The musical hardwoods

IRDS do it. Bees do it. Even excavated trees do it.

They all can make music. For centuries, certain hardwoods have been reserved for use in the manufacture of musical instruments. Some are selected for the wood's distinct sounding qualities, others for their beauty, strength or resistance to wear.

For woodwind instruments, the best wood is usually African blackwood, replacing the traditional, no longer accessible cocuswood' The straight-grained, dark purple-brownalmost blackwood is ideal for oboes, flutes and clarinets and for the chanters of bagpipes.

In addition to giving a good tone' blackwood has perfectly suited working properties: it can be turned and bored to provide a smooth finish, it is hard enough to be taPPed for the screw-threads of the metal pillars of the keys, and its movement is verY slight.

Another wood seeminglY created for musical uses is brazilwood. It is specially prized for but one use: as violin and cello bows. The hardwood is remarkably resilient, featuring just theright combination of weight, flexibility and strength. Snakewood has also been used, but is said to produce inferior bows.

Wavy-grained sycamore is the traditional wood for the violins themselves. Other string instruments are often built of black cherry or maple, which displays high resistance to abrasion.

Hickory and the closelY related species pecan are commonly used for drum sticks. Their high bending and crushing strength, high shock resistance and rating among the strongest of U.S. hardwoods make them suitable for such striking Purposes. Drum sticks have also been manufactured from exotic snakewood, lancewood (one of the world's heaviest woods). and hornbeam (which is extremely resistant to splitting).

A most musically versatile wood is ebony. Traditionally the standard for the black kevs ofkeyboard instruments, the hardwood is also used for the fittings, fingerboards and pegs of violins, for organ stops, castanets, parts of bagpipes and other musical instruments. Ebony is exceptionally dense, heavy, hard, strong, stiff, shock resistant and takes an excellent finish.

Yet the high cost of ebony has

Story at a Glance

Hardwoods are used for a wide range of musical instruments note-able woods maY feature high strength, durabilitY or resonance.

necessitated manufacturers dying other woods black as substitutes for piano and organ keys and violin, guitar, piano and mandolin fingerboards. Common stand-ins include maracaibo boxwood, hollY and Pear.

Piano keys are also made from basswood and European lime; Piano actions from Japanese, rock and soft maple, organ sounding boards from obeche and South American cedar, and cases, legs and other Parts from calantas, sen, mahogany, mansonia. taun and Brazilian and Honduras rosewoods.

Proximity to local hardwoods is often a consideration for instrument builders. In Hawaii, the stunning native hardwood koa is used for the state's world famous ukuleles, while in Africa, the resonant properties of West African cordia make it the natural choice for traditional drums. ln Central and South America and parts of Africa, the keys of marimbas (primitive xylophones) are made from Honduras rosewood or the more accessible Brazilian tulipwood or macacauba.

Other hardwoods used for various instrument parts include amboyna' Australian cedar. beech, Yellow birch, boxwood, coachwood, red ivorywood, lndian laurel, kiri' jacaranda pardo, mutenYe, meranti, merbau, Andaman Padauk, Paldao, Indian rosewood, saPele, sePetir, silver ash, utile and walnut.