Paul McNulty dates his lutherie beginnings to purchasing a Renaissance lute in 1981 from the brilliant David Brown of Baltimore, and peering at it for several years in slack-jawed wonder, when not playing Dowland slowly upon it. Never comprehending lute technology, but being prompted by it nonetheless, he has made 150 fortepianos of different types since 1986. McNulty’s shop ethic, learned by slyly remembering Brown’s occasional remarks, eschews sandpaper, using scrapers instead as much as possible, but stops short at gathering reeds from primeval swamps for their gentle abrasive properties.
▪ bio current as of 2012