Arium

Arium is developed by Dutch engineer and genius in acoustic science Aristides Poort. The tonematerial is extremely hard and its unique cell structure is responsible for the unprecedented quality of sustain and resonance.

Mission

In 1995, Aristides Poort, working in collaboration with Technical University Delft started to work on a unique mission: to develop a material with perfect acoustic properties. The main emphasis was on resonance and sustain.

Research

The mission started out with research into the material that has been used for instrument building since time immemorial: wood. Studies of different types of top quality wood led to a technical study of cell structures and the mutual differences between them. By answering the question, “What happens to a sound wave in a material at cell level?” it was subsequently possible to design the ideal cell structure.

It soon became clear that, if this material could be developed, it would have acoustic properties that no one would have thought possible before. The material would have the kind of resonance that even the best piece of wood in the world could only deliver in an instrument maker’s wildest dreams.

Result

Fifteen years of research led to a tonematerial with amazing acoustic features. The possibility to build an one-piece construction combined with the unique cell-structure of the material resulted in a revolutionary property: the sound waves could resonate three dimensional without any disruption throughout the whole instrument.

The mission was accomplished and Arium is the result.

Aristides Instruments

2007 - 2009

In 2007, Aristides Instruments started to work on the
development of a revolutionary guitar.

The requirements:
 

• Perfect control of tone
• Incredible playability
• Innovative design
• Optimal utilization of the Arium properties

Once the requirements had been formulated, the Aristides team got down to business with the famous Dutch design agency Bouwmeester van Rens, which designed the Aristides 010, 020 and the 050.

"Design & development is about finding the right balance in 'ingredients' that define a new product. To meet & exceed requirements as defined at the start of a project, all 4 key factors are taken into consideration throughout the design process." (Bouwmeester Van Rens)

Aristides Instruments spent most of 2008 producing and refining their prototypes. By taking into account the overall weight and placement of the electronic and other components, the team gradually began to give shape to a whole new kind of guitar.

"With projects like this you have to collaborate a lot. Every person got his own expertise. Our (Robert and me) expertise is to make a stunning, creative design based on the wishes of the client. But we're not professional guitarists so we can't determine what's the best division of the weight to realize perfect playability. With the input and expertise of the Aristides Instruments team, some changes have been made. Thanks to our good collaboration we succeeded to develop the perfect design." (Frans van Rens)

Once the final prototype had been approved, Aristides went on to produce a limited number of fully-fledged guitars. These guitars were subsequently tested by a number of top guitarists. The feedback from these musicians were then used to tune the finer details of the instrument. The new guitar was finally ready and with the collaboration of Adrian Vandenberg (Whitesnake, Vandenberg) Aristides proudly announced the first ever Aristides guitar at the Frankfurt MusikMesse 2009.

Adrian admits that he was quite skeptical about the concept. Due to his long career as a famous musician in which he had played hundreds of guitars he did not have very high expectations. That is, until he actually laid his hands on the Aristides 010.

“What an amazing look. And what a sound! It’s like hitting a key on a Steinway grand piano!”(Adrian Vandenberg)

Adrian was also extremely impressed with the innovative character of the Aristides 010.

Also in 2009, Aristides went through numerous development and refinement phases in the production of its new bass guitar prototypes. By the end of the same year, the bass guitar was also ready for production.

The Beginning

2010

In January 2010, Aristides Instruments presented the 010 to an international audience at the NAMM tradeshow in Los Angeles. The first version of the 050 bass guitar was also presented at that same show. The new factory in Haarlem is currently in full production on the 010, 020 and the 050.