Evgeniy Volgutov

Evgeniy Volgutov is a jaw harp maker who began making instruments in Abakan. He was born in Prokopyevsk and spent his childhood on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. After his military service, Volgutov settled in Khakassia, worked as a lathe operator and later opened a wrought-metal workshop. He acquired practical knowledge of metals, hand forging and heat treatment from a professional blacksmith whom he invited to work in the shop.

The story of his mutual apprenticeship with Vladislav Kokov is unusual. Kokov came to Volgutov’s forge as a student at the Abakan Institute of Music and learned metalworking from him. They worked together for nearly nine years. Kokov later taught himself how to make jaw harps and introduced Volgutov to the instrument. Volgutov spent about a year and a half observing his work and testing finished instruments, then made his own jaw harp, using an old two-man saw for the first reed. Kokov passed on the basic techniques of jaw harp making, but from the outset Volgutov explored the design and sound independently.

Volgutov’s first jaw harps comprised two models similar in shape, but he regarded each individual instrument as a separate experiment in sound. Over time, the range expanded considerably: reed materials and mechanics, dimensions, registers and tonal character became increasingly varied. At the 2016 Moscow competition for makers of bow-shaped jaw harps, Volgutov received first- and second-degree diplomas in the low- and middle-register categories. More than thirty makers entered 82 jaw harps, which were evaluated by 21 experts. The forging techniques Volgutov learned in Khakassia became the starting point for independent modern designs rather than the reproduction of a single traditional model.

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