Wood (or another material) defines the actual sound of a musical instrument. Wood resonance adds itself to strings or skin or whatever it is that's vibrating. In the case of a guitar, it's strings, in the case of a drum, it's skin/drumhead. Strangely, this also matters for an electric guitar (which is just two boards glued together - four counting the neck), as a guitar's material reinforces and alters the string tone. Alder or birch will be the brightest, maple and mahogany will be darkest (mahogany is the darkest). And basswood just plain isn't worth it - drums made of basswood play like drawers, and they don't ever really mix. Guitars would be much the same, except strings, being made of metal, are a lot sharper, so a basswood guitar might mix better than basswood drums, but its tone won't be nice at all. Basswood is pretty much absent when it comes to mixing. The general rule is, the more solid a material, the better it will record. Basswood is a low-density, "light" kind of wood; birch is high-density, and noticeably heavier. Hickory might also be a good material (it's what drumsticks are often made of).

Material also affects string damping, a heavy guitar will produce a tone that's more pure string rather than a light guitar, which will tend to produce a lighter, less focused string tone. Metal instruments are actually the ones that mix best (triangle and cymbals are an example). The harder it is for a given material to vibrate, and the better it absorbs vibration, the more focused the tone will be. This also lends itself to damping experiments with materials like Dynamat and Blu-tack and just plain old plastiline. Material can be anything too, there're some glassfibre guitars and drums out there.

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