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Spotlight - Musical Instruments
Spotlight
Musical Instruments
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Wooden instruments
Many musical instruments are made from woods that are sourced from the world’s tropical forests, therefore ensuring that they are made from well-managed forests is crucial. Increasingly, more and more manufacturers are turning to tonewoods certified by FSC and sustainably sourced bamboo for their instruments. For example, Taylor, Martin, Fender and Yamaha are all working with Greenpeace as part of the Music Wood Coalition to stimulate the supply of FSC certified Sitka spruce, the species most commonly used for soundboards for their guitars.
Electronic instruments and equipment
With electrical items such as keyboards, synthesizers, guitar amps and pedals so integral to many performances, considerations are how much energy the gear uses in operation and whether the manufacturer has environmental credentials, like the ISO14001 certification. You can access further case studies involving some of the above organisations at: www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/case-studies/production
Case study
WICKED Rechargeables
‘WICKED’ on Broadway has been saving roughly £2,600 per year by using rechargeable batteries in all on stage portable sound equipment since 2008. The London production began using a rechargeable battery system supplied by Autograph in June 2011 after trialling the technology for several weeks. Running twice a day with a matinee and an evening performance, ‘WICKED’ London uses 32 battery cells per performance. The production maintains two full sets of batteries (64 cells in total) that are used alternately to allow time to fully recharge. Each set of battery cells is colour coded with a sticker - one red set and one yellow set - and each cell is marked with the date it went into operation to keep track of roughly how many charge cycles it has undergone. Most manufactures will recommend that cells be renewed after a particular number of charge cycles and/or length of time. In just two months, ‘WICKED’ London saved over 2,560 batteries by using rechargeables—a financial savings of £500. Economically speaking, the rechargeable system paid for itself after 15 weeks of use.
For more information see: www.juliesbicycle.com/resources/practic al-guides/better-batteries
