Лучшие дудуки делают в LA

[groul]

AN INSTRUMENTAL MAKER; AN L.A. MAN IS THE WORLD'S TOP DUDUK CREATOR, WITH 3,700 SOLD

by Litty Mathew

Los Angeles Times

October 5, 2006 Thursday

Home Edition

THE perfect duduk, some say, is carved not in a remote hillside village

in Armenia, but, like so much of this instrument's current existence,

here in Los Angeles. Deep in the lap of a working-class North Hollywood

neighborhood, maestro Karlen Matevosyan Smbati, the 78-year-old

immigrant whom many consider to be the world's foremost duduk maker,

whiles away in a senior center, plotting and planning to create the

perfect instrument when he gets home to his neat garage workshop.

Matevosyan, a self-taught artisan who was once a high school principal,

wears glasses too big for his deeply lined face and harbors a

penchant for plaid flannel and sweatpants. In a raspy, low voice,

he says he'd always played the instrument and had never found one he

liked. The first instrument he made was for himself, and every duduk

he's since created gets the same treatment. "I always think this is

my instrument. I'm making it for me," he says through an interpreter.

"I've been studying apricot wood all my life and I've been making

duduks for more than 50 years," Matevosyan says. "If I hear a duduk,

I can often tell where the wood came from."

To succeed as a duduk maker, you may need to know your wood but

you also must be a musician. "That's why I don't have a personal

successor," Matevosyan says. "You can't teach an artisan to make the

duduk. You must know how to play the instrument first to understand

it." But the high standards that Matevosyan set have fueled excellence

in duduk-making back in Armenia.

"Recognizing that there are great new duduk makers and the instruments

have increased in quality, maestro Karlen is the godfather of modern

duduk making," says Pedro Eustache, a professional woodwind player

who plays the instrument for many Hollywood scores.

Matevosyan makes most of the duduk by hand, using a hand drill to form

the cylinder. It takes 42 additional steps to finish the instrument,

from drilling the finger holes to lathing the cylinder.

That's after a year to 18 months to cure the green apricot wood that

gives it the specific timbre and lasting quality. Over the course

of his career, he has sold more than 3,700 handmade instruments,

which start at around $250.

Matevosyan revolutionized the instrument by changing the spacing of

the finger holes and enlarging the holes to get a full volume. He's

also credited with improving the mouthpiece by adding tonal control to

the reed to play half notes. "It's like the black keys on the piano,"

he says. "Now you can play more than full notes on the duduk."

Matevosyan also pioneered different types and sizes of duduks. In the

past, duduks were created in unpredictable keys. Now they represent

the four tonal ranges: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The latest of

his creations is a Hegoshu, the largest duduk, which sounds like a

cross between a clarinet and a duduk. There are four in existence,

one owned by Eustache.

"People ask me if I get sick and tired of making the same instrument

every day," Matevosyan says. "I think this is my legacy. After I'm

gone this will remain."

[~SHAQE~]

ну молодцы

:sharik: