Hi! I’m Gianluca Specchia and I’m a bassoon student currently based in Puglia, Italy

How I Started Playing the Bassoon

Music has been part of my life since I was very young. I first started with a keyboard that my father brought home when I was eight years old, and later, during middle school, I studied both piano and cello.

My journey with the bassoon began almost completely by accident. At 14 years old, during an open day at my musical high school in Monopoli, I was walking through the corridors while most of the classrooms were already crowded with students trying instruments such as the cello, violin, flute, saxophone, clarinet, and so on. Then I heard the sound of a bassoon coming from one of the rooms.

Inside that room was the person who would later become my first bassoon teacher, Carlo Lionetti. He invited me in and let me try his instrument. At the time, I had no idea that such a brief and unexpected encounter would end up shaping my entire life.

Musical Education

When I started high school, I studied both piano and bassoon, initially with piano as my first instrument and bassoon as my second. Over time, however, the bassoon became increasingly important to me, until I eventually decided to make it the main focus of my studies.

After five years of musical high school, I continued my education at the Nino Rota Conservatory where I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Bassoon in July 2026. I am now continuing toward a Master’s degree, under the guidance of Marcello De Giuseppe.

My musical education has also been shaped by masterclasses and experiences with internationally renowned musicians, including Sergio Azzolini, Alberto Biano, Raffaele Giannotti, Valentino Zucchiatti, and Kristian Oma Rønnes. My experience with AYSO Orchestra also gave me the opportunity to work with outstanding tutors and musicians such as Andrea Corsi.

What is music for me?

Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and for me it has always represented a sense of freedom. I see it as a language of its own, capable of expressing emotions and ideas that words often fail to capture.

What I value most about being a musician is knowing that the learning never really ends. There is always something new to understand, improve, or discover, and that constant process of growth is what continues to drive me forward.

What is my goal?

I’ve never been someone who enjoys standing still. I like building, modifying, experimenting, and working with my hands. Being able to combine that side of my personality with the very specific world of the bassoon has given me the opportunity to create something that is genuinely personal.

Outside music and design, I love being outdoors, especially hiking, snowboarding, and windsurfing. Nature is one of the places where I find the most inspiration and freedom.

There are still many ideas I want to develop. My goal is to take those ideas out of my head and turn them into real, useful objects.

How i started 3D printing?

My interest in 3D printing came through the bassoon world. My main teacher, Marcello De Giuseppe, had already begun experimenting with 3D printing, creating useful objects for our class such as reed cases, bassoon harness components, reed clips, and other accessories.

He introduced me to a completely new way of thinking: if something you need does not exist, or could work better, you can try to build it yourself. As he once told me: “The only limit is your imagination.“

That idea eventually led me to create my own reed cases, inspired by a wooden case given to me by my first teacher, Carlo Lionetti. What started as a personal experiment gradually became a project that I have continued to develop and refine over the years.

I wanted to address some of the problems I experienced with traditional 10 and 20 reeds cases: their size and shape, high cost, limited availability, magnets that could come loose, and insufficient ventilation.

My approach and my objective

My approach to design is based heavily on experimentation and feedback. I often give prototypes to friends and fellow bassoonists, asking for nothing in return except their honest opinion. Their experience helps me understand what works, what doesn’t, and what can still be improved.

For me, the most important part of creating something is the idea behind it: having a clear vision and finding a way to turn that idea into something real with my own hands.

More broadly, I would like to contribute, in my own small way, to making the bassoon world more accessible. We are already a relatively small community, and the high cost of the instrument and its accessories can easily become another barrier for musicians.