The people behind MM Instruments

Piotr is an acoustics engineer by education, and a musician and luthier by passion. His interest in the hurdy-gurdy began during his university studies, when he started collaborating with Michalina Malisz on her recordings and learning the craft of lutherie under Piotr Aleksander Nowak. In 2018, he founded MM Instruments, inviting Nowak to collaborate on the first instruments.

Today, his main focus is the design and development of our hurdy-gurdies, combining engineering knowledge with over a decade of live and studio experience. Working on Michalina’s recordings and playing guitar in their band LYRRE help him design instruments that meet musicians’ needs.

Michalina co-founded the workshop with Piotr in 2018. By then, she was already an experienced hurdy-gurdy player, performing with the popular Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie and running a well-known YouTube channel devoted to the instrument. This gave her a clear sense of what musicians expect from a high-quality hurdy-gurdy. In the years that followed, she founded her own band, LYRRE, with the hurdy-gurdy as its lead instrument.

In the early days, alongside quality control, she also looked after customer service. To this day, she personally and meticulously inspects every hurdy-gurdy that leaves our workshop. For each custom-made instrument, she records a video presentation of the finished piece before it is shipped. In addition, she teaches online hurdy-gurdy lessons.

Stanisław joined the team in 2019, while still studying acoustical engineering, as one of the first employees of the MM Instruments workshop in Kraków. He initially worked on instrument assembly and setup, before gradually taking over most of the company’s organizational responsibilities and production management.

Weronika joined the Ancestore team in 2025. Her studies in Acoustic Engineering gave her a good foundation that she now puts to use in her everyday work. She handles sales and customer orders, helping customers throughout the entire process, from their first inquiry to the delivery of their instrument. She also helps organize the workshop's daily work and keep everything on track.

Oskar joined the team in 2019. Over the following years, he worked across most stages of instrument assembly before gradually specializing in finishing work and in the setup of trompette and sympathetic strings.

Jan joined the team in 2019, while still studying acoustical engineering. Since then, he has been building his experience in woodworking and lutherie, with a focus on precise craftsmanship and attention to detail. He is now responsible for a significant part of the production process for the Aplo Natural instruments.

Anna joined the team in 2024, initially as part of a student internship during her studies in acoustical engineering. She quickly developed her lutherie skills and gradually took on increasingly responsible tasks. She is now responsible for a significant part of the production process for the Electric Custom model.

Piotr played a key role in the early development of MM Instruments. Together with Piotr Martuś, he built the prototype of the Saphona model, taking responsibility for the construction of the soundbox and wheel assembly. For the following four years, he led the production of these components together with a team that included Monika Sobolewska, Adam Dąbrowa and Szymon Manterys. He also contributed to bringing the Aplo Black model into production.

Today, his work at MM Instruments focuses on building soundboxes for the Fully Custom model, including instruments featuring lattice carbon bracing.

Outside MM Instruments, Piotr runs his own lutherie workshop, P.A.N. Instruments, creating distinctive modern classical guitars, nyckelharpas and other custom bowed instruments.

Piotr first turned to Dominik for help back in 2018, when Dominik was just starting his own business, KozdronLAB, focused mainly on CNC milling and laser processing. Today, besides machining parts for our instruments, he actively supports the MM Instruments workshop with his technical and manufacturing know-how.

Discover KozdronLAB →

Shortly after the MM Instruments workshop was established, we set up our own case-making studio to produce cases for the instruments offered by Ancestore. The studio is run by Alina Martuś, Piotr’s mother. In addition to cases for our hurdy-gurdies, Alina makes custom cases to order for all kinds of musical instruments, including some very unusual ones.

After completing his vocational training as a carpenter and several years of lutherie apprenticeship under Piotr Aleksander Nowak, Szymon took over responsibility for the production of soundboxes for the Saphona model.

Adam started out in Piotr Aleksander Nowak’s workshop, where he worked not only on hurdy-gurdies but also on a range of other instruments. Over time, he joined the MM Instruments team permanently. Today, alongside his work on instruments, he handles most of the tasks that keep the workshop running smoothly day to day.

Arek has worked for many years as Piotr Aleksander Nowak’s assistant in his workshop. He carries out a large part of the work on each new Fully Custom instrument, especially the construction of the soundbox.

Adam joined the team in 2022. He builds the keyboards for the Aplo Black and Trigo models and ensures that every instrument is carefully packed for shipping.