Jonathan Beecher (luthier)

Jonathan Beecher is a British solo cellist and luthier. A special feature of his work is the setting up techniques and tone development of individual player's instruments. While many contemporary luthiers seek to mimic the methods and designs of the great makers, Beecher starts from his knowledge as a player and his approach to tonal adjustments is based upon his listening ability and his knowledge gained from his study of the acoustics of stringed instruments.fact|date=March 2008

Biography

Career

Jonathan Beecher started the examination of tone structure in instruments of the violin family as far back as 1972. After eight years' research into what makes one instrument sound outstanding and another very poor he tested the principles by making various changes to some basic school instruments. The results demonstrated the principles were sound, and some pilot schemes were carried out with school string orchestras, where the children swapped between their own instruments and others on loan from [http://www.beecheracoustics.com/ Beecher Acoustics] .

The immediate improvements heard were obvious, not only in the tone quality produced but, also in the children's ability to play in tune. This was because many of the loose, dissonant overtones, which only aggravated the tendency towards poor intonation, had been eliminated.

Subsequently, Jonathan Beecher further developed his techniques through the establishment of a string orchestra for students, and later, a semi-professional symphony orchestra. At one concert given by the latter, the music critic remarked on the "amazingly seamless tone".fact|date=March 2008

In 1996 Reading University commissioned Jonathan Beecher to write an extended paper to form part of the postgraduate diploma course "Music Teaching in Professional Practice". The paper is devoted to the structure and maintenance of instruments of the violin family, together with a brief history, and also presents detailed measurements and information on the structure and set-up. These factors have a fundamental bearing on the tone and musical impact of each instrument, and also on the operational experience for the player.

More recently Jonathan Beecher has endeavoured to achieve a more operatic sound for his own solo cello. For this, he utilised his Resonance Overtone Controller, patented in the 1970s, together with a rebuild of the inside of the instrument. This project was fraught with numerous problems due to the difficulty of developing sound waves naturally that have a slow rate of decay, and which do not produce distortions as they travel away from the instrument across the auditorium. These challenges have now been overcome, allowing the cello to produce a magnificently powerful sound. Jonathan Beecher's Dvorak concerto in Dorchester Abbey provoked one critic to write "the effect overall was mesmerizing".fact|date=March 2008

References