Eco-Friendly Musical Instruments Spreading in Japan

Musical instruments made of Green Line, a synthetic wood developed by world-famous French clarinet manufacturer Buffet Crampon with a history of over 170 years, have been growing in popularity in Japan since they were introduced here in 1996.

Grenadilla wood, the premium natural material best-suited for modern clarinets and oboes, is mainly imported from Tanzania. Only 40 percent of the total imported volume is used to make instruments, however, because the wood is rigorously sorted by shape and grain at factory, and only the best wood can be used. To drastically raise the utilization rate of the wood, the company developed the new material Green Line using unique technology to evenly blend powdered grenadilla (95 percent) with other materials such as carbon fibers (5 percent).

Kenji Matsumoto, a clarinet player of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo, says, "As Green Line clarinets are almost free from swelling or shrinking caused by temperature change, they are less likely to crack and can always be kept in good condition. Green Line is denser than the conventional wood material, so the Green Line instruments produce stable, deep and rich tones."

Matsumoto also says, "I always aim to be a good performer and produce beautiful sound as well as to conserve natural resources. A grenadilla tree is said to require 300 years to grow enough to be processed into instruments. I would like to see people return used clarinets and oboes to manufacturers to recycle them into Green Line instruments."



Posted: 2005/06/14 08:52:26 AM
Japanese version