Over the course of the last few years, several readers, friends, and family have asked me why I've still not finished this instrument, including Ernie Miller, creator of The Harpsichord Project eBook. This is a legitimate question that I'd like to address briefly now. First of all, I was only ever a player of the instrument when I found Ernie's eBook on the Interwebs. Granted, I had worked wood since I was 12 years old, yet making a harpsichord was not something I had ever pursued in my youth or adulthood. Boy howdy, am I glad I took it up and, over the years, it has turned into more than woodworking for me.
Let me explain: While I deeply appreciate the kickstart Ernie gave me with his wonderful book, I ended up meeting Owen Daly in one of the FB harpsichord groups. When I noticed his shop was located in Salem, Oregon, I immediately requested a visit and Owen was kind enough to accommodate me. That's when things got serious. Owen is a masterful builder of harpsichord-class instruments and boasts a 40+ year history of making instruments that are sublime and eminently playable. It was an honor to make his acquaintance and having him guide me through rethinking making and playing has been one of the best long-term experiences of my life.
As most of you know, I do not have my own long history of making these wonderful instruments. I did not apprentice in a famous shop or even build one from a kit before I started this project. Like most things I do, I jumped in with both feet in a kind of ready-fire-aim approach that has not necessarily served me well over the years, yet that's how I roll. I'm working on it, but I ain't no spring chicken, so no guarantees. At first, I was an organist studying with Dr. Lee Garrett at Lewis and Clark College in the early 80s. Part of my education there afforded me opportunities to become familiar with world-class players and instruments, including a beautiful Flemish double (a Will?) at the school.
But, really, that was it for many years. Granted, I had owned a red-and-black-metal-and-plexi Baldwin debacle in the mid-80s and played harpsichord if and when I could find one. The organ was my primary instrument - and still is - yet this wonderful stringed instrument has worked its way into my heart. As you can imagine, dear reader, it's one heckuva lot easier for a singular guy like myself to make a harpsichord in his own shop than to put together a pipe organ, so here we are.
So...what I'm saying is I consider the last few years to be my apprenticeship. I've met wonderful players and builders over the years, including Owen, Paul Irvin, Jack Peters, and a few masters on FB, all of whom have been kind and generous with their support and assistance. I am fortunate to have them at the end of a telephone call or email just about any time and I have always enjoyed my firehose visits with them. And I'm starting to get it. I see now where my faults with this instrument lie and I am taking measures to remedy at least one of them (see below). Regardless, harpsichord making is now a Thing in my life, one that will never dwindle or disappear. I know I will never be a great builder, but I sure as hell have and will continue to put in the time and effort to become a good one, if that's even possible.
The change I will be making to this instrument is a 100% remake of the keyboard. In Mr. Miller's book, it's the first task completed and I think I know why. When one completes something so beautiful, it is quite motivating. It allows for a slower introduction to the instrument and, as we will see, also allows some flexibility with regard to completely remaking it if the desire should manifest. And manifest it has. Years ago, Jack Peters visited my shop in Vancouver, Washington and asked me why the registers were not evenly spaced. My response: "Because I don't know what I'm doing." Rather than mocking me or insisting I remake them, Jack simply nodded and we moved on to the next topic.
Speaking of Jack, as some of you may know, he has retired from the building game and has completely liquidated his stock of instruments, woods, and carcasses. I became one of the beneficiaries of this liquidation and will be giving the experience a post of its own because there's just too much to say here about Jack, how generous he was to me and others over the years, and the cache I ended up acquiring from him. More on this later.
You, dear reader, may not know this, but I have an incredibly bad back to the point where I'm in pain nearly every waking second, and it affects the quality of my sleep nightly. It has also affected the quantity and speed of my production, yet I've taken measures in the shop to reduce the amount of time I spend standing on cement by purchasing what are really robust foam pads meant for professional kitchen work. I've placed them strategically throughout the shop and they seem to help, yet the pain is always there. I'm mentioning this only to set context for the speed at which the Tortuga works. Know that there are reasons for my lack of production and some of them are less than wonderful.
When circumstances mitigate against speedy production, nearly constant motivation becomes necessary. I motivate myself by posting here, which provides some accountability, and by planning and attempting to improve my workflows in the shop. I also interact with the master builders, as well as people on various FB forums, though I've cut down considerably on that for reasons I shall not describe here. One unexpected motivation came recently from someone who appeared in my life quite unexpectedly.
One day a couple of months ago, my wife, son, and I were enjoying a coffee in the Starbucks in downtown Vancouver (an extremely rare occurrence now that we've relocated to Longview, Washington) when a person approached me and said, "Excuse me, are you Darin Molnar?" My first thought was, "Oh, boy, I'm being served by someone." To my great relief, he started talking about this very blog. It turns out I was speaking with a frequent reader (I do not yet have permission to share his name) of my infrequent posts. And get this - he's from Minnesota and was here visiting his parents! It was a most fortuitous meeting that has resulted in fruitful suggestions from him for building out the shop that I have taken to heart. And I'm now motivated to redouble my efforts here, so watch for more posts over the next few days and weeks.
Be assured, dear reader, I will be posting more frequently as a means of catching you up. The Jack Peters cache, the new keyboard, progress on the new shop - all will be covered at length over the ensuing weeks.
Until next time...
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