Michael Jamieson

My thing is Musical instrument making

I want to combine my passion for music, design and precision wood-working into building world class musical instruments.

The nature of my goal

I want to become a world class instrument builder. I will focus on the bagipipe (Great Highland and Scottish small-pipe mainly), instruments that evoke powerful and emotional response, and combine all the aspects of hand-crafted instrument making that I am passionate about.

I want to set myself up with the necessary equipment and materials, and also attend a short course in bagpipe building under the tuition of a professional bagpipe maker in the UK.

I would like to move from the status of casual hobby maker, that I am now, to professional (full-time) maker within the next few years. I've been working from a small community wood workshop, which has enabled me to gain a lot from the knowledge and skills of the other workers and helped me progress quickly in my own work. However, I now feel that I'm ready to go out on my own and set myself up with my own workshop, enabling me to work to my own schedule with my own specially equipped work space.

I hope to bring the high level of New Zealand craftsmanship and ingenuity to the bagpipe making industry, something that has already seen a boom in countries such as the USA and Canada. I believe that we can have the best instruments, and with the possibilities of native timbers, truly unique New Zealand instruments.