the balalaika was improved by a russian, vasily vasil'yevich andreev. he had heard peasants on his farm playing badly made instruments. andreev wanted to improve the instrument and use it for concerts. he spent the rest of his life working on this instrument with help from two violin makers and a carpenter. they improved the soundboard, which made it louder. he came up with the idea of the prima balalaike, sekunda, alto, bass and controbass balalaika. he then spent several years writing and arranging music for groups of balalaikas to play. the first public performance by the ensemble of balalaika players took place in 1888.