2023-07-02 21:56:50
The Frenchwoman Rachel Rosenkrantz is an industrial designer, a musician and an innovator in bio-materials all at the same time: from her workshop in the northeastern United States, she makes guitars out of mushroom mycelium.
The use of mycelium — a sort of “root” of the mushroom — in the creation of biodegradable objects is not new. But Rachel Rosenkrantz, 42, originally from Montfermeil, near Paris, and who has lived for years in Providence in the state of Rhode Island, is a pioneer in the manufacture of stringed instruments that respect the environment.
An industrial designer by trade, she became a luthier to manufacture mushroom guitar bodies that are lighter, biodegradable and plastic-free.
“In the design world, everyone works on bio-materials. It’s exponential,” says Rachel Rosenkrantz, who received AFP in her studio, surrounded by books, musical instruments, tools and plants, in Providence, where she teaches at the renowned Rhode Island School of Design.
Of course, as with any innovation, “it’s still a bit like the + Wild West + and we’re all trying things out”.
– Biodegradable at BMW and Hermès –
“But it’s no longer a hippie thing, since companies like (German car manufacturer) BMW are now using flax fibers to make dashboards” and French luxury group Hermès has used mushroom “leather” for bag linings, she explains.
So how does Rachel Rosenkrantz make her guitar, named “Mycocaster” in reference to the famous Fender Stratocasters?
She takes a bag of mycelium and corn husks out of her fridge and pours the contents into a mold that she has disinfected.
Mycelium is the vegetative part of mushrooms, made up of white filaments. In a way their roots and their digestive system.
All smiles, the craftswoman explains: “The roots can take any shape you want. There is something very beautiful regarding that. Even if the fruit has a specific shape, the roots do not. There It is therefore possible to mold them, without having to remove material, because it is the material itself that will fill the voids”.
To “make a guitar in a mold rather than sculpting it”, the contents will rest for one to two weeks before being put in the oven to dry completely and resemble what the Frenchwoman compares to the crust of Brie cheese.
Traditionally, luthiers make their instruments in cedar, mahogany, ebony or rosewood, depending on the quality of sound sought.
The wood is of course biodegradable, but Rachel Rosenkrantz, environmental luthier, is sensitive to deforestation and in search of more sustainable materials.
“Should we continue to use the same species (of wood) as 400 years ago? Because who really plays music like 400 years ago? A few students at the (New York Conservatory of Music) Juilliard? C It’s good, they need it,” she says.
“But if we create new types of music, we also need new methods to achieve it”, she judges, also citing poplar and bamboo, too little used in the manufacture of musical instruments according to her. .
– The sound of the mushroom –
And what does a mushroom guitar sound like?
We are far from the traditional guitar, the sound is more nasal, she listens to AFP.
“It’s just a new sound. It won’t replace cedar because it’s not cedar,” says the green designer.
“The idea came to me while studying polystyrene packaging,” says Rachel Rosenkrantz once more.
“As the mushroom was used to replace polystyrene, which is known to be a good conductor of sound because it’s full of air, I started testing if its natural counterpart would do the same. And that’s what happened. passed. But the stamp was different”, she explains.
Of course, given the time spent to make a guitar, the first price starts at… 6,000 dollars (5,500 euros).
But Rachel Rosenkrantz “dreams of a big company saying, ‘Let’s produce them for $50 a guitar (so that) every child can have one'”.
“Fender, if you can hear me!”, she concludes, calling out to the famous American manufacturer of electric guitars.
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