A Few Words About Our Instruments

What distinguishes these instruments is the clarity and power of their speech, the solidity and power of their basses, the richness of their trebles. The sound is transparent, to reveal contrapuntal textures, yet focused so that the instrument can be heard when it is used with stringed instruments, or fill a concert hall with presence.

It seems to us that these are the qualities that we have every right to assume in the early keyboard instruments, yet the realization is so rare that concert and record critics (who never notice the instrument) have been moved to single our harpsichords out for praise. "Tant de perfection tient du miracle. Le splendide D. Jacques Way clavecin sonne comme bien de clavecins ..." writes the critic for Le monde de la musique (Paris). James Parsons of Opus mentioned "a magnificently even-toned harpsichord by D. Jacques Way..."; and we could quote many, many more.

The design and structure of these instruments follow the harpsichords, clavichords and fortepianos that have come down to us from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If we have been successful in capturing their qualities, it is through trying to understand the tradition out of which the old instruments came, rather than through any talents of our own. We have not made any 'exact copies' of particular old instruments--that seems to us to be a blind alley that leads to 'fake antiques', worthless imitations.

The problem is not to copy the physical dimensions of a masterpiece, but to make a masterpiece. One may fail--but what else is worth the effort? We cannot find that any of the old masters ever copied anyone, not even themselves. They did, however, learn from one another, and take everything of value they could make their own--and by making it their own they paid all debts.

There are no 'secrets' to the making of a fine instrument, but there are degrees of understanding. Until you 'get enough things right', no one thing can make much difference to the sound of an instrument. Once you get enough things right, every single thing makes a difference. To get enough things right, you must understand the music, the tradition you are working in, the materials, and you must be able to hear and remember instrumental sound, to think in terms of sound the way a composer thinks about harmony and counterpoint.

You cannot learn all you need to know by making an instrument or two--or even a dozen. Nor can it be in isolation, by the lonely genius working on a mountain top. You need intimate contact with the finest professional musicians (without maximum drivers to test the machine, you cannot make a maximum machine). You need access to the finest materials--you cannot make a fine instrument from lumber you buy in the local lumber yard, nor with wire you buy from the hardware store. You must make enough instruments so that you can compare, learn and remember; one person working all by himself cannot learn this trade in one lifetime.