Viral TikTok shows how violin strings are made and viewers are disgusted

People are realizing violins aren’t as vegan-friendly or cruelty-free as they thought as a video went viral on TikTok, breaking down the process of how the strings for the instrument are made.

It comes after a video went viral on TikTok with over 6.5 million views, which breaks down the process of how violin strings are made from sheep intestines.

In the video showing each step of the process, a man explained: “These are sheep intestines used to make violin strings. They come from nearby slaughterhouses to process them into violin strings. It takes hundreds of manufacturing processes.”

It is explained that the intestines need to be soaked in salt water for two days to soften them and remove their odor. Then the outer layer of fat and mucous membranes is scraped off. This process is repeated daily for a week before copper rings are worn to remove any more impurities from the intestines.

The intestines are then split in half with a blade to be either thicker or thinner as the intestines are used to make different sizes of violins.

“After soaking the sheep intestines in bleach for three days, they are then connected to a twisting machine, gently turning the handle.”

The intestines are placed on a drying rack and are continuously turned to tighten the strings. Workers also rub the strings back and forth with horsehair to make them smooth. They then continue rubbing with licorice soaked in olive oil to make them shiny.

“Finally, the strings are cut from the drying rack to the desired length to produce extraordinary sounds. A layer of pure silver wire is wound around the outside. Our violin is now complete.”

Viewers flocked to the comments to express their shock and discomfort at learning how the strings are made. One person wondered: “how did ppl even think of using sheep intestines for that.”

“I PLAYED VIOLIN FOR SIX YEARS, AND YOU’RE TELLING ME I FIDDLED SHEEP INTESTINES THAT ENTIRE TIME? I thought it was wire/metal through and through,” a second person wrote

However, another user wrote: “For ppl that don’t know, these are gut strings, not all strings are like this. Most gut strings are fairly expensive, so most violins will come with your average metal strings.”