In the last 50 years there has been an explosion of new material solutions for makers of music and musical instruments. Reasons for replacing traditional materials in musical instruments range from lowereing costs and labor time, to making instruments last longer. One group of materials which are greatly changing that production of instruments is polymer composites. Composites can also help with ease of playing and maintenance in some cases. Often instruements made with synthetic materials don't sound as good as their natural counterparts, but sometimes they do. Often the differences are too small for most to notice and the other benefits, as well as the rapid improvements, far outweigh the little shortcomings.
The main material replaced or enhanced by composites is cellulose. For one thing the fiber and matrix structure of a polymer composite is very similar to that of wood. Fibers such as glass or carbon fiber or even nylon - such as Kevlar - can be lined up parellel to each other and then suspended in a thermoset like epoxy or silicone resin. The arrangement of the fibers is quite similar to that in wood, and one such composite which is used to make reeds is actually designed to absorb moisture the way wood does. This is so that it can absorb the player's lung vapors and saliva in order to become stable and play properly like a wooden reed.
Carbon fiber is becoming more and more used in a soundboard material for guitars. The ususal woods such as spruce have always had a tendency to warp and buckle under string pressure, but recently several maufactureres have found methods for duplicating the resonance qualities of spruce with carbon fiber composites. According to one maker, the laminated carbon fibers have a superior quality and strength to traditional woods and they also take a laquer finish well and are very attractive to look at.
In instruments like violins, a revoltuionary new material, much like that used for the guitars, has made construction of violins much simpler by allowing the manufacturer to create the body of the violin, viola, cello or bass from much fewer parts by molding the body shape as only three large pieces. So the violin can be made from about 20 seperate parts instead of the usual 70. This cuts down on construction time and cost. And these new composite instruments also resonate much like wood and exhibit excellent sound quality.
These new violins are made by Quintus and they are formed from a carbon fiber and epoxy resin composite. This material is light and resistant to temperature changes as well as damage from impact.
The composite material fiberglass has also been used to produce aritficial bow hair for violin bows. This material - while not as good for playing as real horse hair - costs less and addresses the concern that some have about using animal products in their instruments. Fiberglass and carbon fiber have also been used to make stronger, lighter and less costly bowsticks. The new materials stand up well under the stress of taught bow hair.
One flute maker in Finland has introduced a pateneted carbon fiber flute with synthetic rubber pads and titanium keys with magnetic action. This is a leap forward not only in materials use, but also engineering of instument mechanics. The carbon fiber flute body is said to give a clear distinctive tone to the flutes.
Since the sudden deficit of French cane during World War II reedmakers have experimented with artificial reed materials.
In the 60's the first composite single reeds were put on the market, made from a composite material called Fibercane. This material, formed from Dacron polyester and epoxy resin is still in use in single and double reed manufacturing by Selmer. Many have improved on these early attemps with more advanced models that very closely immitate the qualities of cane, going so far as to develop a composite called Fibracell, made with Kevlar fibers, which actually absorbs moisture like cane does so that the reeds will have a similar reaction to the moisture in the player's saliva and breath. The sound quality of composite reeds is still up for debate, but the really good news about artificial reeds is that they are more consistent than wood for performance and have a longer lifespan if properly cared for.
Composites are also being used in other more unusual reeds. For instance, the problem over the years with natural cane bagpipe drone reeds is that the tongues of the reeds must stay at an optimal angle for the reeds to work well and sound good without requiring too much air. Keeping these reeds set just right is a difficult job, even if they are played and maintained on a daily basis. The solution in the last ten years has been composites. Reedmakers throughout the world have developed numerous body designs for reeds - from the straightfoward to the downright complicated, but the one thing all these synthetic reeds need to work is a tongue that vibrates against an opening to make the drone sound. The tongues started out as simple plastic strips, but it was soon discovered that the plastic could relax and lose its perfect playing angle. So now bagpipe reed makers are all developing reeds which use some kind of composite reed tongues made of carbon or glass fibers set in epoxy, silicone, or polycarbonatethermosets. The fibers give the tongues stength and durability while the thermosets allow them to be set at the perfect angle with little chance of that angle ever changing or relaxing. One Austrailian reedmaker has even designed a reed with a straight carbon fiber tongue and put the angle on the opening on the reed body, so there will never be a problem keeping the tongue angled properly, as long as it remains straight. Pretty smart!
While the composite reed tongue solve some serious problems, they still suffer from the problems of moisture, where natural cane is at least able to absorb some of the mosture in the air going through them. Too much moisture in synthetic reeds can close them up, especially in cold weather, which causes a lot of condensation. Also there has still not been a satisfactory syntheic material found to make pipe chanter reeds, but time will surely tell.
Despite the recent advances in music through the use of polymer composites, change is sure to remain slow and steady, since traditional materials remain favored by many musicians for their desirable sound qualities. In many ways, however, syntheitc materials have caught up and measured up, and they surely make some aspects of playing and maintaining musical instruments simpler.
