Other Instruments
The instruments on this page represent the skills learned during 12 years of attendance on the Musical Instrument Making short course at West Dean College.
Click on the headings below for further details :
This Hurdy Gurdy was largely made during two sessions on the Musical Instrument Making short course at West Dean College. The instrument is based on an original French instrument made by J.N.Lambert in Paris in 1781. The plans for the instrument were prepared and researched by the course tutors, Andrew Butterworth and Geoff Bowers.
The body, head, key box and wheel cover of the instrument are made from sycamore. The key box lid and other 'dark wood' veneers are made from Indian Rosewood.
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The Violin is based on an instrument made by Guarneri del Gesu (1698 -
Four sessions of the Musical Instrument Making short course at West Dean College have been spent on the instrument. The work has been carried out under the guidance of Tony and Louise Padday.
The instrument is almost complete. All that remains is final scraping and sanding before varnishing and setting up.
PICTURE NOT YET AVAILABLE
This Harp was made during my second period as a student on the Musical Instrument Making short course at West Dean College under the instruction of Gordon Jones.
The instrument is based on the traditional Celtic Harp (the Clarsach). The sound box is made from Ripple Ash with Black Bean inlay and a spruce sound board. The frame is made from Beech. Originally such an instrument would have been strung with gut strings; this one is strung with nylon strings.
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Two sessions of the Musical Instrument Making short course at West Dean College have been spent on the instrument so far. The work has been carried out under the tuition of Zachary Taylor. The text book for this course element was "Make and Play a Lute" by Zachary Taylor.
The construction is also described in "Making Early Stringed Instruments" by Zachary
Taylor (Stobart Davies Ltd., ISBN 0-
The instrument is almost complete. All that remains is the addition of a finger board before final scraping/sanding, varnishing and setting up.
