Ildar Ilshatovich Gimadiev is a musician, kubyz maker and founder of the “Your Space” workshop in Kazan. He was born in Kazan in 1986 and studied banking at the Kazan State Institute of Finance and Economics. After working in the profession for a short time, Gimadiev turned his attention to music and instrument making.

His musical development began with guitar and drums, followed by synthesizer, arranging and membership of the Kazan band “Detsky Tsar”. Gimadiev became interested in the jaw harp after seeing multi-instrumentalist Byon Kay combine it with electronic dance music. By 2024, he had been playing the instrument for about fifteen years. As a performer, he develops a modern, rhythm-oriented style and appeared at the Dorombuli festival of jaw harp and ethnic music in Hungary in 2024.

Gimadiev developed his own kubyz construction through experimentation. According to the maker, refining the reed geometry took five years and at least seven successive experiments. The principal challenges were to maintain narrow gaps and a bright sound without allowing the reed to touch the frame, and to select a stiffness that would provide stable vibration.

The “Your Space” workshop makes stainless-steel kubyzes as well as instruments with titanium frames and steel reeds. Some models use removable magnets to lower the fundamental pitch; this system is found, for example, on the IG1365 “Kinderka” kubyz. Alongside making instruments, Gimadiev performs and teaches courses covering basic playing techniques and improvisation.

Leave gratitude or wish something on forum (1)