 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Mel
Date: 2003-11-21 06:38
For those of you who are keeping score, I am still working on my thesis for the construction of the clarinet, (BTW thanks for the help so far!).
I was shocked to find that African Blackwood and Honduran Rosewood are endangered. I was curious to know if I am naive, or if there are others out there that are unaware of the fact that we have about a 20-year supply of wood left on this planet and that's all there is. Your thoughts…?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GBK
Date: 2003-11-21 07:05
Mel wrote:
> I was shocked to find that African Blackwood and Honduran
> Rosewood are endangered. I was curious to know if I am naive,
> or if there are others out there that are unaware of the fact
> that we have about a 20-year supply of wood left on this planet
> and that's all there is. Your thoughts…?
That's not exactly correct. The exact quote from the African Blackwood Conservatory Project is:
"...With the present rate of usage, harvestable wood in Tanzania may not be available within 20 years..."
Remember, wood is a continually renewable resource. Great strides have been made over the past 10 years to replenish the Mpingo tree population.
As of yet, grenadilla is not on any USA endangered species lists...GBK
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-11-21 14:47
Mel - Several of us have contributed info we have found in the Thread "Rosewood" , now in the archives, I guess. More is retrievable via "Dalbergia" the generic term which includes the Afr.Blackwoods[grenadilla etc], the Rosewoods {Hond. and Ind.} and lignum vitae [ever used for cls??]. Apparently these are about the only "heavy", high sp. gr. /1.1-1.3, [heavier than water!] woods "of commerce", where limited supply/heavy demand is causing scarcity and high price. Buffet's Greenline and other high density plastic/wood/hard rubber? compositions anticipate future shortages for cl bodies, IMHO. Hope these may help your efforts. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-11-21 19:34
There seems to be little complaint by users of Greenline.
If there is a property of timber that produces a superior tone (which is highly questionable), then it is my guess that it is almost certainly in the grain structure. Greenline has no grain structure.
It seems to me that Greenline's origins from mainly grenadilla is nothing more than a marketing tool to get us more readily accepting composite resins NOT involving grenadilla.
Composite resins potentially have huge advantages in dimensional stability strength, and simplification of manufacture. I expect that when the mind-set of the bulk of professional players has been educated to accept that valid alternatives do not compromise tone, then there will be little need to use grenadilla.
My impression is that more serious than the actual supply of grenadilla, is the enormous rain forrest destruction that is triggered when grenadilla harvesters make access routes into the forrest. Grenadilla naturally grows sparsely, and if I remember correctly, there have been some problems with getting it to grow appropriately in managed, high-density grenadilla-only plantations.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: john gibson
Date: 2003-11-21 19:42
Mel
GBK is right....wood(trees) are a renewable source. With careful planning and some conservation effort there will be no shortage. Besides....clarinets and their manufacture are not going to deplete a forest. Piano keys....well that's another story. I'm a talk show host and news anchor in a major market and follow stuff like this and canm tell you, there's a lot of exageration when it comes to de-forestization and endangered species.
By the way....the ozone hole in the south pole closed and poses no threat to humans or......trees. For now. Good Luck on that thesis of yours.
John Gibson
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-11-21 19:56
Lignum vitae does not seem to have been used for wind instruments but has been used for piano and harpsichord keys. Better cut cross grain than along.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2003-11-21 20:45
.....and now someone is marketing guitar picks made from it.......
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2003-11-21 22:09
Mark C's posted link is well worth reading for anyone really interested in this subject. From my curiousity, I made a "sort-of" search re: lignum vitea, the ?most dense natural wood, and yes, found the guitar pick use of this {now very rare} S American? wood., and a use re: string inst. bridges!! It has been exploited for medicinal purposes [real/imagined??], used as a [resin] lubricated seal for early ships propellor shafts etc, but it apparently cracks easily, so I could find no use as ww bodies. Of course, what cl body density [other than its size/weight considerations] has to do with tonality {bright/dark??} seems to be more of an "opinion" question IMHO. Perhaps this could be the subject of a conservatory's PhD's research, if one + is not already completed/published . Perhaps the dimensional-stability and reasonable machinability [and long history] is why grenadilla/rosewood is still preferred by most makers . Just passing thots. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-11-22 00:03
Mark wrote
<<Just a nit - African savannah, not rain forest. See http://www.blackwoodconservation.org/facts.html>>
Sorry, I don't know how I got that so wrong, and can no longer find my source.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-11-22 00:07
Ah! I found my source - Scientific American:
http://www.tallgrasswinds.com/unsound.html
Hmmm.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-11-22 02:01
Gordon (NZ) wrote:
> http://www.tallgrasswinds.com/unsound.html
While the general premise of this article might be sound (I don't really know how much destruction is wrought when gathering the wood, but there is always some damage when creating access), the specifics seem to be wrong.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Wes
Date: 2003-11-22 04:10
Some of the sellers of rare woods say that there is great difficulty in harvesting grenadilla wood because it grows in very inhospitable places. They indicate that there is no potential shortage of the trees but that the harvesting and transport out of the area is the real problem. This has been discussed for years but facts seem to be hard to come by.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
