See and hear

making musical spoons

Musical spoons are traditionally made in Quebec from hardwoods. The logs must be harvested in winter, when the trees are dormant and the wood not engorged with sap. The logs are then cut into planks thick enough to carve the spoons.
The pieces are then stacked to dry, well protected from sun and rain. It takes at least three or four years to air-dry a piece of hardwood of this thickness, but even after that, kiln-drying is necessary to achieve an acceptable level of humidity and to ensure that the wood remains stable and the spoons do not tend to warp.
The next stages take place in the workshop. The spoons are cut, drilled, sanded and the decorative elements added to make them original and unique models.

The most important and delicate operation remains to be carried out. This is the process of tuning the instrument so that it acquires sufficient flexibility and springiness to respond very quickly to the rapid succession of percussions. This is what makes the instrument easy to play and of high technical quality.
An oil finish is then applied to harden the surface and protect the wood. All that remains is to polish the spoons to make them soft and pleasant to the touch, thus preventing them from injuring the fingers and hands of the valiant players.

All these manufacturing stages are carried out manually and with the greatest care in our workshop. Each pair of spoons is hand-signed.

Small details...

Our musical spoons are made from top-quality maple wood. Inserts and decorative elements are made of contrasting natural tones woods or of stained maple  wood.

The finish is made with a non-toxic oil that protects the natural beauty of the wood and hardens the surface to give a drier sound when the two spoons impact.