Handmade instruments and other crafts by HighBird from the northern Netherlands
Hello, thank you for visiting my shop. I am the man behind HighBird Handcrafted instruments & more (est.2016). My name is David and I am an artist and instrument builder from the northern Netherlands. I love to create, and almost every day I have to make something. I love to draw and paint, and 10 years ago I started building guitars made of various objects. I am a totally independent and self-taught artist, and every day I try to learn more about what I do. I love to push myself beyond my limits and often add crazy features to my builds, or learn new techniques. This helps me to keep learning and keep evolving my work. My instruments are made with love, as if I made them for myself. They have a lot of details others don't , are made with high quality materials and are well finished. Besides creating instruments and art, I am a musician too. I love making music, and play my guitars every day. These (cigar) box guitars are more versatile than one might think, and after all the years of playing I still truly enjoy it every day.
As a kid I was always interested in how things were made. I was breaking everything apart, and tried to put it back together again. I was always drawing and liked to make crossbows and swords from wood.
However, I had some difficult times growing up, I lost the kid in me, and with that my creative energy. One day my best friend confronted me with myself, and I just had to start rethinking my life. I stood still, and began a new way of living and thinking. I felt reborn and free. I found the kid in me again, I fell in love with nature, art and music and saw this interconnectedness in everything. Life is beautiful, extraordinary, and a inscrutably miraculous mystery.
I started teaching myself how to play guitar and found out I already had a sense of rhythm. I started creating again. I was interested in all sounds, especially instruments, and wanted to play and try every instrument I could get my hands on. But I only had this one guitar I bought and not much money to buy anything I desired. Then one day I thought maybe I can also try to make my own instruments!
Making Instruments
Since the first little one string I made, I wanted to create more and learn everything about guitar building and woodworking. I still learn something new every day and it has been a very enriching experience thus far. I love the idea of recycling wood and reclaiming objects to bring them to life. Every guitar can be seen as a sculpture, a painting, a piece of art. And a unique and fully functional instrument! I I have made guitars with 1 to 6 strings. And every instrument has its own unique sound and appearance. At first I had my own name as ‘brand’, then one day I was playing in the country side, and saw a Common Buzzard flying high in the sky, and the name High Bird came to me. Since then I adopted the name HighBird as a brand name for my creations. I love birds, and if I could be an animal, I probably would choose a bird so I could fly, be free and see everything from a wide overview perspective. I try to give all my instruments a bird name that suits them, because they need a name, and to raise awareness for them and nature in general.
My work is inspired by nature, music, art and architecture, I think it all comes from the same powerful creative energy as the origin our beautiful planet. I want to share my passion, and my creations with the world, and I would be honored if I sell one of my creations. If one of my instruments is being played somewhere in the world and it creates beautiful music, or inspires somebody? That's all I could ever wish for!
Thanks for visiting my shop, if you could recommend this to anyone, feel free to share!