{"id":60,"date":"2010-05-07T13:05:03","date_gmt":"2010-05-07T20:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aaronlc.com\/blog\/?p=60"},"modified":"2010-05-07T13:05:03","modified_gmt":"2010-05-07T20:05:03","slug":"interview-franco-marino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/interview-franco-marino\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Luthier &#8211; My interview with Franco Marino of Sicily"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This interview is the first in a series called, <em><strong>Meet the luthier. <\/strong><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">Originally intended for the Boston Classical Guitar Society Newsletter, I decided to make them available on my blog. When possible I will include photos and videos of the luthier and his\/her instruments.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_61\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/P4060064.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-61 \" title=\"Carmen and Franco Marino\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/P4060064-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/P4060064-300x196.jpg 300w, http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/P4060064-1024x671.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-61\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carmen and Franco Marino at Caf\u00e9 Graffiti, North End, Boston<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Background: \u00a0Franco Marino is a Sicilian luthier, whose mastery of wood is as impressive as the few years he has been constructing guitars. \u00a0His instruments are quickly becoming known in Italy and New England. \u00a0I have played four of his guitar (2-spruce, 1-cedar, 1-pear &#8211; see video) and found myself amazed at the lyricism and playability, as well as its distinct voice. \u00a0With only a few years with guitars his instruments possess great character. \u00a0I look forward to playing more! \u00a0Visit Franco&#8217;s site: <\/em><em><a title=\"Franco Marino website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.francomarinoliutaio.it\" target=\"_blank\"> www.francomarinoliutaio.it<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MHx0pqYqsQs\">Pear Guitar on YouTube, played by Aaron Larget-Caplan<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Interview conducted over espresso, guitars, and walking around Boston&#8217;s North End (Little Italy) in April 2010.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aaron Larget-Caplan:<\/strong> Thank you so much for sitting down with me, Franco.<br \/>\n<strong> Franco Marino: <\/strong>I have very much enjoyed meeting with the members of the BCGS, so it is my pleasure.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC:<\/strong> Did you apprentice or have any teachers or mentors in the development of your guitar building?<br \/>\n<strong> FM:<\/strong> No.\u00a0 I have worked with wood all of my life, so the construction aspect was more technical.\u00a0 For study I investigated the construction of Spanish guitars.\u00a0 I decided to work with the old [traditional] Spanish Method of Torres.\u00a0 I find this method allows for the most beautiful of tones and singing quality to come forth from the instrument.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC:<\/strong> Is there a certain sound you look for in a guitar you build?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>I am from Sicily, so the guitars I build have the traditional character of a Sicilian guitar:\u00a0 lyricism with sweet <em>dolce<\/em> sounds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>I noticed that your spruce guitars have a wonderful singing quality.\u00a0 Is there a reason?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Well, I aim for that.\u00a0 I only use older wood in the construction.\u00a0 I also find that the species of spruce I use is quite special, it is the same species Stradivari used with his violins, though not that old.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>What do you look for in a guitar?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Sound and playability.\u00a0 A musician can be lifted or pulled down by an instrument, so it must be responsive and easy to play.\u00a0 Regarding sound, a guitar needs to do more than just sing, it needs to have its own voice that the player can use in bringing life to the interpretation.\u00a0 I find many guitarist slow down their tempi on my guitars, for the sounds want more space, though it is not difficult to play fast.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>You told me earlier that you have always worked with wood.\u00a0 Why?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Since I was a child I could always communicate with trees. I could, in essence, see what the tree could become, be it a boat, a chair, a fishing pole or even a guitar.\u00a0 So as I grew older I learned to recognize certain characteristic that distinguished one tree from another, and how to work the wood.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>Your son plays guitar, yes?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Yes, he is a student at the Conservatory in Messina.\u00a0 It is because of him that I started building.\u00a0 We went looking for a guitar and we could not find any that were of quality.\u00a0 I came home and decided that I could build a good and respectable guitar, so I did.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>Does your son get to play your guitars?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Yes, he is quite happy with them.\u00a0 One of the proudest moments of my life was when my son auditioned for the conservatory on my guitar.\u00a0 It was like we were both being judged.\u00a0 The Conservatory adjudicators were happy with both of us!<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>Favorite music on the guitar?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Anything played well and with heart.\u00a0 I love beautiful music.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>Best espresso in Boston?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Caf\u00e9 Graffiti in the North End.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>Favorite places in Boston\/Cambridge?<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Along the Charles River seeing the English Architectural influences; Jordan Hall, and any BCGS event!\u00a0 The BCGS events were great to attend.\u00a0 All the players were very kind and had a good time playing my guitars.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALC: <\/strong>Well Franco, it was wonderful getting together and talking guitars.\u00a0 Thank you for your time, and please visit us often!<br \/>\n<strong> FM: <\/strong>Yes, and I do hope to see you and the many good people of the Boston Classical Guitar Society in Sicily!<\/p>\n<p><em>For more information visit Franco Marion\u2019s website: www.FrancoMarinoLiutaio.it<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Aaron Larget-Caplan, is a Boston-based guitarist.\u00a0 He has released two solo CDs, &#8220;Tracing a wheel on water&#8221; and &#8220;New Lullaby&#8221;, he enjoys music, food and sunshine.\u00a0 www.AaronLC.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This interview is the first in a series called, Meet the luthier. Originally intended for the Boston Classical Guitar Society Newsletter, I decided to make them available on my blog. When possible I will include photos and videos of the luthier and his\/her instruments. Background: \u00a0Franco Marino is a Sicilian luthier, whose mastery of wood [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[18,16,15,166,17],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meet-the-luthier","tag-aaron-larget-caplan","tag-classical-guitar","tag-franco-marino","tag-meet-the-luthier","tag-sicily"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}