My Newest Toy - a Marimba!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 18 Jun 2005 6:30 pm

I actually play very gently...

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 18 Jun 2005 6:32 pm

I stumbled across some note on Marimba Tuning at the Peterson Forum http://www.petersontuners.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=622

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 27 Jun 2005 5:50 am

'Flight of the Bumblebee on Speed'

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 27 Jun 2005 2:22 pm

Does this mean you are going to start a 'Marimba Forum'?

Terry

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 27 Jun 2005 3:43 pm

The rosewood ones sound the best. Also is that an Arnez or Cougat set-up? Have fun bOb.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 27 Jun 2005 7:23 pm

I don't know Arnez or Cougat. Whazzat mean?

The little diatonic marimba has padouk keys. I played it at a trio gig yesterday, and now John Reese is trying to talk me into setting it up at our full band gigs. I think it would get lost in the mix of a seven piece band. Maybe if I could amplify it from inside the box somehow...

Anyway, it was a kick performing with it. I played it all the way through two tunes, and on 2 others I played selected segments that centered around Amaj7. It was scary at first, but then it was really fun.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 28 Jun 2005 3:34 pm

That would be Desi or Xavier. Sorry bOb.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 28 Jun 2005 10:27 pm

I guess I gotta learn the names of the famous marimba players now.

Bunky Markert · Post by **Bunky Markert** » 29 Jun 2005 11:01 am

From the NY Times on 6/28/05

A Snare Drum Solo? Why Not? And Then Let's Hear It for the Marimba

By ALLAN KOZINN

Evelyn Glennie, the Scottish percussionist, closed the third season of the Free for All series of free concerts at Town Hall on Sunday afternoon with what she called a "minimal recital." It wasn't that the program was short or unsubstantial; what Ms. Glennie meant was that instead of working her way through a stage packed edge to edge with every imaginable percussion instrument, as she usually does, she concentrated mainly on one, the marimba.
Even so, she used other instruments in two of the seven works on the program. In an extended improvisation based on Keiko Abe's "Michi," for example, she struck, bowed, shook and blew into a dozen or more oddly shaped drums and metal objects before returning to the marimba for a beautifully textured, graceful expansion on Ms. Abe's score. The program also included "Prim," a solo snare drum work by Askell Masson, an Icelandic composer.
A snare solo might seem an unpromising prospect, but Mr. Masson, who has also written a snare concerto, provided an engrossing exploration of rhythmic patterns, dynamic expanses and even the subtle melodic possibilities that the instrument offers. And Ms. Glennie, as always an energetic and intensely focused performer, made the work's rolls, rhythmic patterns and hard thwacks into something both musical and dramatic.
That, of course, is what she's famous for, and listeners who think of percussion as an instrumental class not quite as musical as strings, winds or keyboards learn quickly to think again. This time, only the Masson and Abe works hammered that message home, since the rest of the program was the marimba, one of the most conventionally musical instruments in the percussion arsenal.
Ms. Glennie used a five-octave model, which gave her rounded, almost liquid-sounding bass tones and tightly wound treble timbres, and a graduated range of sounds between those extremes. And she chose works that used that full palette as well as a broad range of dynamics and timbres. She offered "Fluctus," Nebojsa Zivkovic's brisk, bright study in polyrhythms, as a curtain-raiser, and showed a gentler, more jazz-tinged side of the instrument in Mathias Schmitt's urbane "Six Miniatures."
In another of Ms. Abe's works, "Memories of the Seashore," Ms. Glennie produced a gracefully undulating, dreamy sound. And she drew on the instrument's more extroverted character - to say nothing of her own virtuosity with hands full of mallets - in Toshimitsu Tanaka's "Two Movements" and Leigh Howard Stevens's "Rhythmic Caprice."

Ms. Glennie is performing at the Aspen Festival, in Colorado, on Thursday and Sunday, and at the Interlochen Festival, in Michigan, on July 21, 22 and 23.

Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 30 Jun 2005 6:59 am

So Bobby.......are you using 4 mallets yet?

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 30 Jun 2005 7:24 am

Seems silly to use 4 mallets on this little guy. More mallets are on the way though - I bought a bundle of 16 pairs of mallets off of EBay for $95. Made with hemp yarn (to match my Tone Tubbie speakers

)

The 3 octave marimba hasn't arrived yet. I figure on trying the 4 mallet technique when it gets here. I bought a Mel Bay book that explains the technique really well and has some good exercises in it.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 1 Jul 2005 6:57 pm

Back in the 70's there was a tune called "Moonlight Feels Right" by a group called Starbuck, from Atlanta. I wasn't too crazy about the tune, but I loved that marimba solo. That guy was dead on.

Bunky Markert · Post by **Bunky Markert** » 5 Jul 2005 10:44 am

That solo was by Mike Mainieri, who formed the fusion group Steps Ahead. That's a killer solo. I'd venture to say its "killer solo vs. sappy record" coefficient to be one of the highest in pop recorded history. There's a topic for you.

I always thought the guy in the Baja Marimba Band was pretty good. There's usually one of those LP's stuck to a copy of Whipped Cream and Other Delights at any given yard sale.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 5 Jul 2005 10:49 am

The 3-octave marimba arrived Thursday. I played it a lot this weekend. Getting used to holding 4 mallets. Much fun!

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 5 Jul 2005 6:45 pm

woo-hoo, it's got the chromatic keys!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 6 Jul 2005 7:23 am

Yeah, that's really turning out to be a real challenge. If you space the mallets for a major third like C to E, you have to spread them wider to get a different major third like D to F#. Sometimes you have to bend your wrist around backwards to get the notes you want. This is way challenging!

This chromatic marimba is a piece of crap as instruments go. It's tuned 15 to 20 cents sharp, and it's missing some of the spacers between the bars. There are wierd resonances all over the place. But it is serving its purpose as a student instrument. I'm learning a lot!

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 7 Aug 2005 8:14 am

Some songs are just perfect for my little diatonic marimba. Here's a living room recording of John Reese, Nancy Freitas and me playing John's picturesque masterpiece "Navarro

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 07 August 2005 at 09:15 AM.]

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 7 Aug 2005 2:07 pm

So I hear you got it tuned up. How'd you do it? Shave the ends? Add wood putty?
That article looked pretty complex....

Michael Barone · Post by **Michael Barone** » 7 Aug 2005 3:55 pm

Nice sound quality, right in tune.

Mike[This message was edited by Michael Barone on 07 August 2005 at 06:18 PM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 7 Aug 2005 5:48 pm

The diatonic is tuned real nice. It's the big chromatic one that had the tuning problem. I sent the bars up to Gordon Young of Heart Song Studios in Willits CA. He tuned them for just $25 and now they sound much better.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 8 Aug 2005 3:26 am

That's a real deal on a tuning.

Per Berner · Post by **Per Berner** » 8 Aug 2005 5:50 am

That's a really nice tune, that would be even better with an upright bass added. Or maybe there already is, and my computer speaker can't handle the low frequencies.. Anyway, the marimba fits the song like a glove. I must try the fake marimba on my keyboard!

Anything similar to that available on CD?

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´75 Emmons p/p D10 8+4, '96 Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, Peavey Nashville 1000

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 8 Aug 2005 6:37 am

The song is on our "Three Chords & The Truth" CD (sans marimba, of course). You can get it from CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/openhearts2

Our next recording project will have some marimba on it, I'm sure.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 8 Aug 2005 8:36 am

Hey, it's in sensational tune. Good tuner.

Grr8 tune. Now Im going to have to have a marimba. Been using a keyboard one a long time.
Pretty female voice.
Have you heard George Redmond's daughter sing?

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 8 Aug 2005 9:33 am

Nancy is a real good singer, and she's no slouch on guitar either. There's no real separation between the two guitars on my living room recording, so hers gets mushed together with John's happy-go-lucky strumming. Hey, it was just a rehearsal reference recording - we're lucky it turned out as good as it did.

Nancy's also been writing some good tunes, to be included on our next project.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)