Instrument Making

At Clark Brass Instruments we make instruments to order. Our speciality is French horns, but we have also been commissioned to build trumpets and a sackbut. The benefit of ordering from our company is that you will receive an instrument made by professional musicians who understand the needs of brass players. There is always a waiting list as orders are processed in the sequence in which they are received, and our performance activities can sometimes delay the finished product. However, it is worth the wait (usually about a year) as the hand made finished product is thoroughly tested and guaranteed to work as it should. 

The two technicians who work on our instruments are Andrew Clark and Katrina Russell. 

Andrew’s training in instrument making began in 2002 with the Natural Trumpet making workshop run by Bob Barclay and Rick Seraphinoff. At the end of the course, he realised that his metalwork skills needed much improvement, so he began looking for skilled brass repair technicians who might be willing to teach him when he wasn’t busy teaching or performing. Luckily, at that time, Ted Adams was retiring from having worked at Paxman Musical Instruments for most of his working life, and was willing to allow Andrew to come to his workshop and learn the essentials over numerous visits. An important lesson learned from the start was the importance of practicing the various different skills needed, so it was essential to begin assembling the right tools and equipment, and set up a work bench in the back of the garage. Over several years, he practiced repairing his own instruments and gradually colleagues began trusting him to make their crooks or fix their horns. During this time he learned various tips from several instrument makers and repairers and became more competent in the different aspects of brass repair. 

In 2008, Andrew was the recipient of a grant from Katherine McGillivray’s Get a Life Fund, set up to allow musicians to take a sabbatical from performing to fulfill a music related project. This allowed him to make an appointment to remove a nuisance wisdom tooth and have plenty of recovery time, during which he spent three months working in Keith Berg’s horn making workshop in British Columbia, Canada. In this time he built two horns, one of which he used to perform Schumann’s Konzertstuck with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in 2009. Keith’s expert advice over this time was invaluable and resulted in Andrew’s first instrument built in the UK the following year. They have remained in regular contact and collaborated on a new design of descant horn, prototypes of which were built in 2014.

In 2010, after ten years of marriage in England to Canadian musician, Katrina Russell, they relocated to Canada. The new workshop opened in Ladysmith, BC, in 2011, and became a registered company in 2012.

Katrina’s training in instrument repair began at the Bandstand in Edmonton, Alberta in 1987, working mainly on saxophones and bassoons. Her eye for detail and skill in metalwork are an ideal complement to Andrew’s approach to manufacturing and repair. She has been working in our shop for more than ten years.