This past November, Elijah Lee ’22, alongside CEO Alfred Goodrich and Grammy Award-winning cellist Mike Block, debuted a line of affordable violins and cellos from his company, Forte3D, on Shark Tank, hoping to get more funding and raise their public profile. These classical instruments were 3D printed and made from carbon fiber, which makes them much more affordable. The Shark Tank investors were impressed: Forte3D was funded for $250,000 with 16% equity.
Lee, a current senior at Yale University, laid the foundation for Forte3D as a Haverford student.
“I started it with Alfred Goodrich. He was the orchestra director at Haverford at the time, and he had sort of this crazy idea, and obviously was looking for people who had experience in engineering and out of manufacturing more broadly,” Lee said. “And he knew that I was involved in the robotics scene at Haverford and other engineering groups as well. We just kind of started thinking about it together and started putting together our initial 3D printers and shop space and sort of started popping out prototypes, and that’s sort of how we initially got started.”
Lee’s dream of owning a business has grown over the years.
“I’ve always been interested in entrepreneurship. And it was something that I sort of knew about, but I had never seriously considered that I was getting into. So this was a very good way to get into that sort of space, which is also something that I was thinking of getting into more when I was looking towards graduation,” Lee said. “Broadly, I knew I wanted to be in some sort of engineering adjacent field.”
Forte3D brings fresh and modern designs to classical string instruments and introduces classical music—a rigid and old-fashioned industry—to the next generation of musicians. However, the rare classical music players present unique challenges for Lee and Forte3D.
“The classical music industry as a whole is very traditionalist and sort of set in its ways,” Lee said.
Still, Lee believes that Forte3D is unique compared to competitors.
“There are existing carbon fiber or other composite instruments. This is not a new idea. They’ve been around for a few decades at this point. The problem is that[other products] don’t sound like wooden instruments because they’re trying to emulate traditional wooden instruments with the new material. They’re not taking advantage of the new material or actually engineering around the [new materials] to unlock different acoustic sounds.”
Lee recognizes that non-traditional string instruments are recognized as inferior to hand-crafted wooden instruments. However, Lee believes that they should embrace the potential in the materials they use.
“This [prejudice] is something that we fundamentally disagree with because once we have these instruments [engineered around the new materials], they’re not better than wooden instruments,” Lee said. “So kind of breaking open that perception of what a carbon fiber or a composite or a non-wood instrument sounds like is one problem we’re trying to fight.”
For Lee and Goodrich, the mission has always been more rooted in the everyday realities of young musicians than in grand concert halls. Forte3D’s carbon-fiber designs address an issue many people and schools rarely say out loud: traditional wooden string instruments are expensive, fragile, and difficult to maintain. Many students first encounter classical music through their school programs, yet those instruments—often decades old—often break down.
“We’re constantly operating through working with people and thinking about how to reshape those perceptions. As a result of those sorts of traditional mindsets, there are definitely barriers to accessibility in the music world,” Lee said.
To make matters worse, many schools across the country are cutting funding for the arts, making an already existing problem even worse and discouraging future musicians from pursuing the art form.
“In a lot of the cases, especially at schools, instruments are falling apart,” Lee said. “That’s one of the things that causes people to give up on their instrument, especially if they don’t have the financial means to purchase really nice string instruments.”
“Our instruments are much more durable, so they’re great for travel and outdoor performances. And if you go to any elementary or middle school, you see all these wooden instruments that are just dilapidated and trashed. Cheap wooden instruments just don’t stand up well to everyday use.” – Elliott Lee ’22
Lee believes that having more affordable and durable instruments that don’t sacrifice sound quality in the market would ameliorate access to music education and significantly boost interest among the youth.
“Our instruments are much more durable, so they’re great for travel and outdoor performances,” Lee said. “And if you go to any elementary or middle school, you see all these wooden instruments that are just dilapidated and trashed. Cheap wooden instruments just don’t stand up well to everyday use.”
In fact, some professional musicians tour with Forte3D cellos because of their durability and sound.
As Forte3D scales its production, schools remain one of the company’s biggest priorities.
“We hope as soon as possible [that we expand to schools],” Lee said.
Looking back, Lee credits much of Forte3D’s foundation to his time at Haverford. Robotics, engineering clubs, and access to 3D-printing tools gave him the hands-on experience he needed long before stepping into college labs. However, his biggest influence came from the faculty.
“The number one thing was the mentorship from teachers,” Lee said. “I learned so much just from talking to them—inside class and outside of it.”
Today, Forte3D is preparing for its next stage of growth. After years focused on the cello, the company recently debuted its first violin, with prototypes for a viola already underway.
“Launching the violin was a big step,” Lee said. “Now we’re looking toward expanding into other instruments.”
For Haverford students who have great ideas but are uncertain what to do, Lee advises just taking the first step.
“It’s sort of daunting, and it’s scary, but I think the number-one thing is to just try making some things and try learning new things. I think you’ll kind of shock yourself with how quickly you can advance your skills by just taking the time to start learning,” Lee said. “Start finding resources online and watching YouTube videos. Take initiative and take an active role in developing your skills to try to accomplish what you want to accomplish.”
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