Materials for Musical Instruments

Abstract

The relation between musical instruments and the materials from which they are made is discussed. In most cases the particular material used was originally dictated by availability or by technological necessity - only wood was suitable for the bodies of stringed instruments, only tin-lead alloys could be made into organ pipes, only bronze could be cast into bells - but this fact then determined the way in which these instruments evolved. Today the choice of materials is almost limitless, but often nothing better than the traditional materials has been found. The technological and, where appropriate, the acoustical basis for this situation is discussed.