This year, I was fortunate to be able to travel to Germany to tour the Sonor Orff Factory – one of the birthplaces of the elementary instruments we know and love. If there is a single takeaway from my visit, it is the care and dedication of the Sonor team to create great-sounding instruments that can last a lifetime. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
The Legacy
Sonor, founded in 1875 in Germany, has a rich history of crafting percussion instruments for nearly 150 years. They are known for their dedication to quality and innovation, which you can see firsthand by visiting their on-site showroom. The museum showcases instruments made as far back as 1890! From glockenspiels to drums, you can see how the design has evolved over the years. Even more impressive – they still sound great!
From Raw Material to Rich Sound
I was most excited to see how these beautiful instruments were made! As a teacher and salesperson with West Music, I know how incredible these instruments perform, but getting a peek under the hood really helped me understand why. From sourcing the right wood to worry-free packaging, Sonor’s attention to detail makes a big difference.
Each bar, whether wood, fiberglass, or metal, is prepared to deliver an accurate, clear sound. After wooden planks have been dried to the correct humidity level, they are sanded down to smooth the edges and level the surfaces. Once the bars have been cut to size, they are layered with lacquer to protect the wood.
You may be surprised to learn that every bar is tuned by hand before leaving the factory. After applying the printed note names and lacquer coating, all bars go through a fine-tuning process to ensure each note is correct. For smaller glockenspiel bars, the technician uses a tuner and a drilling tool to make divots in specific areas to make the bar more sharp or flat. Everyone on our West Music team got to try tuning a bar! It took us several tries to get our bars in tune, while the practiced technician could often get it correct on the first try.
For larger bars like xylophones & metallophones, a machine makes an initial cut you see on the bottom of these bars. Once the bar is lacquered, a technician will grind the bar down to get to the exact pitch.
The Personal Touch
A moment of revelation for me during our visit was how much of this process is still done completely by hand. There a lot of unique pieces of machinery that make the process more efficient and accurate, but pieces of the process, like tuning, rely on people.
Building resonator boxes is one of those pieces that just cannot happen without a person. After each piece of wood is cut to size, peg holes drilled, and sanded to perfection with the aid of machines, the box itself is put together completely by hand. You won’t see any drilled holes because they don’t exist. Each piece of the box is carefully glued together to create the resonator chambers inside.
Each instrument is assembled by hand and is tested once more before going out the door. If a single bar is out of tune or the resonator box buzzes, it is inspected. Drums are polished by hand, snares get a stamp of approval, and each piece gets carefully packaged to travel safely to wherever its destination may be.
Dedication & Passion
From the pack line to the technicians, the sales team to shipping managers, everyone at Sonor cares deeply about the products they create and the people who play them. Many folks on their team have worked at Sonor for decades or grew up playing Sonor instruments. They are a company that is always looking for opportunities to innovate without sacrificing sound quality. In a world where technology constantly evolves, Sonor has found the right balance of efficiency and human touch. They are proud of what they do, and it shows.
Whether you are an elementary teacher, drum enthusiast, or just a lover of well-made instruments, there is so much to learn and appreciate at the Sonor factory.
Want a chance to visit the Sonor factory for yourself?
Enter the SONOR Orff Composition Contest with your original composition or arrangement, and you could win a 5-day trip to Germany and tour the SONOR factory.
Jessica Palmer is the Director of National Sales. Prior to joining the West Music team, she taught preschool and elementary music programs in both the general music classroom and beyond. She is an active musical director for community theater working with both children and adults. Jessica loves helping teachers find the right resources for their classroom and making sure they feel supported through every step of their musical journey.
