To Paco Dorta, who was born in the Villa de Teguise, but grew up in Haría, he always liked working with wood, first as a carpenter and cabinetmaker, and for the last 15 years, as a creator of musical instruments.
“I remember how as a child I used to make my own toys with wood,” explains Dorta, who is currently the only luthier in all of the Canary Islands specializing in ancient musical instruments, from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period.
Asked about the woods he uses, Dorta shares that his instruments can be made of “ebony, rosewood, cedar, curly maple, snakewood, pearwood... there is a great variety”.
"One of the most beautiful moments is when I put on the strings and hear how it sounds for the first time"
From the Middle Ages to the Baroque: lute, vihuela, guitar, theorbo, archlute, and tipple
Among the pieces by the Lanzarotean luthier, the “lute, introduced to Spain in the Middle Ages by the Arabs” stands out. Precisely the word luthier was first applied exclusively to those who made these instruments.
From the Renaissance onwards, the vihuela, another of the instruments Dorta creates, "gained more prominence until in the Baroque period the guitar emerged," which would soon be known as the Spanish guitar. Other instruments that can be commissioned from Dorta are the theorbo or the archlute.
As he specializes in ancient instruments, Dorta does not produce timples, “but I do have the baroque típle, which is the great-great-grandfather of the timple”.
Precisely, Dorta's training to create instruments began 15 years ago with a course to make timples from the Teguise town hall with the Luthier Martín Cabrera.
“Then a friend who was studying ancient music at the Conservatory of Las Palmas showed me the theorbo, I freaked out with the instrument and started looking for courses, first I went to Almería and later to Madrid, Jaén and Basel”, shares Dorta.
"I discovered that listening to old music made my migraines go away"
For the luthier from Lanzarote “one of the most beautiful moments is when I put on the strings and hear how it sounds for the first time because there is always the uncertainty of how it is going to sound, the fact that the woods are not all the same influences it, each one has its own sound”.
The luthier from Lanzarote explains that “the instrument that sells the most is the guitar and the most difficult to make is the German theorbo or swan neck,” whose creation takes him approximately two months.
The luthier specialized in antique instruments has many clients in the Canary Islands and on the mainland, but also in other countries such as Japan, “where I have several commissions and in central Europe”.
Dorta confesses that classical music did not catch his attention until he discovered ancient music: "I suffer from migraines when I get nervous and I discovered that listening to ancient music relaxed me and my migraines went away."
"I don't know how to play, you have to know about mathematics above all and study wood, sound and its properties"
Dorta encourages all those who want to dedicate themselves to this world even if they do not have music studies. “I do not know how to play any of the instruments I make, people are surprised by that. The proof that it is possible is here”. (Laughter).
To create instruments, whether modern or ancient, “you have to know above all mathematics, and also study wood, sound, and its properties well”.
It took him a few years, but Dorta currently makes a living exclusively from creating instruments and believes that there is a market for young people interested in Lanzarote to join the sector, which already needs a “generational change”.
“In Lanzarote many teachers have already retired or are about to retire, if they get a little distracted there will be no one to teach how to make the instruments,” shares the luthier.
“The ideal would be for the Conservatory of the Canary Islands to include learning to make instruments, at least on how to make timples, which are ours”.
Add La Voz de Lanzarote as a preferred Google source.
Stay informed with the latest current news.
