About three years ago, when I was still a research group leader for wood science at the ETH Zurich, musical instrument makers approached me and reported that it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain good tropical wood for the construction of their instruments from a sustainable, reliable and legal source. In addition, it was becoming increasingly unpleasant for professional musicians to perform in public with dubious woods. Touring trips are also becoming more and more expensive, especially since more and more documents have to be obtained for border crossings with CITES-relevant instruments. Flawless musical instruments are therefore becoming increasingly important.

The challenge that practically an entire industry is facing was therefore clear. As a team of researchers, we began to modify local wood from sustainable forestry in such a way that it is acoustically high-quality with appealing aesthetics and very good play-ability. With this Sonowood, the musician can travel without coming into conflict with CITES-regulations. In addition, the new wood is fully biodegradable because it contains no dyes, synthetic resins or adhesives.
The Gebert-Rüf-Foundation financed the beginnings of the research work and so we first modified sycamore maple, spruce and beech and had success with the musicians. In order to make Sonowood available on a larger scale, we then founded the startup Swiss Wood Solutions. In the meantime we were able to purchase a larger machine and step by step we are gaining recognition in the market.