Laelaps: Personalisation, Responsiveness, and Airtightness
Based in Taiwan since 2018, Laelaps reflects a strong devotion to personalisation, responsiveness and airtightness of the instrument. The founders of Laelaps draw on their years of experience as world-class performers and harmonica educators in customising harmonicas, tailored to each player’s individual needs. Laelaps is known for its personalised service, specialising in enhancing the users’ unique playing style and emphasising high playability.
The irreplaceable skill of hand-finishing
The founders/makers Chao-Teng Chang (Jordan) and Ming-Hsien Tsai (DMing) had but one goal: to develop and handcraft a high playability harmonica for the performers, to have a worry-free moment on the stage. As professional performers themselves, they understand how a reliable instrument is vital for performers in delivering a high quality performance.
Chao Teng Chang
Chao Teng is a Taiwanese young harmonica performer, maker and educator. Meanwhile, he runs a personal harmonica performance Youtube channel: CT Harmonica Music. He is the Chromatic Harmonica player of the Sirius Harmonica Ensemble, which triumphed in the Ensemble category at the 2017 World Harmonica Festival. Chao Teng has been invited to major international harmonica competitions as a judge and performer. He has performed in Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, etc.
He has played hundreds of harmonicas and similarly faced various problems with different harmonicas. He then accumulated extensive experience in maintenance and tuning. He deeply appreciates the importance of the quality of a harmonica in delivering a professional and world-class performance. However, the custom-made harmonicas on the market currently are expensive and difficult to procure.
The latter worrying scenario is the lack of knowledge in buying a suitable harmonica. Common issue they realised was that most people do not know the right tone colour and harmonica characteristics that they want (need), let alone to try the harmonica one by one before the purchase. Therefore, the Laelaps Harmonica was born. In addition to unique tone colour and great airtightness, it also provides customisable options such as gapping, slider hardness, etc.,
Ming Hsien Tsai
“To make a harmonica to perform with me around the world was the starting point for me. In addition to good playability, I strive to make a harmonica that corresponds to each player’s playing style. With my experience in playing various harmonicas and with adjustable options, we aim to give our players a comprehensive experience with Laelaps harmonicas.”
DMing is a Chromatic harmonica performer, a full-time harmonica teacher, as well as a Youtube Content creator for his channel: DMing Studio. His channel focuses on harmonica performance, teaching and maintenance. DMing also performs in Chromatic Harmonica, Tremolo Harmonica, Bass and Chord Harmonicas. Besides, he performed across Europe and Asia, conducted harmonica workshops and judged at international harmonica festivals.
After purchasing his first Chromatic Harmonica in 2006, he began to learn to repair the instrument by himself. At first, it was purely to make the harmonica more suitable for his own performance needs. Later, he devoted himself to teaching full-time in 2013, where he faced various harmonica problems from students. Together with his years of experience in the harmonica performance and networking with harmonica players from all over the world, he decided to commit to harmonica making – Laelaps customised chromatic harmonica.
Ming Hsien Tsai
“To make a harmonica to perform with me around the world was the starting point for me. In addition to good playability, I strive to make a harmonica that corresponds to each player’s playing style. With my experience in playing various harmonicas and with adjustable options, we aim to give our players a comprehensive experience with Laelaps harmonicas.”
DMing is a Chromatic harmonica performer, a full-time harmonica teacher, as well as a Youtube Content creator for his channel: DMing Studio. His channel focuses on harmonica performance, teaching and maintenance. DMing also performs in Chromatic Harmonica, Tremolo Harmonica, Bass and Chord Harmonicas. Besides, he performed across Europe and Asia, conducted harmonica workshops and judged at international harmonica festivals.
After purchasing his first Chromatic Harmonica in 2006, he began to learn to repair the instrument by himself. At first, it was purely to make the harmonica more suitable for his own performance needs. Later, he devoted himself to teaching full-time in 2013, where he faced various harmonica problems from students. Together with his years of experience in the harmonica performance and networking with harmonica players from all over the world, he decided to commit to harmonica making – Laelaps customised chromatic harmonica.