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Making Matters: Making instruments with tulipwood

2025-03-28T10:00:20.997

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A case of mistaken identity left luthier Sibylle Ruppert with a batch of untested tulipwood – but a few experiments showed its high potential for instrument making

In the late 1990s my husband Greg and I received a call from a wood dealer in southern Ontario. He excitedly told us that he had finally found a poplar tree large enough to be used for a number of cello backs. This was because, having moved from Europe to Canada in 1988, I missed the enveloping sound and cushioned response of a poplar back. We had already been looking for over a year…

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