Ghent instrument builder creates world first and builds string instruments from flax

Tim Duerinck studied instrument building at the Ghent conservatory. In the beginning, he simply made his instruments out of wood, like everyone else. Tim doesn't want to replace these wooden instruments, but flax has turned out to be a worthy alternative. "The first results are promising. The instruments have a warm sound and are less sensitive to fluctuations in humidity and temperature. That makes them less fragile," he explains. "Flax is also a very local product. Together with France and the Netherlands, our country represents up to 90 per cent of global flax fibre production. That is an additional advantage of the instruments we are now developing".

A prototype of the string instruments made from flax has already been created, but production is still very labour-intensive. Further research is needed to simplify the construction process. "At the Conservatory, there was no more room for us to experiment. That's why we started looking for another location. It's very nice working in the shopping centre," Duerinck says. "I'm here on the ground floor with two colleagues in a 100-square-metre studio, among the food outlets and other shops. We are certainly not the only pop-up".

At Tim's atelier, you can marvel at the first violins, violas and cellos made from flax, but there are also a lot of workbenches, moulds, vacuum pumps and other equipment you wouldn't immediately expect to find in a shopping centre. "Once in a while we throw open our doors," promises Tim, "We plan small concerts. I myself will not play, but we will invite musicians who want to try out our new instruments."

Duerinck and his HOGENT colleagues hope to launch a spin-off after two years of research, where they will be able to sell their flax instruments to the general public.