company profile

Ben Bell has been building professional bassoons for 20 years. Currently building his 70th instrument, his desire to create was born of the experience gained while repairing bassoons in the late 1970's with Frank Marcus and Ivor Rothwell at Marcus Bassoon Repair in Toronto. Bell Bassoons was founded on the premise that the bore was the fundamental weakness with most bassoons and all Bell bassoons are built with a new bore based on Ben's research and measurements from hundreds of instruments.

Bell Bassoons is located near Stoney Lake, just north of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. In 2008 a new workshop was constructed as demand for Ben's instruments continues to grow. In the past two decades, Ben has gained enormous insight into the effect wood type plays in the instrument's sound and is applying it to the bassoons he custom builds for clients. As well, he produces a range of bocals and a Bell-designed reed profiler which is proving extremely popular. Ben is now conducting research into bocal design and has plans to build both a baroque and contra bassoon.

Ben brings a rare talent to his craft. He is a bassoonist. He studied with Stephen Franse in Calgary and Nicholas Kilburn and David Carroll in Toronto, graduating with a B.Mus. in performance from the University of Toronto. His personality has dictated his choice of occupation. "For me, music can be a very fleeting thing. I can remember, for instance, the measurements I took on instruments 20 years ago, but don't ask me to repeat a song I heard just 5 minutes ago! I've found that building musical instruments suits my mental attitude more. It is a more concrete occupation for me."