Red List Comment Submission

Commenting on: Brass musical instrument making

Section one - About you

Name

Are you willing for your name to appear on the website as a reviewer?

Yes please
No thanks

What is your reason for contacting us?

What is your interest or experience in this craft?

Do you have any suitable images or photos to support your entry?

No I don't
Yes, please contact me about them

Please give more details of your interest or experience of this craft and any organisations, guilds or associations that you are representing.

Section two - Description of the craft

Are you commenting on an existing craft?

If you are commenting on an existing craft, please select it here and skip the next two questions

You are suggesting a new craft that is not already featured on the Red List

Please enter the name of the craft you would like us to add here.

Craft category

If this is a new craft type please select the most suitable category

Please give a definition of the craft in one or two sentences.

Where in the world is the craft historically associated?

Please identify country, region, county or town

Where in the UK is the craft currently practised?

Please identify country, region, county or town

When was the craft first practised in the UK?

Please identify an era/century/approximate historic period.

How endangered would you say this craft is?

Heritage Crafts uses a system of four categories of risk to assess the viability of heritage crafts. A heritage craft is considered to be viable if there are sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation. For more information on definitions see http://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/categories-of-risk/

Currently Viable (are in a healthy state and skills are being passed to the next generation)
Endangered (skills can be passed on but there are serious concerns about their ongoing viability)
Critically Endangered (there is serious risk that skills won't be passed on)
Extinct ( ‘extirpated’ or ‘locally extinct’ in the UK)

Section three - Current numbers of those practising the craft in the UK

Number of professional makers (main income)

People earning their main craft income from this craft (selling, commissions, conservation/ restoration and/or teaching).

Number of professional makers (part-time or side line to main income)

People practicing this craft commercially (selling, commissions, conservation/restoration and/or teaching) but as less than half of their income.

Number of trainees

People acquiring skills in order to become a professional in this craft, they probably have to work under supervision even if they are earning money while training.

Number of serious amateur makers

People whose knowledge and ability is at a level of the most skilled practitioners of this craft.

Number of UK leisure makers and learners

People who do not intend to practice this craft professionally or at the highest level.

Section four - Issues affecting the viability of the craft

Existing content:

Training issues: The School of Musical Instrument Crafts at Newark does teach brass instrument making, but the course mainly focuses on how to service and repair instruments, rather than make them.
Training issues: The rise of videos on YouTube etc. showing how to make instruments has both good and bad sides – some videos are very good and some are very poor and it is hard for the inexperienced maker to distinguish between the two. There is also no major book on the subject.
Manufacture versus assembly: Many makers buy in all the parts need to make an instrument and then assemble them, rather than manufacturing at least some of the components themselves. It is very difficult for the consumer to distinguish between makers and ‘assemblers’.
Dilution of skills: There is a danger that if too many less talented makers become well known they dilute the talent pool and reputation of the craft, and it then becomes much more difficult for those who are really good to stand out. However, the ones that do stand out are the ones that are making exceptional instruments.
Dilution of skills: Like most musical instrument crafts, the sector is dominated by people with the skills to repair instruments, rather than with the higher level skills needed to make instruments from scratch.
Loss of skills: A lot of makers subcontract work to the Far East so skills are disappearing. Furthermore, the standard of manufacture worldwide, including in China, has improved, so it is no longer the case that a foreign-made instrument necessarily means a low quality instrument.
Loss of skills: While there are plenty of people able to make brass instruments, there are not many people who are able to design an instrument from scratch.
Shortage of skills: Very few makers have the acoustic understanding to make bells (the flared part of the brass instrument, made using metal spinning techniques); Rath Trombones and Andy Taylor do.
Market issues: In order to make a living, you need to make 30-50 instruments are year – anything less than that and it’s a hobby rather than a living.
Market issues: Handmade instruments are far more expensive than mass-produced instruments – e.g. £3,000 versus £100 for a trumpet. Therefore it is important to find the right market, which tends to be part-time players with plenty of money who are looking for something exclusive (perhaps 70% of the market). Professional players do also buy custom made instruments, which give the brand the credibility for ordinary people to want one.
Market issues: Smith-Watkins make fanfare instruments for the armed forces, with a full set lasting about 10 years and costing about £30,000. The Ministry of Defence requires instruments from specialist instrument makers but is not looking to the future or considering what they will do if/when the company closes.
Market issues: Instruments manufactured in the UK, and particularly those by London-based companies, suffer from the cost of rent etc. which means that the instruments have to be more expensive to cover this.
Market issues: Few trombone players want to pay for high quality, handmade instruments. The UK orchestral market is extremely conservative and has been dominated by one US brand for many years. Things do appear to be changing though. The UK Jazz and banding scene is much more open minded.
Marketing issues: The internet has made it much easier to sell internationally and market oneself.
Material characteristics: In many ways, a brass instrument is much more complicated than a wooden instrument – it has moving parts which need to work reliably. Metalworking is noisy and expensive and requires a workshop – hence there are far fewer custom metal instrument makers than wooden instrument makers.
Covid 19 has posed a significant threat to brass instrument makers. One company has reported a 50% drop in orders and the loss of 5 members of staff.
Access to allied trades: Chrome plating companies and lacquering facilities are increasingly difficult to find. Rath Trombones send their slides to the US for chroming which is only feasible with large batches.

Training and recruitment issues

e.g. lack of qualifications, funding for training etc.

Tick for yes