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In some parts of Africa, the term "marimba" refers to the kalimba. The kalimba is an instrument in the Percussion family It is a modernized version of the African Mbira.

The marimba (pronunciation (help·info)) is a musical instrument in the percussion family. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. Keys or bars (usually made of wood) are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys to aid the performer both visually and physically.

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Modern concert instrument

Modern marimba uses include solo performances, percussion ensembles, marimba concertos, jazz ensembles, marching band (front ensembles), drum and bugle corps, and wind ensemble or orchestra compositions. Contemporary composers have utilized the unique sound of the marimba more and more in recent years, and it is common to find them in most new music for wind ensemble, although less so for orchestra. African marimba music sounds unique to North American audiences because most of the marimba music played in the Western Hemisphere has been South American. However, marimbas originated in Africa hundreds of years ago and were imported to South America in the sixteenth century. The original African sounds were incorporated into and changed by the music of the local cultures. [1]

Bars (keys)

Commercial Western marimba bars, like xylophone keys, are usually made of rosewood, but bars can also be made of padouk or various synthetic materials. The xylophone (from the Greek words ξύλον - xylon, "wood" + φωνή - phone, "voice" meaning "wooden Pterocarpus is a Pantropical Genus of Trees in the family Fabaceae, most of which yield valuable timber traded as padauk Rosewood bars are preferred for concert playing, but synthetic bars are preferred for marching band use because they are more durable. The bars are wider and longer at the lowest pitched notes, and gradually get thinner and shorter as the notes get higher. During the tuning process, wood is taken from the middle underside of the bar to lower the pitch. Because of this, the bars are also thinner near the bottom and thicker near the top.

In Africa, most marimbas are made by local artisans from locally available materials.

Range

The marimba is a non-transposing instrument with no octave displacement. Other keyboard instruments are pitched one or two octaves higher than written. There is no standard range of the marimba, but the most common ranges are 4 octaves, 4. 3 octaves, and 5 octaves, although 4. 5 and 5. 5 octave sizes are also available. 4 octave: C3 to C7. 4. 3 octave: A2 to C7, the 3 refers to three notes below the 4 octave instrument. This is probably the most common range. 4. 5 octave: F2 to C7, the 5 refers to "half" and goes down a fifth below the 4 octave instrument. 4. 6 octave: E2 to C7, one note below the 4. 5, useful for playing guitar literature. 5 octave: C2 to C7, one full octave below the 4 octave instrument. The range of the marimba has been gradually expanding, with companies like Marimba One adding notes up to F above the normal high C (C7) on their 5. 5 octave instrument, or marimba tuners adding notes lower than the low C on the 5 octave C2. Adding lower notes is somewhat impractical because as the bars become thinner (more fragile), the resonators become longer or larger, and the sixth overtone becomes more present than the fundamental tone.

Resonators

Part of the key to the marimba's rich sound is its resonators. A resonator is a device or system that exhibits Resonance or resonant behavior that is it naturally oscillates at some frequencies, called its resonance These are metal tubes (usually aluminum) that hang below each bar, and the length varies according to the frequency that the bar produces. WikipediaNaming Vibrations from the bars resonate as they pass through the tubes, which amplify the tone in a manner very similar to the way in which the body of a guitar or cello would. In instruments exceeding 4½ octaves, the length of tubing required for the bass notes exceeds the height of the instrument. Bass (ˈbɛɪs as in base) when used as an adjective is used to describe tones of low Frequency or range. Some manufacturers, such as Malletech, compensate for this by bending the ends of the tubes. Others, such as Adams and Yamaha, expand the tubes into large box-shaped bottoms, resulting in the necessary amount of resonating space without having to extend the tubes. Adams Musical Instruments is a Manufacturer of Percussion instruments based in the Netherlands. This is also achieved by custom manufacturer Marimba One by widening the resonators into an oval shape, with the lowest ones reaching nearly a foot in width, and doubling the tube up inside the lowest resonators. Marimba One is a Manufacturer of handmade Marimbas based in Arcata California.

Mallets

The mallet shaft is commonly made of wood, usually birch, but may also be rattan or fiberglass. The most common diameter of the shaft is around 5/16". Shafts made of rattan have a certain elasticity to them, while birch has almost no give. Professionals use both depending on their preferences, whether they are playing with two mallets or more, and which grip they use (if they are using a four-mallet grip). Appropriate mallets for the instrument depend on the range. The material at the end of the shaft is almost always a type of rubber, usually wrapped with yarn. Softer mallets are used at the lowest notes, and harder mallets are used at the highest notes. Mallets that are too hard will damage the instrument, and mallets that might be appropriate for the upper range could damage the notes in the lower range (especially on a padouk or rosewood instrument). Pterocarpus is a Pantropical Genus of Trees in the family Fabaceae, most of which yield valuable timber traded as padauk Also, on the lower notes, the bars are larger, and require more weight to bring out a strong fundamental. Because of the need to use different hardnesses of mallets, some players, when playing with four or more mallets, might use graduated mallets to match the bars that they are playing (softer on the left, harder on the right).

Mallet technique

Modern marimba music calls for simultaneous use of between two and four mallets (sometimes up to six), granting the performer the ability to play chords or music with large interval skips more easily. Multiple mallets are held in the same hand using any of a number of techniques or grips. For use of two mallets in each hand, the most common grips are the Burton grip (made popular by Gary Burton), the traditional grip (or "cross grip") and the Musser-Stevens grip (made popular by Leigh Howard Stevens). The Burton grip is a method of holding two mallets in each hand in order to play a mallet percussion instrument such as a Marimba or a Vibraphone, using Gary Burton (b January 23 1943, Anderson Indiana) is an American Jazz vibraphonist. The Stevens technique is a method of playing keyboard percussion instruments with four mallets &ndash two in each hand Leigh Howard Stevens (LHS born March 9 1953) in Orange New Jersey and is a Marimba artist best known for developing codifying and promoting the Each grip is perceived to have its own benefits and drawbacks. For example, the Musser-Stevens grip is more suitable for quick interval changes, while the Burton grip is more suitable for stronger playing or switching between chords and single-note melody lines. The Stevens technique is a method of playing keyboard percussion instruments with four mallets &ndash two in each hand The Burton grip is a method of holding two mallets in each hand in order to play a mallet percussion instrument such as a Marimba or a Vibraphone, using The choice of grip varies by region (the Musser-Stevens grip and the Burton grip are more popular in the United States, while the traditional grip is more popular in Japan), by instrument (the Burton grip is less likely to be used on marimba than on a vibraphone) and by the preference of the individual performer. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a Musical instrument in the mallet subfamily of the percussion family Six mallets grip is normally based on the Stevens Grip. Kai Stengaard has written several pieces for this grip and it is becoming more and more popular to play with six mallets.

The traditional instrument

The term marimba is also applied to various traditional folk instruments, the precursors of which may have developed independently in West Africa (the balafon) and in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. The balafon ( bala, balaphone) is a resonated frame wooden keyed Percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the Idiophone family The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Mesoamérica is a Region extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, defined The tradition of the gourd-resonated and equal-ratio heptatonic-tuned Timbila of Mozambique is particularly well-developed, and is typically played in large ensembles in coordination with a choreographed dancing performance, such as those depicting a historical dramatization. Mozambique is a former Portuguese Colony, and its native Folk musics have been highly influenced by Portuguese forms Traditional marimba bands are especially popular in Guatemala and Costa Rica, where they are the national symbol of culture, but are also found in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and parts of the highlands of southern Mexico, as well as among Afro-Ecuadorians; gyil duets are the traditional music of Dagara funerals in Ghana. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica,) is a Country in Honduras in Spanish, República de Honduras) is a democratic republic in Central America. El Salvador ( República de El Salvador,) is a country in Central America. Nicaragua (ˌnɪkəˈrɑgwə officially the Republic of Nicaragua () is a representative democratic republic and the largest nation in Central America The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. An Afro-Ecuadorian is a member of an Ethnic group in Ecuador who are descendants of black African slaves brought by the Spanish during their conquest of Ecuador The gyil (pronounced dʒɪl or dʒiːl) is a Pentatonic Percussion instrument, common to the Gur -speaking populations in The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the

Folk marimba with gourds, Highland Guatemala
Folk marimba with gourds, Highland Guatemala

Resonators

In the most traditional versions, various sizes of natural gourds are attached below the keys to act as resonators; in more sophisticated versions carved wooden resonators are substituted, allowing for more precise tuning of pitch. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest This article refers to the Dried fruit shell For the alternative country musical group of a similar name see The Gourds. In Central America, a hole is often carved into the bottom of each resonator and then covered with thin sheep skin to add a characteristic "buzzing" or "rattling" sound known as charleo. Chenowith, Vida. The Marimbas of Guatemala.  , quoted in Squyres, Danielle. "The Marimba, Xylophone and Orchestra Bells", Mechanical Music Digest Archives, 2002-01-02. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire. Retrieved on 2006-12-06. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev  

In more contemporary style marimbas, wood is replaced by PVC tubing. The holes in the bottoms of the tubes are covered with a thin layer of paper to produce the buzzing noise.

Zimbabwean

According to Professor Andrew Tracey, marimbas were only introduced to Zimbabwe in 1960[2].

Zimbabwean marimba based upon Shona music has also become popular in the West, which adopted the original use of these instruments to play transcriptions of mbira dzavadzimu (as well as nyunga nyunga and matepe) music. Zimbabwean Music includes folk and pop styles much of it based on the well-known instrument the Mbira which is also popular in many Shona music is the Music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. There are several different types of traditional Shona music including Mbira, See also Thumb piano In Zimbabwean music, the mbira is a Musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys The first of these transcriptions had originally been used for music education in Zimbabwe. These Zimbabwean-style instruments are often made with a single row of keys (without the chromatic "black" notes on a second row) along a C major scale, which allows them to be played with a 'western-tuned' mbira (G nyamaropa). Frequently instruments are fashioned with the addition of an F# key placed inline between the F and G keys, which allows the playing of songs in G major, although the correspondence between mbira tunings and western keys is a much more complex issue. Other variations in tuning exist, and some musicians prefer the omission of the F# key.

In the United States, there are Zimbabwean marimba bands in particularly high concentration in Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, and New Mexico, but bands exist from the East Coast through California and even to Hawaii and Alaska. The main event for this community is ZimFest, the annual Zimbabwean Music Festival. The bands are composed of instruments from high sopranos, through to lower soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass. Resonators are usually made with holes covered by thin cellophane (similar to the balafon) to achieve the characteristic buzzing sound. The balafon ( bala, balaphone) is a resonated frame wooden keyed Percussion idiophone of West Africa; part of the Idiophone family As of 2006, the repertoires of United-States bands tends to have a great overlap, due to the common source of the Zimbabwean musician Dumisani Maraire, who was one of the few key people who first brought Zimbawean music to the West, coming to the University of Washington in 1968. Abraham Dumisani Maraire (1944-1999 known to friends as "Dumi" was a master performer of the Mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona

Zambia

The Marimba or Shilimba or Shinjimba as the Nkoya People of Western Zambia call it are believed to be the introducers of the Shilimba or "marimba" instrument in Southern Africa. The silimba is a xylophone-like instrument of the the southern African nation of Zambia. The Nkoya people use the Shilimba at their Traditional Royal Ceremonies like the famous Kazanga Nkoya Cultural Ceremony held annually between June and July in there homeland in Kaoma District, Western Zambia under Mwene (King) Mutondo and his equal counterpart Mwene (King) Kahare of the Nkoya Royal Establishment (NRE) part of the Nkoya ancient State which was started around 1700AD.

The Shilimba is now used in most parts of Zambia although roots of the instruments come back to Western Zambia among Nkoya people.

PVC resonators
PVC resonators

Bibliography

Classical works with the marimba

The marimba in jazz

There have been numerous jazz vibraphonists who also played the marimba. Thea Musgrave (b 27 May 1928, Barnton Edinburgh) is a Scottish -born American -based Composer of Opera and The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a Musical instrument in the mallet subfamily of the percussion family Notable among them are Bobby Hutcherson, Dave Pike, Gloria Parker, Joe Locke, Steve Nelson, and Stefon Harris. Bobby Hutcherson (born January 27, 1941 in Los Angeles) is a Jazz Vibraphone and Marimba player David Samuel Pike (born March 23 1938 in Detroit) is a jazz Vibraphone player Glorious Gloria Parker is an American Entertainer active during the Swing Era as a Bandleader of an All-female band, Gloria Joseph Paul Locke (born March 18 1959) is an American Jazz Vibraphonist and Composer. Steve Nelson born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, is an American Vibraphonist, and has been a member of Dave Holland 's Quintet and Big Band Stefon Harris (born 1973 is an American Jazz Vibraphonist. In 1999 the Los Angeles Times called him "one of the most important

See also

References


External links


Particularly notable performers on the Marimba include The following companies Manufacture Marimbas Adams Musical Instruments Ludwig Drums, which In a Marching band or drum corps, the front ensemble or pit is the stationary percussion ensemble The xylophone (from the Greek words ξύλον - xylon, "wood" + φωνή - phone, "voice" meaning "wooden The glass marimba is a Crystallophone that is similar to the Marimba, but has bars of Glass instead of wood The glockenspiel ( German, "set of bells quot or "play-bells" also known as orchestra bells and in its portable The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a Musical instrument in the mallet subfamily of the percussion family The xylorimba (sometimes referred to as xylo-marimba or marimba-xylophone) is a pitched percussion instrument corresponding to a Xylophone Crotales (pronounced "kro-tah'-les" sometimes called antique cymbals, are Percussion instruments consisting of small tuned bronze or brass disks The Musical Stones of Skiddaw is a Lithophone made of a type of Hornfels rock found in Cumbria, England.

Dictionary

marimba

-noun

  1. a musical instrument similar to a xylophone but clearer in pitch.
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