Music-Making Materials

Sustainability in music is an important area of research that spans multiple academic disciplines, fields of study, and domains of practical and specialised knowledge. Ecomusicological scholars, resource managers, and environmental geographers emphasise that the engagement with materiality, natural materials, and natural environments is central to the sustainability of music, particularly with regard to musical instrument making. This edited volume offers a comprehensive overview of current research on the use of natural resources and sustainability aspects in musical instrument making. It brings together case studies from diverse instrument-making contexts, contributed by scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds. The case studies explore questions related to the use of natural materials in musical instrument making, the associated sustainability challenges, and possible approaches to address these challenges at local, regional, and global scales.