03.15 – The Ronroco Acquisition Project: Purchasing a Custom Instrument

Tags

argentina, buenos aires, custom instrument, don bergland, kjarkas, luthier, musical instrument, pablo richter, ronroco, santaolalla

Don Bergland

My life has been spent searching for the ideal musical instrument. It seems that I am driven by a desire to make an intimate and deeply personal connection with a mechanism that allows me to find authentic voice for the expression of my musical soul. Throughout my life, I have explored dozens of string, woodwind, and brass instruments, and although I have come close to finding the ideal instrument, I have never felt the emergence of the kind of deep bond that is required for true musical expression. Maybe no such instrument or feeling of intimate bonding really exists. Maybe I have no musical soul to express. But neither of these considerations seem to prevent the obsessive instrumental pilgrimage I find myself engaged in. I continue to look, explore, and hope for the discovery of that ideal musical instrument.

In the past few years, I’ve aquired dozens of musical instruments that I’ve tried and explored. Just recently, however, I’ve encountered a new instrument I feel might be a worthwhile candidate for another musical adventure. While conducting some musical exploration online, I heard some music played by an Argentinian composer and performer that made me stop everything and just listen. I did some quick investigation and discovered that the composer/performer was Gustavo Santaolalla.

Figure 1 – Gustavo Santaolalla playing the ronroco (Source – Ciafardini, 2014)

The instrument he was playing was a South American instrument called the “ronroco.

Figure 2 – The Ronroco (Source – Quispe Torrez, 2014))

This instrument is basically a baritone charango invented in the 1980s. It has ten strings played in 5 courses and is set up with a peculiar re-entrant tuning which allows a unique method of fingerstyle play (Bergland, 2015). I became instantly fascinated with this instrument and Santaolalla’s method of playing it. I started investigating the instrument and listening to the kinds of music generated by it.

I immediately began looking for a way to purchase a ronroco. I started examining the various ronroco offerings available online. I discovered that there were many instruments for sale, but that they were sold from Latin American online outlets.

Figure 3 – Many ronrocos for sale (Source – CharangoMall.com)

Many of these online stores offered all their information and interactions in Spanish. After much review, however, I didn’t quite feel comfortable in negotiating my way through some of the peculiar requirements these sites requested. I did find that there were some instruments available on eBay and Amazon, but that the instruments offered here seemed somewhat limited in quality and design.

One of the first things I noticed when viewing the vast number of ronrocos for sale on these websites, was that the majority of ronrocos were built using a certain shape style that luthers refer to as the “Kjarkas Style,” (after the inventor of the instrument).

Figure 4 – The Kjarkas Style Ronroco

This style employs a polygonal/geometric shape for the body and a variety of different soundhole variations. I didn’t particularly like the style, preferring the smoother and more balanced feel of the regular charango design with a standard soundhole. Although there are some very subtle variations on this style, most ronrocos seem to employ it in some form or other. I was able to find a few luthiers who were offering some interesting alternatives to this particular style.

Figure 5 – Different style ronrocos (Source – MercadoLibre.com)

All of these things circulated through my mind as I contemplated purchasing an authentic ronroco. I thought of price, design style, reputation of luthier, ease of negotiation, delivery, and the ultimate quality of the instrument I would be playing. Although I don’t think I found many insruments that met my expectations, one luthier seemed to offer an instrument that was readily available, of high quality, and of a visual style different from the Kjarkas design. This was Pablo Richter from Buenos Aires in Argentina.

I did some research on this luthier and was surprised to find that he had constructed instruments for “Gustavo Santaolalla, León Gieco, Rolando Goldman, Cacho Tirao, Luis Sartor, Ricki Rodriguez, Rodolfo “El Coya” Ruiz, Jean Michel Cayre, Yehuda Glantz, Patricio Sullivan, Marcelo Predacino, Ricardo Mollo, Pedro Aznar, Peter Gabriel, Al Di Meola, and The Gipsy Kings, among others” (Richter, 2014). What really interested me, however, was that he had constructed instruments for Gustavo Santaolalla. I did some further research and found out that the ronroco Santaolalla played was indeed constructed by Richter (Davie, 2014).

I emerged from this exploration convinced that I wanted an instrument constructed by Pablo Richter. I was impressed by the fact that Santaolalla seemed to be using one of his instruments on all his documentary and performance recordings. But foremost among my reasons for liking Richter’s work, was the fact he was avoiding what I thought were the visual deficiencies of the Kjarkas Design. He was taking what worked so well with the charango, and modifying it for the ronroco. He broke away from the Kjarkas Style bodies, and simplified the complex shapes and other devices and carvings that appear so commonly on ronroco instruments.

My own research interests were quickly bringing me into the place where I knew I had to have my hands on an authentic ronroco in order to move any further. I spent some time investigating Pablo Richter, his website, and his general reputation amongst luthiers. I was very hesitant about the entire process of ordering a product from South America. It was possible to order this particular ronroco through TiendasLatinas.com, but this eliminated any interaction with the luthier himself. I wondered if it was possible to order the instrument from Pablo Richter himself. I discovered that he had an active website.

Figure 6 – Pablo Richter’s Website (Source – Richter, 2014)

Pablo Richter offered a variety of different ronroco models. Most of these were based on unique constructions that were different from the Kjarkas design.

Figure 7 – A composite of Pablo Richter’s ronroco models (Source – TiendasLatinas.com)

I carefully examined the different offerings and finally made a decision to try to purchase one of the models of ronroco constructed by Pablo Richter in Argentina. From his website, I sent Pablo a general indication of my desire to purchase an instrument and a request for information about the timeline. He sent back an immediate response providing a list of his current production models and a timeline. I sent him back my thoughts concerning the type of instrument I wanted, my limitations in terms of budget, and my hope to be kept informed of the entire construction process. He seemed in agreement with all my requests. In my second email to him, I indicated that I wanted to order the the Richter006 model.

Figure 8 – The Richter006 Model Ronroco (Source – TiendasLatinas.com)

Although Pablo had sent me a list of higher end models, the 006 model was of interest to me because of its simple visual design, I was interested in avoiding the polygonal shape of the Kjarkas design and also some of the strange sound hole shapes and multi-paneled facings that so many of the ronroco luthiers were using. The traditional charango seemed to possess such a streamlined form and shape, that I wanted something that emulated this form. Richter’s 006 model seemed to do this with a streamlined contour and simple round sound hole.

I began negotiations with Pablo on January 9, 2015. We agreed to the terms the next day. I sent payment for the instrument, case, and shipping. It was a weekend, but Pablo indicated that he would start the construction process on Monday, January 12, 2015. According to his calculations, building the instrument would take around 45 days. This means it would be finished around February 23, 2015. The delivery process takes two weeks after the construction is finished. So, in about 60 days (around March 10), I should have a Richter Ronroco in my hands, ready to see if that magic musical interaction will result.

The Ronroco Schedule
– Instrument Order and Start – January 12, 2015
– Instrument Completion Date – February 23, 2015
– Shipping Date – Around February 23, 2015
– Arrival Date – Around March 10, 2015

I’m looking forward to the arrival of this instrument. But if my past history is any indication, I may have moved on to some other instrumental interest at this point. We’ll have to wait and see. I am hoping, however, that I receive an instrument whose simplistic beauty captures my aesthetic attention. I want to own something unique and special. When I play it, I want to hear a sound that has always eluded me my with all the stringed instruments I’ve ever owned. I want to experience wonderful balance and playability, perfect string spacing and action, and I want my fngerstyle administrations to respond with a nice full bodied sound. I want this instrument to capture me and compel me to learn to master it. These are very high expectations for an instrument that was purchased on a low-end budget, but it’s what I hope for in every musical adventure I undertake.

References:

Bergland, D. (2015) – The Ronroco: A Contemporary Instrumental Invention. Ronroco Review, 01.15. Retrieved Feb. 13, 2015 from https://ronrocoreview.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/01-15-the-ronroco-a-contemporary-instrumental-invention/

Ciafardini, M. (2014). Exclusive: Director Jorge R. Gutierrez, Composer Gustavo Santaolalla, and Reel FX Creative Team Explain Story, Music and Mexican Heritage in ‘The Book of Life.’ Gosetalk. Retrieved Feb. 13, 2015 from http://goseetalk.com/jorge-r-gutierrez-gustavo-santaolalla-and-creative-team-explain-story-music-and-mexican-heritage-in-the-book-of-life/

Davie, E. (2014). A Guitarists Choice To Play The Ronroco (baritone charango). Guitar Learning.com. Retrieved Feb. 13 from http://www.guitar-learning.com/node/208

Quispe Torrez P. (2014). Quispe Torrez Pedro, Maestro Constructor. Ronroco QTP. O70. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2015 from http://www.quispetorrezpedro.com/?ronroco,21

Richter, P. (2014). Pablo Richter Website. Retrieved Feb. 13, 2015 from http://www.charangos.com.ar/principal_ing.htm