Historically informed – Are the gut strings used in HIP really true to those used by 18th- and 19th-century players?

Good gut strings have traditionally always been made from sheep intestines. Gut strings are still played today, not only as the core of a wound string, but also unwound – for example on the harp, and of course on all string instruments in historically informed performance practice of baroque, classical romantic and even early modern repertoire. However, almost without exception, beef intestine is used for making gut strings today, although it is actually much too large for the production of fine strings. This change from sheep intestines to beef intestines took place in the 1970s and required new techniques and chemical processes.