About Nabil Kassis

NABIL TELLS US...
The idea on the manufacturing qanuns.

Any project starts with an idea and any objective is carried out with a first step. I never thought of manufacturing qanuns, but if that’s my destiny… My goal was only to study music and to succeed in the understanding of qanun, one of the most beautiful and interesting instrument in the music history. I never believed that that could go so far. I’m so proud of my unplanned success.

All started in my class of second degree. My father had then bought Alepian manufactured qanun so I can practise my musical skills. I began with me excercer all while studying it. I then realized that Qanun I played had several defects. Amongst other things: The wood which was badly prepared and had félures; The metal machine well was not adjusted and was not aligned; So that the produced sounds were neither clear nor soft; Then dimensions of the instrument were not well calculated; The cords also were of bad quality. I was really disappointed. I then asked my father to buy another to me.


The wood which undergoes temperatures varied to crack. Knowing that Egyptian Qanun is made under hot climatic conditions, and the trick is made under a climate froit, like that affect the wood of Qanun, I thought of manufacturing of Qanun while starting initially with that which I had at my fourteen years. It was really a new adventure which started.

I had only very simple tools. My first instruement was indeed of a lamentable state. The moquiries of the parents and the friends created in me a fear of the failure. I then asked for the assistance of my neighbor, carpenter of trade, to divide with me his experience of construction. And thanks to my professor, Safi Zénab, I could repair my instrument whose state was definitely better. But the idea to make new Qanun obsessed me. It was necessary to think of many things to make this instruement dimensions, the quality of wood and the air. However, the manufacturers are generally useful themselves of leathers of goat to make Qanun. I found that the leather of goat emits relatively full sounds, but they are deprived of softness and musical tenderness.

I then started to make new Qanun thanks to an association with the assistance of the carpenter, our neighbor, and with that of my professor. New Qanun was better than the first. A few days after, a musician visited me and bought new Qanun with which it is much satisfied. And with the piled up money, I carried out the construction of new Qanuns. Meanwhile, I have sold first Qanun, and me here in the trade for more than 8 years.

 


My experiment in the music.

I worked with many singers, inter alia: Élias Karam, Chadi Jamil, Ymat Rachid, Sabri Mdallad, Adib Dayek, and I pass from there. I also have particity with several festivaux buildings of which several fuent recorded in programs with the satellites, which enriched my artistic experiment.

Knowing that the majority of the manufacturers of Qanun cannot play about it, thus causing an expertise limited enough, I was likely to discover the weak points of my instruments and to avoid a repetition of error by improving their performances.

I made by after the knowledge of the large player of very famous Qanun: Hassan Tanari. In more of him belly one of my Qanuns, it helped me much by enriching my talent by musician in 1994. I ' was only 19 years old at the time, and I however became member with the trade union of the artists. Then I started to give courses of Qanun to the academy of Alep.

Between 1996 and 1999, I manufactured many instruments that of large musicians such as Mouhji Sin Gali, Jalal Joubi, Marwan Micho, without counting people of America, France and Germany which started to contact me to proceed to an order.

Many students of the academy with Samer bought my Qanuns. However, my only concern was to develop this instrument while keeping its external form, thanks to my studies at the electronic institute of Alep and with my work of professional musician I found new measurements of Qanun which do not exist at the market and which could allotted to Qanun a beautiful voice, an easier handling of the cords and a stability of the musical agreement.

I am proud of my work.