Luis and Clark Carbon Fiber Cello

Recently, improved manufacturing techniques are reducing the cost of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is now becoming a mainstream material finding its way into applications that require durability, high-strength, low weight and insensitivity to humidity and temperature changes. Its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio is the main reason why it is a material of choice in the aerospace industry and much later, for F1 race cars and high end sports cars. Now, it is increasingly common in consumer goods such as tennis racquets, golf clubs, archery equipment, tripods, fishing rods, laptops, bicycle frames and parts, aftermarket automotive body-panels and parts, and… you guessed it, musical instruments.

Stockbridge Summer Music’s 18^th season, July 7, 2003, was an unusual event. Cellist Luis Leguia gave the opening recital featuring standard works from Bach, Vivaldi, Faure, and Kodaly, with a cello made not from wood, but carbon fiber. The cello is his creation.  In 1989, he began experimenting on a prototype carbon fiber cello in his basement. The result is an instrument with exceptional sonic quality, projection and volume; good enough for the discerning professional musician. A decade later, Luis Leguia started his company named Luis and Clark and began building carbon fiber violins, violas, cellos and double basses. Now, a carbon fiber cello costs $7,139.

Carbon fiber is stronger than even the hardest wood. There is no comparison. It has a tensile strength of 565 kN/cm² which is more than 10 times than that of steel with a tensile strength of 37 kN/cm. Yet, it is 4 times lighter.

But then again, a strong material does not necessarily make a good instrument. Early carbon fiber composite based instruments sounded dull and lacking in character, noted Charles Besnainou, an instrument builder at the Paris Conservatoire and France’s National Center for Scientific Research. Since 1986, Charles has been studying and building composite instruments. Over time, he has learned the fine art of tweaking the balance between the material’s rigidity and flexibility (its viscoelasticity) to make the response more like “tonewood”.

Does that sound familiar? Is this again another case of “tuning” the material?

From the descriptions above, it is immediately apparent that carbon fiber is a suitable candidate for building guitars which require high strength to counteract the tendency of the strings to pull the head towards the body with a total tension in excess of 45 kilos (99 lbs) while being extremely low weight and thus less fatiguing to carry around.

A process, called a wet layup, involves laminating multiple sheets of carbon fiber fabric soaked with two part epoxy resin and laid up over a fiber glass mold. Before layup, the mold is first prepped by polishing it with carnuba wax and applying a thin layer of release agent, typically PVA, to ease separation when the resin cures. After layup, the laminate and mold are placed inside a plastic vacuum bag. Air is drawn out using a vacuum pump to eliminate bubbles from forming and to remove excess resin. The piece is then set aside to allow the piece to cure. This is the same process used in fabricating fiber glass composites.

Here’s a small gallery of musical instruments made of carbon fiber:

“The Handle” by XOX Audio Tools	Blackbird Super OM	Carbon Fiber Mandolin by NewMAD
G1 Seven by Gus Guitars	Luis And Clark Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass
WS1000 6-string acoustic by Rainsong	Flute by Maltit	Adamas 2080

Links

1. Japan Carbon Fiber Manufacturers Association
2. Carbon fiber
3. Bacon’s breakthrough
4. Carbon-Fiber Cellos No Longer Playing Second-Fiddle to Wooden Instruments
5. A Summer Cello Expedition with Luis and Clark
6. Carbonfibre
7. 6 Sexy Carbon Fiber Guitars
8. Acoustic characteristics of carbon fiber-reinforced synthetic wood for musical instrument soundboards

This is the legend of the first man and woman according to Philippine oral tradition. Several creation related legends exist throughout Asia. In Malaysia, a similar legend tells of a man discovering the beautiful woman of his dreams emerge from a bamboo tree he split open. In Hawaiian mythology, bamboo is the body form of Kane Milohai, the god who created the sky, earth and upper heaven.

The bamboo is firmly entrenched in many cultures throughout Asia for thousands of years. Some still believe the bamboo has mystical powers. In feng shui (an ancient Chinese art and science), it is known to promote positive energy flow (chi) and is sometimes used as medicine. In Japan, bamboo forests sometimes surround Shinto shrines as a barrier against evil spirits.

Bamboo is revered and is extensively depicted in art, poetry and literature especially in Southeast Asia. This plant has numerous meanings. Its durability and evergreen nature represent eternity, tradition, longevity, loyalty and fidelity. It is also the symbol of luck and wealth in China. In India, it is a symbol of friendship. In Vietnam, the bamboo symbolizes the Vietnamese soul.  In China, the bamboo, the plum blossom, the orchid and the chrysanthemum represent the four seasons and are known as the four noble plants. The bamboo is symbol of summer in China, and winter, In Korea. The Japanese call the bamboo, the pine tree, and the plum blossom, the “Three Friends in Winter”. Bamboo represents flexibility, the plum blossom represents beauty and the pine tree symbolizes survival through difficulty.

The Humble Grass

Yes, bamboo is a grass, members of the Gramineae (Poaceae) and grouped in different subfamilies, the Bambusoideae with some 1,400 species. The diversity makes it adaptable to diverse environments. It is native to all continents except the coldest regions such as Europe and the poles where they were wiped out during the recent ice age. Bamboo evolved from prehistoric grasses in what is now Asia in the Cretaceous period where it reached heights of 75 meters (250 feet) in vast, enormous forests.

Bamboo Forest

As a material of choice, it is sustainable and “rapidly renewable”. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world with a growth rate of up to 90 centimeters (3 feet/day). Some species can grow as tall as 30 meters (100 feet) and more than 25 centimeters in diameter (10 inches). It grows to a harvestable height of 18 meters (60 feet) in about three to five years. After harvest, its extensive root system continually replenishes the plant with new shoots without the need for replanting; making it one of the most renewable resources available.

It is environmentally friendly. The plant absorbs more greenhouse gases (12 tons/hectare) and provides five times more oxygen than the equivalent surface area of trees. Bamboo cultivation does not require pesticides (it has natural anti-bacterial properties), fertilizers, heavy harvesting machinery or irrigation.

Bamboo is green in every sense of the word. It is traditional and even ancient yet so 21^st century!

When treated, bamboo forms a lightweight and exceptionally durable hard wood. High content of silicic acid gives the plant its extraordinary elasticity, hardness and strength. The tensile strength of bamboo (up to 40kN/cm²) is greater than that of steel (37 kN/cm²). It is known to be almost three times harder than oak and 16% harder than maple.

Bamboo is used as material for musical instruments predominantly in Asia since antiquity. Its tonal properties make it particularly suitable for musical instruments. Its hollow structure makes it a natural choice for building wind and percussion instruments. The fibers and natural resin that constitute bamboo material itself is very resonant due to its resilience and high elasticity. A narrow strip of bamboo flexed like a bow will freely oscillate when released and emit a pleasing “thooouummmnnn”  sound at its resonant frequency plus some overtones.

Let us see what the world of bamboo musical instruments has to offer. Here’s a sampler:

Traditional Instruments

Angklung

Angklung (Indonesia): Made out of two bamboo tubes tuned to octaves.

Shakuhachi (Japan): An end blown flute.

Shinobue (Japan): A high-pitched transverse flute.

Xiao (China): A vertical end blown flute.

Jinghu

Palendag (Philippines): A long slender lip-valley flute.

Dizi (China): A flute with an extra hole covered with a tissue-like membrane that gives the instrument a very unique timbre.

f’ohe hano ihu, meaning “bamboo, breath, nose” (Hawaii): A nose flute with 4 holes, one for the breath and the rest for the notes.

Shakuhachi

Nohkan (Japan): A high pitched, transverse flute made from smoked bamboo (susudake) or burned bamboo (yakidake).

Jegog (Indonesia): A large percussive instrument (3.3 meters in length and 18cm in diameter) with pitch as low as 60 hz.

Valiha (Madagascar): A bamboo tube zither. The Valiha is Madagascar’s national instrument.

Valiha

Rangguin (Malaysia): A Jaw harp consisting of a flexible bamboo strip attached to a frame. The bamboo strip is plucked using the mouth as a resonator.

Kuliteng (Philippines): A zither made from single bamboo section, three to four inches in diameter, with strings also made from bamboo.

Balingbing “Buzzer” (Philippines): A bamboo tube with slits on two sides allowing the halves to buzz when struck with the hand.

Bamboo Organ

Jinghu (China): A bowed instrument with two strings tuned in fifths.

Las Piñas Bamboo Organ (Philipines): Probably the largest bamboo instrument ever built, it was built in 1816 by Fray Diego Cera dela Virgen del Carmen. Made almost entirely of bamboo with 843 bamboo tubes out of a total of 900, only the trumpet stops are made from metal.

Modern Instruments

Yamaha FGB1: The world’s first all-bamboo acoustic guitar. Everything in this guitar is made from bamboo, the top, back, sides, neck and even the braces. The bamboo’s straight grain gives it a warm, crisp and resonant sound.

The Stick

Bamboo Saxophone: Philipus Jani of Sabah, Malaysia builds saxophones made entirely from bamboo. It took him 12 years to design and patent his creation.

The Stick: A revolutionary guitar-like instrument designed for  two-handed tapping. “Laminated bamboo is an ideal natural material for making Sticks. It’s lighter in weight and more rigid than hardwoods, and also has a very tough surface. Three tiers of 3/16″ wide ‘vertically’ laminated strips form an attractive ‘breadboard’ construction with maximum strength in the direction of string tension.”

Links

1. Bamboo Boom: Is This Material for You?
2. Earth Healing with Bamboo
3. What Is the Meaning of the Lucky Bamboo?
4. Three Friends in Winter
5. Mechanical properties of bamboo
6. World Instruments Gallery
7. Bamboo Orchestra
8. Yamaha Announces World’s First All-Bamboo Guitar
9. Strong as steel and environmentally sound, bamboo is branching out – The Boston Globe
10. Would a bamboo neck be feasible?
11. The Stick