Even musical instruments themselves are coming under scrutiny, as makers and players strive to ensure materials are sustainable and processes are responsible. Yamaha, for example, has a newly established team monitoring the organisation\u2019s use of timber, particularly that from rare trees such as African blackwood, which is used for woodwind instruments.<\/span><\/p>\n Once an instrument has been made, it is <\/span>important that it has the longest lifespan possible. <\/span>The same guidelines apply as elsewhere \u2013 the <\/span>most environmentally friendly items are the ones <\/span>that already exist and so buying second-hand <\/span>and repairing old instruments is encouraged. But <\/span>even those that mature with age need ancillary pieces \u2013 such as bows \u2013 replaced regularly. \u2018Older bows lose their flexibility,\u2019 explains cellist Matthew Barley. \u2018I watched [violinist] Maxim Vengerov try out a bow once and the first thing he checked was the bounciness.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Violinist Viktoria Mullova agrees: \u2018Even if you\u2019re playing a Stradivarius, the type of bow will impact on the sound. I know immediately when the bow touches the strings whether it will work for me.\u2019 It all sounds a little bit like Hogwarts students visiting Ollivanders to choose their wands. But, while the wandmakers in Harry Potter could chose from a variety of woods \u2013 cherry, blackthorn, willow and, famously, elder \u2013 elite bowmakers favour one particular tree found only in Brazil.<\/span><\/p>\n Pernambuco (also known as brazilwood) was championed in the mid-18th century by bowmaker Fran\u00e7ois Xavier Tourte and violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti, who declared \u2018Le violon, c\u2019est l\u2019archet\u2019 (\u2018the violin, it is the bow\u2019). Pernambuco is now used by makers across the world, favoured for its rare ability to hold a fixed curve. But illegal deforestation has meant that pernambuco is now an endangered species, and Brazil\u2019s Atlantic Forest, the tree\u2019s native and only habitat, has shrunk to just six per cent of its original size. In 2018, over 20,000 violin bows made with illegally logged wood from the black market were seized. It\u2019s likely that without intervention, the pernambuco could be wiped out within a decade.<\/span><\/p>\n Barley and Mullova are among a collective of musicians and makers who are campaigning to raise awareness of the plight of the pernambuco. Trees of Music (treesofmusic.org) aims to plant 50,000 pernambuco saplings, reforest 150\u00a0water springs and train 70 farmers to cultivate sustainable pernambuco. It seems too obvious to ask, but can\u2019t we simply use a different material? \u2018Bowmakers have experimented,\u2019 says Barley. \u2018A steel bow was invented in the early 20th century, and I have a carbon-fibre bow which works well on my electric cello, but so far the bows made of anything other than pernambuco are not of the same quality. Pernambuco is incredibly strong yet has this amazing elasticity.\u2019 For added complexity, pernambuco is also sometimes used for tailpieces and, in the case of Mullova\u2019s violin, the chin rest.<\/span><\/p>\n It is not only pernambuco that is in short supply. Global levels of zinc, used in brass instruments, are rapidly diminishing. Reflecting that the trombone hadn\u2019t changed much since its early beginnings as a sackbut some 400 years ago, Steven Greenall and the co-founders of Warwick Music set about developing a new model \u2013 out of plastic. \u2018The trombone is the heaviest instrument to be held with one hand,\u2019 says Greenall, who has played the instrument since childhood. \u2018We wanted to make it lighter, more accessible and ultimately, more sustainable.\u2019 Together with his colleagues, Greenall came up with the pBone, a brightly coloured plastic trombone that has since been sold to over 250,000 aspiring players. \u2018Eighty per cent of children in the UK who start learning the trombone play our instruments,\u2019 says Greenall.<\/span><\/p>\n Although single-use plastic is enemy number one, plastic per se isn\u2019t necessarily bad news. \u2018We encourage people to reuse our instruments and <\/span>we offer repairs, frequently with free replacement <\/span>parts,\u2019 says Greenall. \u2018When the instrument <\/span>eventually reaches the end of its life, it can then be <\/span>recycled.\u2019 At present, the pBone \u2013 alongside the <\/span>pCornet, pTrumpet, pBugle and pBuzz (an entry-<\/span>level generic \u2018brass\u2019 instrument) \u2013 is made from new plastic, but there are plans to use recycled material. \u2018The next phase of the journey is to be <\/span>able to turn a broken garden chair into a trumpet,\u2019 <\/span>says Greenall. \u2018We\u2019re currently working with Coventry and Warwickshire County Council to use raw recycled material in instruments. You <\/span>can buy ocean-waste plastic, but we need to know <\/span>exactly what goes into our products, especially as they are used by children.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n This is less of an issue when the instrument does not need to be blown. Several companies have started selling guitar plectrums made from recycled plastic, and percussionists have been experimenting with sounds created from plastic waste. And East Neuk Festival in Scotland has planned a large-scale series of community beach cleans from which rubbish will be used to make instruments for a 100-piece ensemble \u2013 the Fantastic Plastic Parade Band was due to form in 2020, and the festival hopes to revisit the project.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Tickling the plastics\u2019 may not sound quite as poetic as \u2018tickling the ivories\u2019, but few pianos in Europe and the US have keys made from elephant tusks any more. Most of the major manufacturers, including B\u00f6sendorfer, Yamaha and Steinway, use a synthetic key top that most pianists say offers a better touch than ivory. It also has the added benefit of not yellowing over age \u2013 or inciting illegal poaching. However, despite long-term campaigns to protect elephants and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), ivory is still used by a minority of piano makers who sell to countries including China. CITES has subsequently limited use of other natural materials such as rosewood, a popular choice for guitar makers. Using the wood is not outlawed entirely, but there are severe restrictions. Obvious material alternatives like ebony and mahogany are also on the risk list, so makers are currently experimenting with the likes of ovangkol, ziricote and maple.<\/span><\/p>\n Often, using a different material means rethinking some aspects of the original instrument. \u2018We had to reinvent the internal system of the trombone,\u2019 says Greenall, whose instruments produce a surprisingly effective sound. \u2018Unless you\u2019re a professional musician it\u2019s difficult to tell the difference between a plastic \u201cbrass\u201d instrument and an original.\u2019 Although Warwick Music\u2019s p-range is aimed at the education market, orchestral brass sections may one day be replaced by plastics. \u2018One of our instruments was used during a rehearsal at a professional British orchestra and the conductor <\/span>didn\u2019t notice,\u2019 smiles Greenall, refusing to disclose <\/span>either the ensemble or the maestro in question.<\/span><\/p>\n The need to recycle is also helping to inspire new configurations of existing instruments. Pianist Sarah Nicholls has reworked her 1900 Erard, \u2018a lovely but very old and dying instrument\u2019, so that the casing sits vertically rather than horizontally: this allows the strings to be used alongside the keys, creating a new set of timbres. Nicholls is now raising funds to enable the production of a new instrument, dubbed the \u2018Standing Grand\u2019 (www.futurepiano.co.uk), which \u2013 she hopes \u2013 will appeal to musicians with small living spaces who are intrigued by the new soundworld it offers.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Trees of Music has shown another form of enterprise, one familiar since the pandemic: its promotional video presents a \u2018patchwork\u2019 virtual string orchestra made up of leading string players \u2013 including Barley, Mullova and her double bassist son Misha Mullov-Abbado \u2013 playing an arrangement of <\/span>Lua Branca<\/i><\/span> and <\/span>Yay\u00e1 Fazenda<\/i><\/span> by Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazil\u2019s first woman conductor. \u2018We owe so much to a Brazilian tree,\u2019 concludes Barley, \u2018We must work together to protect it.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Members of the Junk Orchestra, founded by Saul Eisenberg, make their own instruments from rubbish, creating curious percussive sounds dubbed \u2018rock \u2018n\u2019 recycle\u2019. 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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>The ensembles and orchestras making music out of recycled instruments<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Junk Orchestra<\/h3>\n