JEAN-PAUL DINOTA

Hurdy gurdies

In 1987, Jean-Paul Dinota began his career as a cabinetmaker in Saône et Loire; then in 1994 he met Maxime Boireaud, who lived in the same region and who suggested that he could pass on to Jean-Paul the knowledge and experience he had gained during a career in which he had produced more than four hundred hurdy gurdies.

After this apprenticeship, Jean-Paul gave the first exhibition of his instruments in 1997 in the instrument makers’ salon at the international festival of instrument makers and master musicians in St Chartier (Le Son Continu); he has attended the meeting, which now takes place in Ars, every year since then.  In his workshop, close to Vauban, between Roanne and Mâcon, Jean-Paul produces different models of hurdy gurdy for a French and European clientèle, from a simple student model to the classic round or flat form, to electric or electro-acoustic models.

If you are a beginner (for example attending the monthly workshop organised by Feufliâzhe), you can hire a hurdy gurdy for 35€ a month, but once you desire to own your own instrument, the prices can go from 1500€ for a student’s instrument to nearly 6000€ for a work of art or for an electro-acoustic instrument. Clearly this is a decision which is not only musical and sensual but also dependent on your love of the hurdy gurdy.

To see all the colours, designs and types of hurdy gurdy, with links to videos, go to Jean-Paul’s website:

www.vielle-electro-dinota.com