So.. just for fun.. since my percussion endeavors are strictly for fun.:D
I emailed this questioned/thread and a couple links to the the office of Material Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University.
"Materials Science and Engineering" is the broad term commonly used to refer to the study of such fields as metallurgy, ceramics, and advanced composites. In the field of MSE one explores how to process a material to get the atomic structure needed to bring about properties to meet desired performance requirements.
It will be interesting to see if they offer any response or opinion (probably not).... or maybe some kid can get a paper out of it.
Here is a link I never thought I would visit.. "Greatest Moments in Material Science and Engineering"
http://www.materialmoments.org/vote.html
#18 The Turkish invent Bronze!!