All the music ever written
or played or performed in the world
is divided into two sorts...
there's Bach...
and the rest.
And they think I'm joking.
That if music could write its self,
the result would be Bach.
Most people just go to work
to earn enough money to live.
And to them, they look forward to retiring.
Work, for them, is a drudgery.
I think then people grow old very quickly.
And I'm very very lucky that work for me
is definately not drudgery.
The thought, to me, of retiring is appalling.
I'd be bored stiff.
No, I need to have a reason to get up in the morning.
I earn my living out of something I love doing
which is making musical instruments and repairing them.
To make musical instruments is a wonderful way to earn your living.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Some people do think I'm a bit crazy, yes,
to do this by hand.
But that's what they did in the 18th century.
They had exactly the same amount of time as we have in our days.
24 hours in a day.
They didn't have machinery, and I'm making the same instruments.
So there's no reason I can't do the same thing.
Bach just wrote what he wanted to write.
And he ignored the critics, as it were.
And to many people in his day, he was just a bit old fashioned.
If its fashionable, I go the other direction I'm afraid.
People who think they must wear these clothes for instance,
or build this sort of house,
or listen to this sort of music,
this Indian proverb sums it up very neatly.
'Only dead fish go with the stream.'
I love that. That puts it precisely.
And Bach was most definately not a dead fish.
The big companies that make violin bridges boast that
the best wood they use is five years old.
Mine is 40 years old.
The double bass bow, I made from a tree
that I actually planted 30 years ago.
When you make something out of wood,
it is actually almost alive.
The right design, the right material and good workmanship.
That's what makes a beautiful musical instrument.
There's another little Scottish proverb,
'If its worth doing, its worth doing well.'
That I like, yes, yes.
It doesn't matter how long it takes.
It does matter how well it is done.
You try and do your best.
You struggle really hard to make it perfect
but it's never quite perfect.
And when you play the music, it's wonderful.
Because each pipe then actually has an individual character.
I always say that perfection is something you aim for.
You mustn't ever get there.
If you did, then it suddenly becomes a bit boring.
I like to think that I've left behind
a whole lot of useful, and hopefully beautiful, musical instruments
that will continue to give pleasure to people
for hundreds of years I hope.
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