Yves Beaupré started making the piano’s predecessor, harpsichords, by hand back in the ‘60s and ‘70s when the instrument was undergoing a revival for its natural sound. At the time, musicians were making the instrument to recover how certain pieces were made to sound—specifically Bach’s compositions, which were originally written for the instrument.
“Luckily I was there at the beginning of the interest in harpsichord music,” he says from his Plateau organology studio specializing in harpsichord making.
“Our ears are used to listening to Bach on many instruments, but it's all the question of being used to the sound, the real sound, that (people) wanted to hear as it was played in that period.”
Harpsichord-making kits were popular during this revival as well, but they were made using bulky woods to imitate how pianos were built, still keeping with the more dominant instrument at the time.
“The touch, the plucking of the strings, and the instrument itself has to be light,” explains Yves’s son Benoît who works alongside his father. Otherwise, the natural harpsichord sound would be compromised.
As a craftsman, Yves instead set himself apart and built his first with resinous woods, a traditional material from the Baroque period. “The resin in them hardens and then makes them very resonant,” Benoit adds.
Building one entirely from scratch is a slow-burn process that takes six months. Yves and Benoît are able to complete three to four max per year, with a current waitlist of two years for new orders.
Like father, like son
Yves had only ever built harpsichords on his own until Benoît joined him nine years ago.
“It all came very naturally,” Benoît says. “I’ve known this place since I was a kid. I came here regularly, just doing my own stuff or watching the work [Yves] was doing.”
“It was really easy for me to learn here because when he says something, I get it. Meanwhile I’ve had teachers that would explain some things to me and I just couldn't understand a word. It's not because I don't have the intelligence or anything—it’s just that communication is very different from one person to another.”
Benoît doesn’t work for his father so much as he works with him. Together, their styles and approaches balance one another’s out.
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