70 Years Young
The biggest manufacturer of instruments made of wood in Europe is the HORA factory, in Reghin, which this year celebrates 70 years of activity
Ana-Maria Cononovici, 03.08.2021, 13:00
The biggest manufacturer of instruments made of wood in Europe is the HORA factory, in Reghin, which this year celebrates 70 years of activity. Although the pandemic produced changes in terms of musical instrument orders, the factory managed to put on the market during the pandemic three new products.
No matter which sector you work in, you have to adapt to the market economy, said Dorin Man, technical manager, explaining how the production of musical instruments works here:
“Our factory has developed three big production lines: a guitar line, everything guitar, a very big variety — sizes of 1 to 4, up to 4 to 4, in a great variety, meaning the types of wood, quality, structure, in all registers. Another line is bowed instruments: violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and even other instruments. This line produces a wide range of bowed instruments, and when I say range I am referring to all wood types, structure, color, and quality. We have different qualities for all instruments, from beginners, to advanced, to professionals, to masters. A third line was created to increase diversity because of the international market context, the ethno instrument line. Here we are talking about the balalaika for Russia, also the domra, the psalter for Germany, the bouzouki, Irish instruments, mandolins, Romanian panpipes, Peruvian panpipes, musical instruments for people with disabilities. In this context, considering that the pandemic reduced sales of musical instruments such as guitars and violins, where we have a strong competition in Asia, we tried to develop the ethno line. As such we developed three more products, such as the cajon, a percussion instrument, then the bugle violin, specific to the Bihor area, and we also improved electric guitars. We also put on the market two new types of solo electric guitars.”
We invited Dorin Man to tell us about each of these niche products:
“The bugle violin has a special history. It was a combination of Mr. Strohs invention, which paired the strings vibration with the vibration of a special device, amplifying it through a bugle, not a resonating box, as a normal violin. With a violin, the string vibrates, produces a sound, which has amplification, adds timbre and volume to that vibration. It is a product that not many people in the world make in volume.”
Then we found out the story of the cajon, a Latino percussion instrument, which is used in various concert halls. It is a solid instrument, at a reasonable price for any percussion lover, as Dorin Man, technical manager, told us:
“The cajon is a percussion instrument, with a wooden box, the size of a stool, that the person who plays sits on, and beats in a certain way on the sides of the cajon. It has a six sided body, but you only beat on one side, which on the inside has six strings with a certain structure, meant to produce a certain sound. It is not simply a wood vibration, but a combination between the vibration of the wood touched by the strings. This way, you can get a wide combination of sounds.”
HORA also produces six string electric guitars, with very special finishes, which few have seen so far, and they are bringing new nuances and fashions in the world of guitarists. Thanks to the electrical circuitry used, and the more and more complex forms, created by digital machines of great mobility, made according to the requests of great guitarists, which brings added value to the factory.
This is a story about and with music, and about how an old factory can turn 70 years young.
