‘[How long have I been doing this?] Good question. I have been coming to the workshops since I was a child. My mum used to leave me there after picking me up from the kindergarten. It was then that I began learning the jargon, playing with tools, making some toys for myself, carving in wood. Then I was helping my dad and grandad. Being with them and helping them was definitely a great pleasure for me. When I was in secondary school, I worked with my dad at the workshop during the holidays. I don’t know exactly when I got bitten by the bug.’
Table of contents
‘To make a new violin I do not use wood younger than 120 years old. This wood has been seasoned by my family so it is still the one bought by my great-grandfather. There is still some of it left.’
‘When it comes to making an instrument, the technology is similar to the one used in Amati’s or Stradivarius’ times so it dates back to, let’s say, the 17th Wood processing has not changed since then, apart from the fact that our tools are made from steel that is of better quality.’
‘Factories dedicate no more than 3-4 hours of work to make an instrument. [At the workshop] making an instrument takes about two months, excluding the time needed for varnishing. And that’s two months of working every day.’
