A joyful noise as horn maker relocates to Flat Creek

A musician, an engineer, a blacksmith and a machinist walk into a workshop ...

No, it's not the opening line of a joke. It's the start of a working day for Roy Lawler, who is the musician. And, in a way, the engineer, blacksmith and machinist. Roy makes trumpets, flugelhorns and trombones, and after 30 years of experience, he's pretty good at it.

In fact, in the 25 years he has been designing his own instruments, his creations have found their way into orchestras and symphonies around the world, from South Korea to Germany, from Grammy-nominated Wallace Romey to an 11-year-old girl in Florida just starting out. One of his horns is even on display at the Smithsonian.

"We built the fanfare trumpets for the Army," said Roy.

When you see them playing a fanfare at some Presidential event -- those are the horns with the banners hanging from them, and Roy made most of them.

"They dedicated part of the Smithsonian Institute for the ceremonial instruments that have been used," he said. "So one of our horns is in there."

Brass movement

When his works of art and engineering leave his workshop, they all have something in common besides the quality of his work -- they have their place of origin engraved in the brass. For the last year, that name has been "Flat Creek."

"My wife and I have always loved Tennessee," said Ray, sitting in his workshop on Hilltop Road.

A third-generation Floridian, Ray and his wife Tysh, a native of Pennsylvania, operated their business out of Orlando, Fla. for more than 20 years when they decided to move north. They first settled in Decatur, where they remained for about four years. Then, just as they were thinking about moving, something happened to change their lives.

"We moved here to be with the preaching and teaching of Jonathan Sims of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church," said Roy.

He and Tysh had heard Sims speak at a youth conference in Chattanooga and were so moved -- they moved.

"We were driving over from Decatur every Sunday to go to church," said Roy. The trip was about 150 miles -- almost six hours round-trip.

"Since we knew we were selling the house anyway, we decided to look for something in this area," said Tysh.

They found a beautiful home in Flat Creek, on land big enough for his workshop and her horses, a Clydesdale and a Dutch harness horse. Working together, running the business from home was easy -- but then, they'd been practicing it for a while.

"We used to have 5,000 square feet of commercial space in Orlando," Roy said. "We experimented by running the business at home in Florida and it worked."

Music man

The main reason it worked was because Roy was branching off into a specialty niche of instrument production, making custom horns for serious musicians. He had a little bit of an "in" with those serious musicians, too, because he is one himself.

"I went to the Boston Conservatory for music," he said. "I play French horn and played a lot of freelance while I was at school."

He also started working with a man in Boston who repaired brass instruments and made customs horns. Fascinated by the process and potential, Roy apprenticed with the man for five years before returning to Florida.

Once there, he started doing much the same thing, servicing brass instruments from trumpets to tubas made by other companies and doing some custom workl along the way. Then, he decided it was time to create his own line of brass -- specifically trumpets, flugelhorns, and starting next year, tenor trombones. Roy continued his freelance playing as well, performing with Disney's live bands as well as area symphonies and orchestras.

"Because Orlando was such a big live music venue back then, it had great music and musicians. I used them as sounding boards for various components," said Roy. "I decided to design my own."

He would twiddle and tweak his ideas, then invite the pros to try them out, making changes as needed and perfecting the performance quality of each one.

Perfection pitch

There are about dozens of components in the construction of a trumpet -- and every one of them, even the finish on the brass bell, can affect the sound. And every musician, said Roy, is looking for his or her own particular sound. It's his job to create that for them. It takes about 10 days to make a trumpet, but customers can expect to wait 8 to 10 weeks to get their special order.

"We work with them from the ground up," he said. "What do they want to do? What type of music are they playing? The success of the business is that we don't make something and send it to them and say 'That's what you've got.' We continue to work with them."

Tysh said many of the customers are very discerning and they work hard to satisfy their musical needs. If, even after all that, the customer isn't happy, they go on to a different maker with no hard feelings on either side.

There are only four custom trumpet makers in the country right now, said Roy, and they share a good working relationship.

"Two do mostly classical, high pitch trumpets," he said. "We cater mostly to the commercial musician -- big band and jazz."

When someone comes to him wanting a classical music trumpet, he sends them to one of those two specialty designers; and when someone goes to them looking for a custom jazz trumpet, they send him to Roy.

Handmade, heart felt

That custom service is why the Lawlers are able to operate a successful business from the small workshop behind their house.

Instead of having to set up retail space to lure prospective customers, the customers seek them out, where they're on a 5-acre lot in Florida or a rural hilltop in Flat Creek.

"The Lord's blessed us in the sense we can be anywhere," Roy said. "Being a custom builder, we don't have to have an actual store. We do get daily visits from UPS and FedEx."

He consults with his customers through phone, fax and internet (his web site is www.lawlertrumpets.com), but on a few occasions the clients do come to see him. He has demo models of every type of instrument he makes and sometimes the musician is so pleased with the demo, they leave with it in hand.

"So I don't always have a demo ready for every model," he said, laughing.

Each trumpet is made by hand and each and every one is made by Roy himself.

"I make the horns. Tysh runs the office," he said. "We make 60 to 100 trumpets a year."

Finish with flourish

The consultations with the clients don't just involve the sound of the horn, but the look as well. Lawler was the first brand to offer a brush lacquer finish, one that holds up well to scuffs and buffs, is easily repaired, and because it is an air-dry finish, does not affect the sound of the horn. It's also less expensive these days, with the rising cost of gold and silver making the models plated with those metals more and more expensive.

"We started it about 10 years ago," said Roy. "Now, a lot of people are doing it. I guess most of my customers want the brush lacquer finish."

Roy has another artist who comes in and does specialty work for him, a woman who creates amazing works of art, hand etched on the brass. When the price is finished, every spot is hand polished, eliminating the need for an acid bath that major manufacturers use that can lead to "red rot."

Word of Web

Word of mouth helped Roy's business get started.

"The first three years, we didn't do much," he said. "We didn't have web sites back then."

Instead, he would go to trade shows across the nation. As a musician himself, he had an edge in getting other professionals to try his horns. Once they began to play Lawler trumpets, word began to spread.

These days, it's easier as word of mouth has become word of web. Those for whom he has built or prepared instruments, or those with whom he has performed, include Chick Corea, Doc Severinsen and Wayne Newton.

"There are so many good web sites out there," said Tysh. "People really do their research now before buying a trumpet. There are some, like trumpetmaster.com, where you actually hear a Lawler trumpet being played and hear how it sounds."

Because it is the 25th anniversary of his company, Roy plans to create five signed anniversary horns this year. Although he leaves the finish up to the customer, for special editions, he said, they usually like to have the horn plated -- in 24 karat gold. They will have "Flat Creek" engraved on them, and also, on some models, "Ps1."

Ps1?

"Psalm 1," said Roy in his Web site. "Blessed is the Man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!"

His faith brought him to Bedford County, and he etches his testimony on every work of art he creates.

Another suggestion for the gleaming gold, brass and silver instruments that leave his shop might be Ps100.

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands."