African Blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon), Mpingo is a deep darkbrown to almost black hard wood of the rosewood family with a very fine pattern (black sometimes a little bit violet).
It is mainly imported from Mozambique and Tanzania. in earlier times it has wrongly been called senegal- or Mozambique-Ebony. But it doesn't belong to the ebony family.
It was probably first brought to Europe at the beginning of the 16th Century by Portuguese. Since it has a permanent place in wind instruments - mainly for clarinets, oboes and flutes and traditionally the Great Highland Bagpipes.
The wood is almost famous for his absolutely outstanding sound characteristics. Because of its hardness and density, it provides a very harmonically rich and sharp sound.
Blackwood is one of the heaviest woods - it is so heavy that it does not even swim.
The dark heartwood is surrounded by a bright yellow, rather thin sapwood. The commonly used part of the tree is the heartwood. It is structured in a very fine and homogeneous way and feels smooth and has a slightly oily touch.
Because of its high density, it is impermeable to air. Due to the hardness one can make very precise and sharp edges. However, it is very difficult to work.
The special surface can be properly polished to a high gloss. However, this does not really accept to be oiled - the wood does not really soak in the oil, it stays on the surface.
When it is finishedd- oiled and polished - it often looks just black - to slight grain seems to be lost.
