Krężelok, Antoni

Born in Koniaków [SE of Istebna], lived in Istebna; Son of Anna and Jan "Skotniorek"; Because he thought that he would never be able to play like his father, he decided to remain a builder of folk instruments and not become a piper himself; All Gajdy built by him are in E♭ major (i.e. "tuned to the singing key"); According to Katarzyna & Maciej Szymonowiczowie, "He was an excellent mountaineer carpenter", but "Because he didn’t play the instrument, he was not among the best gajdosze [makers; ws]", adding that "Field studies have shown that his instruments were not in general use among Beskid gajdosze [pipers; ws], but commissioned by museums, and that many of them can be found in museums in Poland and abroad"; According to them, "The only exception is the Gajdy, on which Otmar Kantor (*1960) currently [i.e. 2014; ws] plays, but he replaced its gajdzica with a new one made by Pavel Ćip of Zubří in the Czech Republic [W of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Moravian Wallachia], because the original one didn’t tune up and was not suitable for playing"; Their statement that "Antoni was the last gajdosz in the Krężelok family", is rather odd, considering the fact that he didn’t play the instrument at all; NB: ➺ Gajdosz (bagpipe maker).