Angela Crawford
Kyneton violin maker Paul Davies has used salvaged wood from the Sydney Opera House to craft 50 sets of clapsticks for a gala concert at the iconic Australian landmark.
Commissioned to make the instruments by Indigenous composer and performer, William Barton, Davies created the clapsticks to be played by children at the Opera House last Thursday night.
Barton created an orchestral composition, Of the Earth, for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert, which celebrated the completion of the concert hall’s extensive two-year renovation.
“I’ve known Will for some time now and I’ve made a couple of violins for his partner, Veronique Serret, who was with the Australian Chamber Orchestra for many years,” Davies explained.
“We caught up when he was in Melbourne a little while ago, and he asked me if I would do this, and I’ve got to admit I thought ‘of course I’ll do it but why aren’t you asking an Indigenous person?’.
“But I knew enough about Will not to ask that question, he would have already worked that out, and I think it’s about the inclusiveness that he really embraces.”
As part of the renovation, timber that was originally in the Sydney Opera House was removed and collected.
The eucalypt wood was shipped to Davies to be planed and carved into clapsticks for the gala concert.
“We call them clapsticks, the Indigenous instrument, but the orchestral instrument is the clave,” Davies said.
“As soon as I got the timber I knew each set had to be unique, and I had little time to make them, only a couple of days.
“Using the plane, we were able to create an elliptical shape, and with this shape you can get four different sounds depending on how you hit it.
“Will loved that.”
Davies wanted to make sure the pairs of sticks, each cut from the same piece of wood, would stay together, so he was able to mark the sticks with a numbering system of lines and dots.
“I was able to number the 50 using lines and dots so you know that each one will always go with its partner,” he said.
Davies established his workshop in Kyneton 12 months ago but has worked all over the world, including in London, New York, Shanghai and Mexico.
He spent 20 years in Castlemaine where he patented Spur violins – the first to be designed to be amplified.
“Spur violins were initially designed in Castlemaine many years ago, and they were designed as an instrument to have beautiful acoustic tone when they’re amplified,” he told the Express.
Davies restores antique instruments and makes one-off bespoke violins using hand tools and traditional methods.
He is also developing new systems of making and restoring using advanced manufacturing techniques and equipment.
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra gala concert can be viewed on ABC iView.
