Kate Ferris; Tiple Conference founder José “Pepito” Reyes; and two dozen other Tiple Movement officials, conference organizers, speakers, and spouses. It was the pre-conference supper. It all started a year earlier, when American Lutherie editor Tim Olsen asked me to review a couple of books, one of which was in Spanish. As I had spent four years studying music in Mexico and still have a great love for the language, I was delighted. The book was El Tiple Puertorriqueño (see review in AL#81). In the course of writing the review, I needed the answers to a couple of questions and contacted author Pepito Reyes by phone. Thus began a correspondence that led to his inviting me to be a guest speaker at the Conference. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 1, 2021May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Trends: 1985 Lute Society Seminar Trends: 1985 Lute Society Seminar by Lawrence D. Brown Originally published in American Lutherie #3, 1985 The 1985 Lute Society Seminar in Oakland, Michigan, June 16-22, was attended by 50 students, 5 professional luthiers, 7 faculty, and 3 guest speakers. The students included serious amateurs, professional and semi-professional players, and rank beginners. They came from as far away as Japan, Europe, Canada, and England, providing a fascinating cross-section of players and instruments from around the world. Since many of those attending brought two or sometimes three instruments, a great many instrument makers were also represented. For me, as a full-time builder of lutes and other early instruments, it represented an unparalleled opportunity to examine the quality of instruments currently being made by a great variety of makers, and to identify any trends in playing techniques (which can greatly effect the mechanics of a musical instrument). Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
