In Australia, craftsman Richard Hall made a violin from local wood
In Korumburra, in Australia’s South Gippsland region, stringed-instrument maker Richard Hall spent six months handcrafting a custom violin from Australian hardwood. The instrument, made using traditional woodworking methods, was received by local musician Ellen Gubble, ABC News Australia reports.
Hall, 59, owns the Black Creek Music Merchants music shop. He plays banjo in the shop window and makes instruments in a workshop behind the store. There is glue, wood shavings, planes of various sizes, and stringed instruments at different stages of work.
The craftsman’s experience
Hall learned to make guitars at the age of 19, shortly after finishing school. He later gave music lessons, taught woodworking at a secondary school, and at the same time set up a small workshop. According to him, he had always enjoyed creating things using his acquired carpentry skills.
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When the craftsman’s son Tony began playing the violin, Hall repaired his instruments in a shed and tried to make instruments that would match his son’s level. Tony later mastered the viola and now plays in a Finnish chamber orchestra.
A violin for Ellen Gubble
Ellen Gubble entered Hall’s shop on its opening day and immediately ordered a violin. She said that having a stringed-instrument maker nearby had become important for local musicians. Gubble only began learning to play the violin in her late 40s. Her grandfather, a German-Jewish refugee, arrived with his wife and daughter with almost no belongings, but he had a violin with him.
During the work, Hall sent the customer photographs of the selected wood and invited her to watch the manufacturing process. Before handing over the finished instrument, the craftsman was nervous and asked his son, whom he described as a good performer, to assess the violin. Gubble said that holding her own instrument for the first time was an emotional moment for her, and highly praised the combination of Australian materials and European style.
