The Man Who Does Not Sell

Abstract

This paper focuses on one of the skilled individuals who invented a number of musical instruments which are not intended to be used or experienced by others. The instrument maker lives in an outskirt of Kandy. He has crafted many new musical instruments in addition to the replicas of musical instruments used for pop music. He articulates that he crafted these instruments not for earning money or to become popular as a good craftsman or musician but for his own personal satisfaction. The extended discussion with him implied that It is not that “he just makes instruments for his own satisfaction” but there are other reasons tied together with his background, crafting skills and musical interests, opinions about the society and his world view. In this research, his views on music, musical instrument playing, crafting and commoditization of musical instruments are explored. previous literature on organology, musical instrument making, and some socio-musicological studies are investigated in this regard as well as personal interviews with the craftsman were conducted in order to gather information that will be finally discussed. This research may provide some insights towards the future of creative arts and an un-industrialization of instrumental music, which can be seen as a contribution to sustaining human societies.