ABSTRACT Human beings have created, developed and transformed instruments with their imagination in line with their musical needs. Today, it is seen that the main dynamics of such a creation process consist of a new organological or industrial idea, luthier experiences, communication between luthiers and performers, and the common experiences of all those concerned. This research is qualitative phenomenological research that aims to obtain inductive data to understand the dynamics of instrument creation processes by starting from these common experiences in the example of the modified guitar named Efece designed by Mutlu SUBAŞI. In order to describe the design, production and consumption processes of the modified instrument, the data obtained from interviews with a group of 10 people consisting of designers, luthiers and performers were subjected to content analysis. Chronological findings on the need, aesthetic pursuit and processes that lead the designer to modify an instrument, the measures taken by luthiers regarding the encountered and potential problems, and the performers’ performance potential of the instrument are used to describe the research in detail. The article also provides information on how the string and tuning characteristics of folk instruments can be used in the design of guitar modifications. On the other hand, the potential of the modified guitar, which is finalized with the designer’s imagination and the experience of the luthiers, to combine the characteristics of different instruments to perform many different musical genres, mediates the opportunities that the intersection of traditional and modern instruments can offer. As a result, the designer’s imaginative search for difference combined with the luthier’s experiences to create a new modified instrument; the research findings describing this process provide important clues to designers, luthiers and performers for similar modification processes in the future.
Subaşi et al. (Mon,) studied this question.