So, you want to buy an instrument. You’ve done the research on which one is the best fit for you. However, once you see how much one costs, you may consider waiting to purchase one right away. Why is this? In this post, I’ll explain why musical instruments are so expensive.
First, let’s define what instrument we’re talking about. A musical instrument is simply an object that produces music.
There are 4 primary categories that many musical instruments fall into: Strings, Brass, Woodwinds, and Percussion. You can find many instruments from each of these categories in a typical orchestral performance.
There is also another category, Electronic, that started becoming more popular in the 1900s (although experimentation with this begun in the late 19th century).
Now that we’ve got the introduction out of the way, here are some reasons why instruments are so expensive.
Why are Musical Instruments so Expensive?
Brand or Creator
“You pay for the name.” Just how there are luxury clothing brands like Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci, and the like, there are luxury brands in music. These brands don’t show a hefty price tag just because of what they’re made of. It’s because of the reputation they’ve built up over the years.
Many times, these reputations have been built because of their high-quality craftsmanship, as well as publicity from notable figures like celebrities.
Here are some notable brand names of instruments:
- Fazioli – Pianos
- Yamaha – Guitars, Bass Guitars, String, Brass, Woodwind, Percussion Instruments
- Steinway & Sons – Pianos
- Bosendorfer – Pianos
- Fender – Guitars, Bass guitars
- Taylor Guitars – Guitars (String Instruments)
- Stradivarius – String Instruments
- Jupiter – Brass Instruments
How Rare the Instrument is
The rarity of an instrument also contributes to how pricey it is.
This goes back to economics class about Supply and Demand. If something is readily available, the value would be much lower compared to something that’s not as available.
You can see this with Stradivarius violins. Antonio Stradivari, the guy who handmade these musical instruments, made less than 1,500 violins in his lifetime. As a result, you’ll see them priced in the millions or even tens of millions of US dollars.
How it’s made
How an instrument is made or built can be something else that determines its value. You’ll often find that handmade musical instruments have a larger price tag than those that are mass produced.
How long it takes to build one
Depending on the brand, it can take upwards of over a year to build one musical instrument.
For example, it takes on average over 5 years to build one Bosendorfer piano. The builders crafting it first have to treat the wood properly and let it dry. This takes up over half the process by itself.
Then, they put the piano together with all of its components, which takes over a year. Bosendorfer pianos are also handmade. As a result, less than 300 of these instruments come into the United States every year.
This also goes back to supply and demand as mentioned earlier. If you want to learn more about Bosendorfer pianos, you can check out my post here.
Materials
The materials used in an instrument also determines how expensive it is. If a special wood or metal is used when building, that will also increase the value of the instrument.
How Old it is
Unlike cars which go down in value when you drive them off the lot, many instruments increase in value as they age. So, if you’re looking for an instrument that’s older than your great-great-grandfather, you’ll probably need to dish out more money than one that was built three years ago.
In other words, musical instruments can also be investments.
For instance, if we go back to Stradivarius violins, we see that they were built during Antonio Stradivari’s lifetime (mid-1600s to early-1700s). This makes them around 300 years old.
Conclusion
To summarize, four things that determine an instrument’s value are its brand/creator, rarity, how it’s made, and its age. This is similar to fashion.
A designer’s reputation proceeds them.
For example, if a designer chooses to design a special shoe, and produces only 30 of them, this shoe will probably have a high market value. This is even more true if said designer chooses to make this shoe out of gold.
You can also see outfits from hundreds of years ago be worth thousands just because of how old they are.
If you want to see more about instrument and their costs, you can check out Classic FM and Britannica.
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