Enhancing Musical Wood: How Fungi Improve Acoustic Performance
- marc89908
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
For centuries, wood has been the material of choice for crafting musical instruments, especially stringed instruments, due to its unique acoustic properties. Iconic instruments such as the violins made by Antonio Stradivari owe their renowned sound quality partly to specific wood characteristics—low density and high elasticity. Recent research from Chungbuk National University and the National Institute of Forest Science, South Korea, explores a novel method of enhancing these properties using wood-decaying fungi.
Why Fungus-Treated Wood?
Traditional high-quality instrument woods, such as those used by Stradivari, are increasingly scarce and expensive. Alternative methods to achieve similar acoustic excellence are therefore vital. The South Korean research demonstrates how specific fungi, particularly Trametes versicolor, more commonly know as Turkey Tail and Ceriporia lacerata, can significantly enhance the acoustic quality of alder and soft maple woods—materials frequently used for guitar making.
The research focused on altering two critical acoustic properties of wood: the Acoustic Constant, relating directly to sound speed and wood density, and Acoustic Conversion Efficiency, which combines sound amplitude and attenuation characteristics.
During their four-week experimental period, alder wood treated with T. versicolor showed a remarkable 33% increase in the Acoustic Constant and over a 50% rise in Acoustic Conversion Efficiency. Soft maple showed an even greater improvement, with the Acoustic Constant increasing by more than 51% after fungal treatment.
The Science Behind the Sound
The fungi, belonging to the white rot category, selectively degrade lignin and cellulose, crucial components in wood structure. This selective decay reduces wood density without disproportionately compromising elasticity—a balance essential for optimal acoustic performance. Lower wood density combined with adequate elasticity improves sound resonance and vibration transmission.
The dynamic modulus of elasticity, another indicator of acoustic quality, showed significant reductions due to fungal treatment, correlating directly with the observed increases in acoustic properties. Trametes versicolor, a highly effective wood-decaying fungus, proved particularly impactful, supporting previous studies that highlighted its lignocellulose-degrading capabilities.
Potential and Limitations
While the fungal treatment clearly improved acoustic qualities, the structural integrity and workability of treated wood are concerns. The researchers acknowledged that rapid fungal decay might negatively impact the wood's structural strength, potentially complicating its practical application in instrument making. Further research into optimizing fungal treatment duration and selecting suitable fungal strains is necessary to balance acoustic improvement with structural integrity.
Using fungi to improve acoustic properties represents a sustainable and innovative approach, potentially reducing reliance on scarce wood sources traditionally used in musical instruments. This method aligns well with global sustainability efforts by adding value to more commonly available and less expensive wood species.
This pioneering research opens new doors for instrument manufacturing, suggesting that sustainable biological treatments could revolutionize how musical woods are selected and processed. Future studies should investigate long-term impacts on wood stability and durability, aiming to refine fungal treatments into commercially viable methods that ensure musical excellence alongside structural reliability.
References
Kim et al., 2025. BioResources. doi:10.15376/biores.20.2.3653-3662
Schwarze et al., 2008. New Phytologist. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02524.x
Wegst, U.G., 2006. American Journal of Botany. doi:10.3732/ajb.93.10.1439