Necessity is the Root of Invention – Nuvo Instrumental’s Max Clissold

With a goal of producing musical instruments that are more accessible for younger (physically smaller) players, Nuvo Instrumental is an emerging force in the quest to create more lifelong music-makers.

Their beginner flutes – affordable, durable, and modular – provide children with the opportunity to enter the world of B&O far earlier than traditional instruments.

We recently spoke with company CEO Max Clissold about the company’s expanding range of products, new distribution center in Boston, and how Nuvo can help MI retailers attract a whole new market.

For those who may be unfamiliar, can you briefly discuss the origins of Nuvo Instrumental? Who were the primary players and what was the catalyst behind the company’s formation?

Max Clissold: After 40 years teaching clarinet and seeing kids struggle with the size and weight of a traditional B♭ clarinet, Graham Lyons decided he needed an instrument more suitable for the job. In a classic example of “necessity being the root of invention,” the Clarinéo was born. A smaller, lighter clarinet with tone holes and finger stretches to suit kids’ hands, the Clarinéo provides a perfect start for a child as young as five years-old with ambitions to play clarinet. Now there’s no need to wait until fifth Grade to introduce a single reed instrument. The transition from Clarinéo to B♭ clarinet has been done by thousands of kids in the UK and Europe and it takes about a day to get used to the larger instrument.

In 2010 Graham and I teamed up to redesign the original instrument with a view to expanding the range and market for kids instruments globally. Nuvo was born.

How many are currently employed by Nuvo?

Nuvo now has a team of 18 dedicated employees globally. From production workers to graphic designers, production engineers, office staff, and musicians. We also have a diverse group of “ambassadors” lead by Dr. Cassandra Eisenreich who is our music education specialist based in Pittsburg. The Ambassadors are music teachers, performers, composers, and music education professors who have enthusiastically adopted our instruments in a classroom setting and are eagerly sharing their experiences.

What are the complete current product lines?

Since the origination of the Nuvo concept with the Clarinéo, we have continued to create new instruments that enhance the learning process and make music more accessible for kids in all communities. Our second instrument was the Nuvo jFlute. A low cost, lightweight, durable flute with a curved head joint which is easier for kids to play and less likely to get damaged during the process. We encourage kids to keep their Nuvo out of the case and practice at every opportunity. Next, with a focus on filling the gap between recorder and traditional band instruments we developed the DooD and TooT. These are recorder step-up instruments that introduce basic single reed (DooD) and flute skills (TooT) at an early age with low cost instruments designed for small hands. The DooD and TooT can use recorder music and can be introduced to play alongside recorders to create a more interesting ensemble while preparing kids for the next step to Clarinéo and jFlute.

At NAMM 2016 we were excited to launch the latest addition to the Nuvo family of instruments. The jSax is a mini saxophone in the key of C. It is fully chromatic over one and half octaves and is a lot of fun to play even for an accomplished amateur sax player. The jSax provides kids (who all want to play sax!) with access to a low cost instrument that will give them some important basic sax skills with an instrument that suits them as early as second grade. Kids just love playing it and our hope is that it will breed more sax players of the future who will be looking to purchase a real alto sax in a few years. From a parents point of view it’s a great way to test the waters before investing in a real sax when they are older. From a retailer’s point of view, it’s a great way to sell a recorder step-up instrument and retain kids interest in music until they are ready to play a real saxophone. Your Nuvo customers of today are your band instrument customers of tomorrow!

You recently opened a U.S. distribution office in Boston. Can you talk about that facility and what the goals are with respect to expanding Nuvo’s retail reach in America?

After a few years working on setting up our global distribution network and expanding and refining our product range we decided this year we were ready to take the plunge and invest in the U.S. market which provides exciting opportunities. We have a small team in the U.S. who will be attending music education shows to promote the use of Nuvo in schools. Our WindStars program is proving popular with Elementary Schools and opens up whole new opportunities for retailers to sell pre-band classroom sets to Elementary Schools and secure new customers for the future. While we will work directly with schools in the short term, our preference is to work through local music retailers who can establish the connections and work as our local distributor into the schools. We will maintain a good inventory in Boston, enabling us to respond quickly to orders and provide easy access to spares and technical support.

Are there any upcoming product introductions or other developments in the coming months that you’d like to share with our readers?

Over the coming months, Nuvo will be reaching out to music retailers who are actively working with schools in their community. We will continue to promote the use of Nuvo in Elementary Schools and any retailers interested in partnering with Nuvo to act as a local distributor are welcome to contact me directly. The Nuvo WindStars program is an Elementary band concept using Nuvo instruments with music freely available from the website and iPad app at www.nuvo-windstars.com.

What are your expectations for 2016?

These are exciting times for Nuvo and we hope for the industry in general. With budgets being cut in schools the opportunity for elementary schools or parents to save by purchasing low cost, low maintenance instruments is welcome. We hope this will keep kids engaged with music and produce a long-term boost for traditional instruments. It should also produce more advanced skills in kids graduating to high school band. It’s important for retailers to understand that our instruments do not replace traditional instruments but boost sales of those in the future. Nuvo provides the stepping-stones to high school band and we are optimistic about the impact on the industry and more importantly on kids. The sentiment is summed up in the Nuvo tagline: More Kids, More Music, More Fun!

Retailers interested in finding out more and obtaining a catalog and price list, can contact Max Clissold directly at [email protected]