A socioeconomic approach to studying musical instruments

Considering musical instrument makers as socio-economic actors can inform narratives concerning not only the music business but also wider commercial activities. Makers use available materials, work alongside craftspeople in related trades, and operate in the same markets as suppliers of other cultural goods. Here we consider examples of organ builders (Ohrman & Nutt; Flight & Robson) and English guittar makers (Pinto; Clauss) to explore the musical, cultural, social and economic aspects of their commercial activities. These can be informatively positioned within the complex networks of British musical life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.