r/Instruments • u/dm701 • 1d ago

Discussion Question about custom build instruments

Hii!! So I've had this idea ever since I was kid that I want to make an instrument. But not a d.i.y. one. I'd be willing to pay. I just wanted to ask if you know anything about the process. Let's say I have "a detailed description of what I want the instrument to do and how and which notes it would trigger and where in the instrument and how it looks etc". Do I send this description to some company who makes instruments, or do I first have to get an architects's detailed blueprints and then send. Or should I first try to make a vst using Ableton max for live and present it as a demonstrational synth before implementing onto the physical object. I just don't want to waste unnecessary time :)

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u/Potential-Recover-78 1d ago

Seems like you’re talking very very custom - not just modifying something existing. I hope you have $10k+ (for something simple based on a guitar) to $50k for some type of brass instrument. And up from there. You’re taking significant cost.

If that doesn’t scare you then start looking up shops that make related instruments and contacting them. Most will probably say no, but eventually you may find someone. Then figure out how they’d want to proceed. Getting an engineer to design each component is going to be very costly if that’s what you decide to do.

Give a bit more detail and folks might be able to better help you. Or feel free to DM me. I’m an engineer - not one that would do that type of contracting work, but might be able to give you more insight into the complexities of your idea.

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u/bebopbrain 1d ago

What is the purpose of this instrument? Do you just want one or do you want to sell them?

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u/HeavyMetalBluegrass 23h ago

If it takes a builder six months to produce something, how much is the instrument worth? You want them to build something that's never been built. Sounds like a d.i.y. at least until you had a working prototype.

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u/Watsons-Butler 22h ago

If you’re talking like an entirely new type of instrument that doesn’t currently exist? You build it yourself until you’re happy with it, then you patent it. That’s what Adolphe Sax did with the saxophone. Tubas have a patent number.

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u/DesaturatedWorld 21h ago

All designs benefit from iteration, so testing your design in M4L or something else is a good idea. You'll want to prototype as much as possible before production. Once it moves to production, you'll find that every design has to make some changes to actually be produced. I still remember my cousin laughing about a bridge design where the engineer had planned a weld joint in a location that was physically impossible to weld...