WORKSHOP

Atelier Erdal - Mortier

Luthiers Archetiers

The Atelier Erdal-Mortier, located in the heart of the historic centre of Perpignan, has been looking after your violins, violas, cellos, double basses and bows since 2005.

  We welcome you by appointment to our workshop which is in the pedestrian zone, near the République and Wilson underground car parks, a stone's throw from the Saint Jean Cathedral.

SOPHIE ERDAL

Sophie Erdal

Born in 1978, brought up in Perpignan, Sophie has been playing the violin since the age of seven. Scottish traditional music was part of her childhood thanks to her Edinburgh-born father.  Keen on handicrafts from an early age, violin making seemed to her to perfectly combine the highly skilled, manual side of the profession with the artistic and abstract side of its raison d'être, music.  

She studied violin making for four years at the Newark International School in England, from which she graduated in 2001.  She was very fortunate to be able to consolidate her skills as assistant to Ian W. Clarke in Australia and Peter Waters in England. 

She moved to Perpignan in 2005 and has continued to improve her technique by attending courses and seminars on restoration.

JULIEN MORTIER

Julien Mortier

Born in 1974, Julien is from Lille, in the north of France.  He began to make instruments on his own at the age of sixteen.  

After training in violin making with master luthier Franco Simeoni in Italy, he has specialised in the creation and restoration of bows for quartet instruments since 2003. He was privileged to learn the art under Jean-Marc Panhaleux, Jean Grunberger and Blaise Emmelin.  

He moved to Perpignan in 2005 where he continued to research and to improve his skills by exchanging with colleagues during training seminars, conferences, trade fairs and exhibitions.

BOW MAKING

Bow making

MANUFACTURING

Julien's bows are entirely made by hand, stick, frog and screw, mounted in gold or silver.  

The choice of wood is essential and Julien seeks out the best quality pernambuco and ebony according to his precise parameters of density, balance and aesthetics.  For his models, he is inspired by the nineteenth century French school.  

Julien creates his bows by choosing the wood and the model in collaboration with each musician, he takes great care to match their requests, their sensitivity and their playing qualities.

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MAINTENANCE RESTORATION

Julien will give you personalised advice on bow maintenance because it is important that this fragile tool can continue to survive the centuries.  

For repairs and restoration he uses quality raw materials such as natural horsehair, mother-of-pearl, leather, silver and gold, in order to respect the style and preserve the original workmanship.

VIOLIN

Violin

RESTORATION

MAINTENANCE AND ADJUSTMENT OF INSTRUMENTS

We respect the integrity of each instrument we restore, leaving what is original intact and making our intervention - which must be reversible - as invisible as possible. 

We take particular care when cleaning the varnish, when installing the soundpost and the bridge, and in all the stages of assembly and restoration of each instrument.  

We offer our advice with a patient, attentive and experienced ear, and adjust your instrument to optimise its sonority and ease of play.

SALE

Our workshop has beautiful old French, German, Flemish and Italian instruments on sale, most often restored and assembled by us. We also have study instruments from the early 20th century, mainly French (Mirecourt), and new quality study instruments from China, Germany and Romania. 

We can lend out instruments for a few days so that the musician can make his choice in the calm of his own home. 

A large choice of cases, strings (Thomastik, Pirastro, Corelli, Larsen, Jargar, D'Addario, La Folia) and all accessories (rosin, cushions, boards ...) are available at the workshop or can be obtained rapidly from our suppliers.

RENTAL

Rental

RENTAL

We have small sizes of instruments for hire (violin, viola and cello with case and bow). These are study instruments, assembled and adjusted in the workshop. The rental is monthly, with no minimum period. 

The rental of 4/4 instruments can be transformed into hire-purchase: we then deduct the last 6 rental payments from the value of the instrument. 

Rental instruments have to be insured by the customer and rental payments are made by monthly direct debit. To establish a contract we need some ID, a deposit check for the value of the instrument and your bank details.