PHILHARMONIE

What does it sound like?

Some shots showing the Brescian method of construction that uses no inside form or cornerblocks

In this third and last blogpost by Daniel Hoffman, he talks about the details and what happens if you don´t take care of them. If you missed Part I (“It sounds like bitter-sweet dark chocolate”) and Part II (The Italian sound), you definitely should have a look at them!

Its All Details!!! There must be a million of them, they are so small! From exactly how the tree is harvested and handled to selective localized polishing of the dark amber topcoat of varnish thats been curing for the last 6 weeks …better still 2 months, depending on the time of year and whether we are in New York or Madrid … More

The Italian sound

Second part of the series dedicated to the discovery of a luthier’s work. In this blogpost, Daniel Hoffman takes you step by step through the whole instrument-creating process. If you missed Part 1, have a look HERE.

The steps or method used to construct an instrument depend entirely on the “school” of the model being made. Since my personal interest is in the Italian sound of 1550-1750 I use the methods employed by the three leading schools of that era – Brescia, Cremona and Venice. The Cremonese method almost always involved the use of an inside form or mold as introduced by Andrea Amati. The Brescians, on the other hand, rarely used More

“It sounds like bitter-sweet dark chocolate”

picture by Daniel Hoffmann

Daniel Hoffman is luthier. A passion he follows for more than 30 years now. Asked to describe this fascination, Daniel explains: “I love this thing called lutherie, it’s such a huge world of wonder, history, creativity, science, alchemy,and woodworking on its way to becoming Music. “

Lucky and happy to know such an enthusiastic man as Daniel, I  availed myself of this opportunity to ask him some more questions about his work.
Daniel gave me so much information, such detailed answers, that I decided to split them up in three blogpost. Feel free to visit his facebook page www.facebook.com/danielhoffmanluthier !

So, in this blogpost (Part I), Daniel explains you why he likes the collaboration with the musicians and describes what sort of woods he uses to build his instruments. More

Stadivari, Guarneri, Guadagnini & Co. Why are they still that special?

photo (c) Daniel Hoffman

What makes a good violin, cello or viola? What makes a Stradivari or a Guadagnini that special? Who better than a luthier could answer these questions? We asked the American luthier Daniel Hoffman * ! More