Portrait
Chris Tayler is a British maker based in West Sussex who specialises in violas. He makes two models, both of his own design, in different sizes.
He read for a degree in Engineering, and after a career in industry took a postgraduate degree in Acoustics at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research in Southampton. That research background is not decorative: it is what has allowed him to design violas that sound substantially bigger than their dimensions suggest. Alongside his own models he draws on the Brothers Amati and on Paulo Castello.
His violas are played by chamber and orchestral players in the United Kingdom.
Chris makes violas with an outstanding sound and the smaller of his two models is the one we would point most players towards first. The size makes it extremely comfortable to play, and yet the sound is very big and warm, with a wonderfully pure resonance and an ease of response that is unusual on a small viola. The roundness lets it blend without effort in a section or a quartet, but anyone looking for power will not be disappointed. Given how many violists are forced to choose between comfort and volume, this is a real solution rather than a compromise.
Elsewhere
Compare instruments against each other, and against an antique, in a blind test with studio audio. No labels until you have chosen.
What models does Chris Tayler work from?
Brothers Amati, Paulo Castello, plus two models of his own design.
Where are Chris Tayler instruments made?
In the United Kingdom. Every instrument is then set up and checked in our own London workshop before it reaches a player.
