articles & reviews

The SoundWood Jam introduces sustainable wood instruments
By Stacey L. Fowler (Environmental News Network, January 24, 2002)

What do trees have to do with music? SoundWood, an innovative program of Fauna and Flora International, is working to educate members of the musical instrument industry, musicians, and the general public about the critical link between trees and music.
"The woods that are used to make musical instruments come from all over the world," said Robert Garner, U.S. program director for SoundWood. He explained how just one guitar, for example, could have a fingerboard made of rosewood, a body made of cedar, and a neck constructed from maple, often with each of the woods originating on different continents. And many of the woods used in musical instrument manufacture, particularly the hardwoods, come from diminishing tropical rainforests in South America, Asia, and Africa. "So musical instruments are really ambassadors of nature," said Garner.

Garner said that the musical instrument industry uses a significant amount of wood, including many endangered woods such as ebonies, rosewoods, and mahoganies. The SoundWood program works directly with the timber and music industries to help them source these woods and identify small mills in the United States and internationally in an effort to help manufacturers find sustainably harvested, reclaimed, and certified woods to suit their needs. Additionally, SoundWood continually seeks out woods that could serve as substitutes for the more rare traditional woods used in musical instruments.

But there is a mindset among manufacturers and musicians that must be overcome. Traditional woods have been chosen for their workability, appearance, and tonal properties, and there is some reluctance to replace them with what might be considered by some as inferior woods. However, Garner maintains, "There are alternative species that will meet the density, feel, and physical and tonal properties that those woods provide."

These ambassadors of nature are taking SoundWood's message to the street through an exciting new music series in the San Francisco Bay Area. The SoundWood Jam premiered in November 2001 and is held monthly at the historic Sweetwater Saloon in Mill Valley, Calif., just north of San Francisco.

According to Garner, the series was initiated for a variety of reasons. The primary intent was to present a music series where people could "... just come out and enjoy and celebrate what trees have to do with music as well as give musicians and music lovers a chance to learn where woods come from, what woods are used to make instruments, and what are some of the progressive initiatives that are being implemented by a number of manufacturers to make a difference and use environmentally sensitive woods," said Garner.

The SoundWood Jam has been designed to bring attention to both well-known manufacturers and independent luthiers who are using sustainably harvested woods to build their instruments. The series will feature instruments donated by Gibson Guitars, Modulus Guitars, Martin Guitars, and Drum Solo.

"The awareness of certified woods now is very similar to what people thought about organic foods 15 years ago," said Rich Lasner, president of Modulus Guitars. "They knew it existed, it had it's own funny little area on the shelf in the supermarket, and it cost, they thought, quite a bit more than what they would consider regular food."

The Novato, Calif.–based manufacturer is committed to using 100 percent sustainable and certified wood in production of all their guitars and basses. A driving force behind Modulus' commitment to the environment is CEO Michael Klein, who serves on the board of Rainforest Action Network. The company uses a range of exotic and ecologically sound woods including granadillo, chechen, red cedar, chakte kok, and soma to build its instruments.

"People have a lot of misconceptions about certified wood," said Lasner. "First, that maybe it's inferior; second, that it's hard to come by; and third, that it's going to cost them a tremendous amount of money for no benefit."

Modulus has been working with SoundWood to help spread the word and demonstrate to the public that environmentally sound wood is viable for the manufacture of quality musical instruments.

Greg Gaylord, owner of DrumSolo, which is also in Novato, said he decided to use certified and reclaimed woods in the manufacture of many of his custom snare drums simply because it seemed to him to be the right thing to do. He's discovered that by replacing the traditional maple with tropical exotics, he's able to produce drums that are superior in terms of both sound and aesthetics.

"I don't think I've jeopardized anything by any means; we get beautiful woods and beautiful sounds," said Gaylord. "I think it's been an improvement in the product. The one obstacle I encounter is that the market will often think you're using a lesser wood, but once they get a hold of it and hear it and play it, I think they realize that we're not compromising anything by doing it the way we do it," he said.

Gaylord said he anticipates that the SoundWood Jam series will be a powerful way to alter the public's perception and understanding of green instrument building and sustainability issues in general. "If people know about it and understand it, then they may actually go into the stores and ask for sustainable forest products," he said.

Gaylord said that many people are ill informed about sustainable forest products and that educating the public could lead to more availability of certified forestry products in the marketplace. "If they know about it and they can hear these instruments and go, 'Hey these sound great and they're coming out of certified forest,' that's a win-win situation for everybody," said Gaylord.

Indeed, music does stand to provide an excellent platform for raising awareness about certified wood and sustainability issues. "Probably the biggest impact that wood has in the marketplace is through furniture," said Dick Boak, who handles communications for Martin Guitars. "I don't know how well furniture does as a vehicle for educating people because I don't know how excited people get about it, but people get really excited about guitars and music."

Martin Guitars introduced its SWD model, the company's first certified wood guitar, in January 1998. The SWD contains 73 percent certified wood from well-managed forests identified through Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program and through Scientific Certification Systems. Both comply with guidelines set forth by the Forest Stewardship Council. Woods used in the guitar include certified cherry, basswood, hard maple, and Mexican katalox. The remainder of the guitar is constructed from reclaimed, though not certified, Quartersawn Sitka spruce that was destined to become pulpwood for the manufacture of baby diapers before Martin purchased it. Martin is also developing prototypes that utilize other alternative materials like high pressure laminates and recycled aluminum.

While Boak acknowledges that there will always be consumer demand for guitars constructed from traditional materials, he believes they'll become increasingly expensive and less prevalent. "Ten years ago I was really worried that if the traditional woods disappeared we would just be out of business," said Boak. His outlook has changed dramatically in recent years. "I think that we really have identified some great alternative materials that will ensure our methods of guitar making can continue," he said.

The consensus is that raising the public's awareness of green instrument building is key to improving the sustainability of the industry. That's why Garner and other participants in the music series are so excited about the monthly Jam.

"All the players in the house band will actually be playing on certified and reclaimed wood instruments," said Garner. In addition to good music, each Jam will feature one of the instruments and an explanation of how it was made and where the woods came from. The Jam will also provide information about the certification process and local availability of featured instruments.

Another unique aspect of the Jam is that music lovers and musicians will be encouraged to join in the music making. "We'll give local musicians a chance to come out and play on these instruments so they can touch and feel them and know that they're the best thing going," said Garner.

All the proceeds from the Jam will directly benefit SoundWood and its efforts. "Environmental issues are a big thing for us," said Becky Steere, owner of the Sweetwater Saloon. "We do anything we can to better the planet, and the fact that SoundWood is doing that with a focus on guitars, which of course we use every night at Sweetwater: We just thought it was a perfect fit."

Garner eventually hopes to expand the series into other Bay Area and California venues. The next Jam is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002.

"There will be a time, if things don't change, that you won't be able to buy certain kinds of wood and therefore you won't be able to get that beautiful table or instrument or whatever wood product you want," warned Modulus' Lasner. "We're doing this not only because it's ecologically sound at the moment but because in a hundred years you don't want to send your great-great-grandkids to a museum to see a piece of rosewood. There's no reason; we can do it right if we start doing it now."