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More Info for Consumers > Consumer Products
Make Beautiful Music With Animal-Friendly Instruments
Musical instruments made from animal products are way out of tune. Get into harmony with animals by getting down on cruelty-free gear instead. Almost any music store should be able to accommodate your request for a cruelty-free instrument. Before making a purchase, take the time to verify that the instrument is free of animal products by using the following information as a guide:
Drums and Bagpipes
Here's the skinny on drums: In the past, skins from sheep, elks, and cows were commonly used to make drumheads and traditional bagpipes. Today, it's easier than ever to snare drumheads and bagpipes made from synthetic materials. And although some companies advocate the use of lanolin, tallow, or other animal oils to clean drum heads, vegetable-based alternatives like vegetable tallow, Japan tallow, paraffin, and ceresin can be used instead. For cruelty-free bagpipes and drums, these companies can't be beat:
Violin Bows
Many violin bows are made with horsehair. There's no need to use "mare" hair to play Mozart, so quit horsing around! Make your violin, bass, cello, fiddle, or viola sing with synthetic bows made from carbon fiber or fiberglass. Try the products available from the following companies:
Piano Keys
Horns belong in brass bands, not piano keys. Although piano keys are rarely made from ivory, they can be made from the hooves, horns, and bones of various animals. Here's a "grand" idea—stick with the many piano manufacturers—including Steinway and Baldwin—that use white plastic in their keys:
Strings ('Catgut')
Talk about a feline fable! No one is sure of the origin of the term "catgut string," but it's unlikely that the intestines of cats were ever used to make strings for instruments. One theory is that the term originated from "kit," a small fiddle-like instrument that used strings made from the intestines of lambs. Others believe that the term grew out of the demand for strings made in Catagniny, Germany. Whatever the source of this cat tale, these strings are really derived from the same source as natural gut is (see below).
Strings (Natural Gut)
It takes guts to play a guitar in front of a crowd, but it doesn't necessarily take cow's guts. The raw material used in natural-gut strings typically comes from several kinds of animals, including sheep, cattle, kangaroos, and water buffalos. Most gut strings, however, are constructed of serosa, the outermost layer of cow intestines. On average, it takes the bodies of three animals just to make one string. However, gut strings used for stringed instruments can easily be replaced with synthetics like nylon or steel, which can be found in most music stores.
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