Many of the first human-made instruments used dried up animal intestines for the strings.
What were those people thinking when they first decided, “you know what we should do? Cut out that animal’s insides, dry the intestines, stick them on a piece of wood, and fiddle around with them using our fingers…”?
The inventor of instruments must’ve been one twisted individual. I mean—what a madman!
Now, we use synthetic materials for most string instruments, because we aren’t totally insane and barbaric.
Look, I get EATING animals—I do this every day of my life with the cleanest of consciouses. I love chicken. Sure, I enjoy the occasional filet mignon. Polar bear steaks? Count me in!
But I don’t get TURNING AN ANIMAL’S INSIDES INTO GUITAR STRINGS.
Think about this: it’s a relative certainty that, at some point in the last 500 years, somebody played “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” on a guitar using strings made from a cow’s intestines. Pretty ironic, no?
Consider this for a moment: the whole song is sung in the past tense. Old MacDonald HAD a farm, implying that he does no longer. What did Old MacDonald do to his farm and, more importantly, what did he do with all those poor animals?
Fork over the cows, Old MacDonald, you heartless bastard.
Until next time,
Michael J. Erickson, CEO & Co-Founder
