“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.” Johannes Brahms (About Education)
William Piper with one of his hand-made violins (photo credits ‘Worcester Arts Trail’)
Since 1965 William Piper has been making, restoring and repairing string instruments in the West Midlands. Having had my own violin repaired by William at his workshop in the Jinney Ring Craft Centre I caught up with him the other day. Using his own words, William is known to be a ‘serious violin maker’; he explained to me this is because he makes violins on a regular basis unlike others who are more irregular within this sector of the creative economy.
A snap from my recent visit to the Jinny Ring
Now I don’t know the first thing about how a violin is made, however the video below, produced by John James might help you out a bit. Filming Piper for over 9 months, this 4 minute video shows the production of a violin from start to finish.
During the video William exclaims how ‘violin makers are very much judged by their purfling which is the inlay strip which goes around’. For me, this is a perfect example of what Drake (2003: 520) describes as being ‘something more than product branding’. Speaking more generally about his violin designs Piper describes himself as a ‘copiest’ taking his violin designs from the likes of ‘Stradevari’ and ‘Joesph Gweneri’; examples seen below. Here his own design of purfling is being used to add an individual mark; it can therefore be seen how William is being inspired by the quality of tradition, yet ‘seeking contemporary and innovative designs’ (Drake, 2003: 520).
Example of a Joseph Gweneri Violin
Example of a Stradavari Violin
Smith (1774) states how craftsmanship and skill are transferable; however this is contested by Epstein (1998) who claims this to undermine both the complexity of skills required in pre-industrial crafts a well as the difficulties in training an apprentice from the expertise point of view. William himself, started his craftsmanship career as an apprentice in Birmingham working for ‘Sydney Evans’; the success story that is William Piper exemplifies such disagreement with Smith as correct. Had he not had his training there is a chance his inspiring instrument craftsmanship may not have reached the potential seen today.
Picture taken by me outside William’s Workshop
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport state how the creative industries in the UK account for £1 in every £10 of exports from the UK (DCMS, 2013). William told me how he buys all his own logs, from English grown maple trees and after 1 month of construction, his violins are ready to be sold for an average price of £3000. Piper is internationally renowned and his instruments are now played all over the world; having sold over 700 instruments, there is no denying the input that he has had on the creative economy not just on a local scale and the Jinney Ring Craft Centre but also on international scale.
I would like to thank William for the work he has done on my own violin and for taking the time to talk to me about his work. Long may his great craftsmanship continue and who knows, maybe one day he will teach me how to make a violin!
References
About Education http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/a/bg.htm (last accessed on 20.03.2015)
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2013) (DCMS, GOV.UK) https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-it-easier-for-the-media-and-creative-industries-to-grow-while-protecting-the-interests-of-citizens
Drake, G. (2003). ‘This place gives me space’: Place and Creativity in the Creative Industries. Geoforum, 34(4), 511-524
Epstein, S. R. (1998). Craft guilds, apprenticeship, and technological change in preindustrial Europe. The Journal of Economic History, 58(03), 684-713
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1774], edited by E. Cannan. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1974.
Related Links
DCMS https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-culture-media-sport
John James https://vimeo.com/user1002764
The Jinny Ring Craft Centre http://www.jinneyring.co.uk/
William Piper – Violin Maker http://www.piper-violins.co.uk/Home.html
Worcestershire Arts Trail http://www.omniaopera.co.uk/WartTrail/williamPiper.html
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