Good day to any person reading this, wherever you are. My name is Andrés Álvarez. I'm from Cumana, the American continent. It is located in the northeastern side of Venezuela. Some historic facts point towards this being the first point in mainland where music and many other things got mixed during the colony. It is a wonderful city in the sense of culture. But as many of you might know, Venezuela isn't going through easy times. Let's not delve in this.
I'm here to offer a piece of my art. Since I was a child, I've always been interested into making things with my hands. I tried drawing and other plastic arts, but they weren't my thing. I found a home in writing for many years. But then I got trapped by music. That wonderful thing that makes the soul resonate with nature and shakes every fiber of your being. And a couple years ago, an idea got into my head. If I love making thing and music, why not making thing that make music. Thus, I started in the crafts of the Luthier.
Since then my time has been spent in learning from all the sources available in the internet, however, our national instrument "The Venezuelan Cuatro", isn't a popular one in the world. There's too little material about it. Fortunately, my hometown is a place where famous Luthiers used to dwell. And to add more luck to this, my friend and teacher who, as another charm of luck is my namesake, is a member of a dynasty of instrument-makers. Thanks to him I've able to tackle some of the questions that arise from the craft and also developed the habit of consulting all kinds of material in order to improve my skills.
It is my desire to learn as much as I can about this amazing craft. But it won't be something for myself. Knowledge can't be put into a jar. It needs to be spread around the world. Besides learning to make a ton of different instruments, I wish to publish a synthesis of all my studies in the future. A detailed and friendly guide for anyone who wants to get into the craft and doesn't know where to start.
In this picture, I'm holding my first instrument. At the moment, I'm finishing number 5. And you'll get to see all this process first hand. I'll see you in the next post.
