Episode 23 Ottavino Spient,
a mini Harpsichord

Septebmer 1, 2025

A gorgeous keyboard instrument

Making art first, instrument second?

📍 Philadelphia, USA

His YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@douglasnadel1028 

His Email: douglasnadel at gmail.com   

Thoughts and Reflections

As mentioned in my video, his instrument was the one that got me really thinking about instrument makers.

I bought his spinet 2.5 years ago. It was actually the first custom instrument I had ever bought. I stumbled across his build video on YouTube and was stunned by its beauty. I reached out almost immediately. 

I just happened to be going through Philly for a roadtrip with my friend Evan (a great composer). He's from the Boston area, so this summer, we did a 1.5 week roadtrip around the NE cooridor, and stopped by in Philly to see Doug and my other friend Ari (another great composer).

Doug was incredibly kind and generous during our visit. It was so great to finally meet the maker of this spinet and shake the hand that helped me start this channel.

And as I had talked with him, it is clear that he is one of the only instrument makers I talked to who actually prioritizes making it aesethically beautiful over trying to create an instrument.