WOODWORKER OCTOBER
1991, pages 1026 & 1027 by Zachary Taylor
THE MUSIC MAKERS
Many
makers of musical instruments cannot play their own
creations. However Zach Taylor has met a host of musicians who make
instruments, and now, in the first of an occasional series on such
craftspeople, he meets Christophe Toussaint who makes the
Épinette des Vosges.
Christophe
Toussaint was born in
1959, in Gérardmer in the Vosges. He trained as a cabinet
and
instrument maker, and took from his grand-father Marcel Gaspard, who
was
the last representative of the tradition of épinette making
in
the country of Gérardmer. A professionnal instrument maker
since
1978, he specialised in making épinette des Vosges, both
copies
of traditional instruments, and new creations, aimed at teaching. He
completed his training (maîtrise) in 1990 and was awarded the
"Prix lorrain à l'innovation" in 1993. He also runs courses
for
instrument making and playing, both in schools and in his own
workshop.In 1989, he obtained a State diploma in traditional music
teaching (épinette option), and works as a teacher in music
schools in his region. He plays in concerts in France and abroad. He
too, uses his own instruments.
The
term 'luthier', acceptably pronounced in either its French,
or, English form, is now accepted universaily to mean 'maker of musical
instruments'. Originally, it meant one who made, exclusively, the lute,
which comes from the arabic 'al'ud', meaning literally 'the Wood'.
Despite a
fairly natural assumption that instrument makers are
likely to play the instruments that they make, this is hardly ever the
case. The skills needed for using tools to fashion wood, after all,
have nothing what so ever to do with music, nor, vice-versa.
I will admit, however, that
the basic knowledge of how the musical
instrument functions is very desirable, and in my own case it is
fundamental, since I was a professional player before I made my first
guitar.
The
group of people that are both luthier-musicians is therefore
very interesting with two important facets of involvement in the art of
music-making; at once independent, yet interdependent. My good fortune
has been to know several of this endangered species, most of them
living in out-of-the-way, out-of-the-limelight, situations, and opening
the portals of their lives very little, and very rarely.
If you are seized with the
urge to acquire an Épinette des
Vosges, or indeed if you only require to know what on earth it is, the
chances are that you will need to devote some time to research.
Folk-musicians,
confronted with this musical instrument for the
first time, might be forgiven for calling it a type of Appalachian
dulcimer, but at this point we need some terminological clarification.
When looking into the family of instruments which are called
'dulcimer', that is the variety that is plucked, rather than hammered,
we discover that it is not a dulcimer at all. But by definition,
musical instruments which have:
plucked strings;
a fretted
fingerboard;
are rested across the lap or on a
table; are part of the zither
family.They are also the basis of early keyboard instruments, the
spinet for instance. And that is the clue to the épinette,
(French for 'spinet') and of course the rest of the nomenclature tells
us that its origins are in the Vosges, the range of mountains in the
east of France.
Imagine it is Springtime. Having ambled through beautiful
Picardy
and sampled true champagne on your way to Switzerland, let's hope you
have time to visit Gérardmer, an attractive resort with a
huge
lake, surrounded by pretty, tree-clad mountains.
En route, from the village
of Sapois, look out for a hand-written
sign to the workshop of the luthier Christophe Toussaint, one of the
very few makers of the Épinette des Vosges.
I found him sitting in the
Spring sunshine, playing with his
children, with the air of relaxed bonhomie, typical of those who have
found contentment in a craft.
Christophe has
created a life-style that many might envy, in that
he is master of the necessary to make his instruments, with his
well-equipped workshop attached to his home, and surrounded by all the
raw materials he could ever want. Add to this, his art in playing and
composing for the Épinette des Vosges, coupled with tuition
given to young players, and you have a remarkable example of te true
music-maker!
A typical Épinette des
Vosges is a slender rectangular box
about 660 cm in length; standing some 6Omm high and about 75mm wide
(26"
X 2 3/8" X 2 15/16"). It has six strings running along the top, which
serves as both the soundboard and fretboard. Wire frets are let into
the top (beneath the first three strings), and arranged to play a
diatonic scale, that is, a white-note scale without sharps. These three
strings may be 'stopped' by either pressing down with the fingers of
the left hand; or by using a small stick about as big as a pencil. The
right hand then strums all six strings creating a melodic effect from
the higher, stopped, strings and a rhythmic drone from the lower
pitched adjacent strings which are unstopped, or, 'open'. Normally,
strings that play the tune are called the Chanterelles, and
those that play the accompanying drone, the Bourdons. This
is so for most stringed instruments which have the facility to play a
melodic line with accompaniment.
There are many variations on this arrangement of
strings and
fretting. Some of the possibilities for additional frets to increase
the
chromatic range, with sharps and flats, have been developed by
Christophe. He is a man alert to the possibilities of improvement, but
sensitive to traditional confines in what is an essentially folkloric
element.
Let
us dwell for a moment on the frets. They are made from plain
round brass wire, and laid across the fingerboard with each end tucked
into holes in the fingerboard, pulled through and turned over to keep
the fret flat and secure. Simple and effective.
Christophe Toussaint learned
to work wood as a student of his
grandfater who was a furniture-maker, and who obviously laid down for
his grandson some fine fundamental techniques and, no doubt, some
inspiration as his master. It ought not to come as a surprise that
conversion from furniture-making to musical instruments is a fairly
natural affair. There are many instruments which are very uncomplicated
in terms of acoustic science, and very accessible to cabinetmaking or
joinery. They may be excellent as vehicles for fine craftsmanship and
opportunities for individual expressions of design and technology.
Take for
instance some of the ideas incorporated into the
epinettes from Christophe. He has a student model, which has a musical
stave printed at the end of the instrument, with the hitch-pins, to
which the strings are attached, placed so that they are located on the
printed slave relevant to the recommended string-pitch. This means that
if you are unsure of the tuning you may refer to the illustration as a
permanent rnemory-jogger.
There are others with raised, Braille notation on
the fingerboard
to make this delightful instrument readily playable by blind musicians.
As mentioned
above, materials for the luthier are plentiful and
various. In keeping with all stringed instruments there is the need for
spruce or similar straight-grained softwood, to make a responsive
soundboard and the quality of the mountain-grown, consistent,
narrow-grained spruce from this area is excellent. There is also cherry
and sycamore, for the backs and sides, where a strong, reflective
contribution is required. Walnut is available for the head of the
instrument which carries the tuning gear, and holly forte bridge which
conveys the vibrations of the strings to the soundboard.
The excellent finish on all
the instruments I saw in the small
showroom next to the workshop, was enhanced by a transparent cellulose
varnish, not the sticky-looking kind, but a satin type, smooth to the
touch.
The
tuning gear is of the conventional guitar variety, with steel
rollers around which the metal strings are wound for adjustment to
pitch.
In
addition to the Épinette des Vosges, Christophe also
makes the langleik, and Appalachian dulcimer, near-relatives in the
same family, and some varieties of harp. He believes in encouraging
others to create their own music and their own instruments and to
further their developments, produces books of music and one on making
the épinette. He also takes students in his workshop for
those
who need the personal attention of the master.
As I took my last look at
the attractive setting of the Toussaint
home with its ground floor workshop, cradled by the green-mantled
mountains, and blessed peace, I remembered the saying from a lecture by
Ernerson: "If a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or
make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, though he build his house
in the forest, the world will beat a footpath to his door."
Lucky for Christophe
Toussaint that he is not sermonising or
making mousetraps, or that quiet path to his door would soon need
Tarmac.