I'm not weighing in on how much the wood choices actually matter, but the inventors of the Hallographs DO state that the choice of wood matters and have not divulged the species of wood used. Reviewers say that the stands and backing brackets are birch and that the darker hardwood is ebony. Never read anyone hazard a guess as to the other hardwood. If they do use ebony, they must really believe wood choice matters because it is not easy to reliably source good quality, solid material free from cracks (at least from what our local hardwood supplier has told me in the past.)