Peter Duggan wrote:Geoffrey Ellis wrote:It probably goes without saying (and yet I'm going to say it) that like many skilled vocations, you are paying not just for the time
And materials, tools, machinery etc.
Yes. These are a very significant percentage of yearly income. And the thing that the customers don't see is all of the R&D that goes into developing a line of instruments. I had a professional player visiting my shop a couple of years ago, and he pointed at several trash barrels right outside my shop that were bristling with flute bodies sticking out, and asked "What's that all about? You throw away flutes??" I replied that those were prototypes and experiments that didn't make the cut. There were dozens there at the time, but that was a tiny fraction of how many I had made along the way. Hundreds and hundreds that just ended up as firewood. All part of the education.
People are accustomed to paying top dollar for the services of a doctor, lawyer, etc.. because at some level they recognize the education and expense that went into their obtaining their qualifications. My remarks earlier about earning a couple of doctorates might sound like hyperbole, but I'd say my own education has been the near equivalent if one compares the money spent, the time invested, the practice, the trial and error, etc.. Maybe not two doctorates... perhaps only one and a half. Depends on the school
But our society is not one that supports the idea that artisans do work that is as valuable as that done by other professionals. Artisans and musicians are a bit on the "fringe" and often have to supplement their income in other ways, and yet they may have spent vast amounts of time developing their trade. So when I see other artisans like the Olwell's commanding prices like that I give a rousing cheer. They've earned it. If it were such a basic thing as sticking some holes in a wooden tube, then why would anyone go to a professional maker at all? They'd simply go out in the garage on a weekend and knock one out for themselves.
