WORKING HANDS FOR DREAMS AND OVATIONS. Argentinean Luthiers perpetuating the fine art of instrument’s construction.

Music emerges, that divine sound. And behind it, music instruments appear, the cradle of the acoustic enjoyment, of the art that transform silence in wonders. In Argentina, music instruments are built with a quality that invites them to cross seas and continents. In the immortal genres of the academy repertoire with European marks, as well as in the roots of the American sound landscape. Distinguished harmony generated from the classic scores. Rhythmical from our latitudes, diverse and enchanting joined to the wind and land’s clamor in endless melodies. Two argentine teachers, in the construction and restoration of music instruments, offer their testimony between aromas of carob tress, silver furs and tools for beauty. Builders of wonderful collection pieces which have waken up ovations in the most diverse contexts, makers of art fountains that originate music. Hands which are already creating unique pieces; magnificent harmonies for Argentina and the world.

Classicall, baroque and eminently precise. With German roots, Rolando Kraemer is a luthier of violins and cord instruments for academic genres since he was 30 years old. He was born in Buenos Aires and lived in Europe for 25 years. Nowadays, he runs his studio with Mariel DeCristoforis, his mate and assistant. Instruments of incalculable value have passed over his hands, and the Master, living in Córdoba, offers his experience and wisdom to every “little musical human being” that he assists as a luthier. “I dedicate myself to the complete construction and restoration of every instrument from the group of the violin, cello, viola, double bass; and I am a builder of bows. I formed as a luthier in France. For repairing you must know how an instrument is since its beginning, which demands us a deep study, and it is in those moments when the vocation is evident. You must investigate in the history and trajectory of the author instruments”. A litlle wood stick appears, the soul of the violin. “This little piece so simple but, at the same time, fundamental, is made of silver firs from the Alps. With this wood the harmonic cover of the instrument is made, as well as its “soul”: a stick of wood that joins the cover with the bottom of the box. Thanks to that little stick all that harmonic box has resonance, for transmitting the sound that we are looking for. It is located inside the box, is a very important effort of the instrument and for the luthier”. A luthier is a retailer person by nature. The sound is a legendary chapter apart. “Formulas from 5 centuries ago used are; each luthier must render the instrument and use knowledge”. Rolando tells about the hours he listens his piece once he has finished it. A restore person or instrument builder for classicall and baroque music must keep that legacy of glorious musical centuries and bring them back to the present days.“For me an instrument is a living being, with tendencies for moving, transforming and changing according the weather. You care about it and have a nearness similar as the one with a person, without any doubt”. The construction of instruments perpetuates the music coming from centuries. “My brother Manfredo has a viola from 1680 that his master had in Germany, the one I copied. It was a hard work of study and building, I liked the result very much”. And the bow, the triumphal element of an instrument, is in these days the creative specialty of Kraemer. “It is the responsible of a 35% of the final sound of the violin. In the bow and the cords is the most permanent part of the instrument. The bristles or hair of the bow come from horses of Mongolia, Canada, Liberia or the Patagonia”. Magnificent bows for the triumph in concerts and sceneries.

Hands with love from the Altiplano

Jorge Gastón is a fine artist in love with the argentine altiplano. With the sonorous roots of the primitive founders of our land, Gastón uses new techniques and all his knowledge in the permanent evolution of the aboriginal sound of Argentina. Double charango, ronrocos with quenas (pipes) in one piece, queñachos, erkes and sikus made of wood selected by a wise person from the forests. Jorge Gastón, a luthier who, without any doubt has taken roots in our North land, with innovating hands towards the XXI Century. “My specialty was originated from a total passion for instruments. I am a musician in love with the Altiplano. I had to bring the instruments from Bolivia, which are nice but too regional. I learned with my own hands, I made my investigation, and was born in me the personal style I wanted to offer. Charangos with quenas in only one piece of wood. A unique sound and the comfort of the musician are appreciated. For his multiple creations, Gastón uses the same stalk, one inseparable part. The autochthonous wind instruments, the quena, the erke, the sikus, the erquencho, maintain the wind inside of them. Because of this, Jorge has traveled through the gorges and valleys of the Altiplano and studied them each by each with deep passion.

Jorge`s hands carry tradition, an own folklore of his town. “The landscapes, the habits, the people and their absolute politeness, are the things I try to show on my models”. A unique artist in the world, with the northern wind as a sonorous inspiration. “To build instruments for music is to me a feeling and I show it in every piece. All my effort is in the visual and in the handicraft aspects as well as in the sound precision. I put all my love in it because it is something very deep. That is why I now use inca pictures, a fascination for Machu Pichu. An erke with inca graphics is surrounded by an aboriginal spirit. For Jorge, the instruments are unique collection pieces. The master respects ancient traditions, construction and restoration rituals originated in our roots. Even in African percussion and drums, he keeps the most handicraft part of the luthier. “I believe that a person is born to do this. I use my instincts very much, my mark and my signature”, says the luthier. Bass drums and djembes with tanned leathers by Jorge himself. The master has been recognized in foreign countries, for his creations of fines collectors. With Jorge Gastón the future of the autochthonous argentine sound is in good hands. A new model of “moseño”, a blowing instrument with a history in Asia, Bolivia and Argentina. One piece of wood with charango, ronroco, quena and a guitar in it. “I am studying the materials and the sizes, the ancestors knew about scales and measures. It is my dreamed instrument.”

DESTACADOS: “You must know how an instrument is since its beginning, which demands us a deep study, and it is in those moments when the vocation is evident”. Rolando Kraemer.

“The landscapes, the habits, the people and their absolute politeness, are the things I try to show on my models”. Jorge Gastón.