Catgut Catgut Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fibre found in the walls of animal intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys. Despite the name, catgut manufacturers do not use cat intestines. The word "catgut" may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may derive by folk etymology from "kitgut" or "kitstring"—the word "kit", meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word "kit" for a young cat; The word kit, being derived from fiddle in
Geophone (musical instrument) performance in New York City). Messiaen's wife, Yvonne Loriod, commented that when she and the composer first collected the new instrument from the maker in her car it made a "splendid crescendo" whenever they went round a corner. Messiaen also included the instrument in his only opera, "Saint François d'Assise", which was first performed in Paris 1983. Other works that use the geophone include "Asyla" by Thomas Adès, "…towards a Pure Land" by Jonathan Harvey, and the operas "The Sacrifice" by James MacMillan and "Dark Sisters" by Nico Muhly. Geophone (musical instrument) The geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by