My Newest Toy - a Marimba!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 7 Jun 2005 4:31 pm

I've had an itch to pound on tuned wood for a few years now, and I finally got around to scratching it. I bought this little marimba on Ebay. What a beautiful sounding instrument!

Here are the specs from the Ebay ad: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>New Diatonic Marimba with Solid Oak Resonator Box

(Includes one pair of yarn mallets)

12 Padouk Bars crafted by Salazar Fine Tuning (Range: A4 - E6) A=440

( A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D, E )

Bar Sizes: Width: 1 1/2" * Thickness 7/8"

A4 bar length: 13" * E6 bar length: 9"

Bars are double octave tuned A4 through E5

Beautiful Resonator box made of 3/4" solid quarter sawn oak (not plywood)

Instrument measures 25 1/2" long by 13" wide by 4 1/2" tall

Instrument weight: 9 lbs. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Man, am I having fun. I have a feeling that this is going to take me in a whole nuther direction.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - 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)

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 7 Jun 2005 4:35 pm

b0b, is there any particular style of music that you have in mind for your marimba?

I've always liked those.

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 7 Jun 2005 6:52 pm

I had a friend in college who had a professional model. It really was the coolest thing to play with...

Listen to the end of the title track on ZZ Top's "Mescalero" CD...

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[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 07 June 2005 at 07:59 PM.]

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 7 Jun 2005 7:40 pm

I like just about any kind of music I've heard on the marimba, but my ultimate goal if I can get some chops is classical. Bach and Mozart sound wonderful on the instrument.

Of course, I'll have to get a bigger marimba to do that, Right now, I'm just delighted to hear some nice sounding wooden keys, and I'm getting the feel of the yarn mallets and the different tones you can get. I've never really played acoustic music much - I plugged in an electric guitar when I was 13 - so moving air without electricity is new to me too.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - 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)

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 7 Jun 2005 10:08 pm

I produced an album for Shanechie Records about fifteen years ago featuring the Balafon Marimba Ensemble. It features an entire band with five marimbas, ranging from the soprano lead to the massive bass marimba, all of them hand made by Grey Mercer, one of the original band members. The keys are made from padouk, rosewood and other exotic woods. The bass marimba in particular sounds simply incredible, one has to stand on a big box to play it using big rubber tipped mallets.

They are tuned to an F major scale (in case you're wondering, F is the key of love, though I don't know that they considered that factor originally). Because they are modelled after the African marimba ("balafon" in the Shona language of Zimbabwe) they have patches on each resonating tube which add a buzzing overtone to the notes - we had to tape them up very carefully in the studio to keep the final recording from sounding like blown speakers!

We took them down to the SF Bay area in 1990 to play some opening sets for the Grateful Dead at the Oakland Coliseum and the original San Francisco Earth Day in Golden Gate Park - you can see photos of that gig, including one taken from behind the bass marimba, on the PDX Audio website photo gallery (see "Production" below).

I completely fell in love with the sound of pure wood, there is nothing in the world like it. Funny how it is very much the opposite of the PSG sound, never more than two notes at a time from any one instrument, no sustained or bending notes, no pickups or amps, also not much in the way of tuning issues, once it is tuned it pretty much stays there indefinitely. Still, it's hands-down my favorite instrument after the PSG.

You could get hooked on that one real easy, b0b, and it won't hurt you one little bit.

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<img align=right src="http://www.pdxaudio.com/dgsept03.jpg" width="114 height="114">Dave Grafe - email: dg@pdxaudio.com
Production
Pickin', etc.

1978 ShoBud Pro I E9, Randall Steel Man 500, 1963 Precision Bass, 1954 Gibson LGO, 1897 Washburn Hawaiian Steel Conversion
[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 07 June 2005 at 11:29 PM.]

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 8 Jun 2005 3:41 am

Be careful though b0b, a fully loaded Marimba will cost as much if not more than double the price of your Williams! Hmm, I wonder if Bill would make a crossover....

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 8 Jun 2005 4:20 am

Is it tuned in ET or JI?

D Schubert · Post by **D Schubert** » 8 Jun 2005 5:20 am

Unlike his hillbilly papa, my son is getting a "legit" musical education in college. He is specializing in percussion, and the marimba is one of his chosen instruments. I have heard him play some amazing stuff from the classical world -- especially the more modern composers. He played me a CD of a piece he's working on now, that was originally scored for marimba and tape recorder that was absolutely un-earthly. I'll have to pay more attention to the stuff he's been listening to, and let you know...

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 8 Jun 2005 5:55 am

You live in roughly the same part of the country as Jack West (and "Curvature"), don't you? Maybe you could barter some lessons from Curvature marimbist* Joel Davel. Quite a CD, that.

*(is that a word?)

Kiyoshi Osawa · Post by **Kiyoshi Osawa** » 8 Jun 2005 6:43 am

oh no!... Pretty soon we'll see our bandwith reduced due to the SGF servers sharing hosting with our sister forum:

The all new www.marimbaforum.com !!!

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Williams Keyless U12

jim milewski · Post by **jim milewski** » 8 Jun 2005 9:14 am

no surprise b0b, the sound of resonating wood is nice, do they have aluminun bars for Emmons fans

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 8 Jun 2005 9:22 am

It doesn't sound like JI (there's no obvious wolf). I assume it's either ET or Meantone.

Joel Davel is an incredible player! Also, there's a music store owner in Santa Rosa who plays and teaches marimba.

Don't think I haven't considered starting a marimba forum.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - 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** » 8 Jun 2005 9:47 am

And you thought we had tuning problems! http://www.lafavre.us/tuning-marimba.htm

jim milewski · Post by **jim milewski** » 8 Jun 2005 10:35 am

that's it, I'm gonna sell Marimba tuners, consisting of a file and small weights

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 8 Jun 2005 1:37 pm

b0b, how about a composition for the marimba....."The Marimba Rag"

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 8 Jun 2005 1:43 pm

It's impossible to play ragtime on a diatonic instrument, Howard. Maybe when I go chromatic.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 8 Jun 2005 2:00 pm

b0b, did you search E-Bay for any old Julius Wechter albums?

Adrienne Clasky · Post by **Adrienne Clasky** » 8 Jun 2005 3:07 pm

Very cool! My husband wants one for our anniversary. Is it rude to ask how much it cost?

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 8 Jun 2005 3:48 pm

The link for tuning a Marimba describes stretch ET tuning. However, that applies to chromatic instruments designed to play in all keys. A strictly diatonic instrument with only 8 notes per octave cannot play in all keys anyway, so it might be tuned JI.

That tuning link describes the difference between marimbas (closed tube, even overtones, mellow) and xylophones (open tube, odd overtones, brighter). What exactly is the difference between these and a vibraphone? I have always thought that Milt Jackson's vibe playing was one of the most heavenly sounds there is. b0b, if you like classical music on the marimba, you must love Milt's vibe playing in the Modern Jazz Quartet, which was a mixture of classical music and jazz.

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 8 Jun 2005 4:06 pm

Vibes are metal, and on a metal frame with spinning discs over pies to produce that lovely vibrato. One of my favorite instruments. I grew up in the Foursquare churches and one of the church ladies that taught at their bible school, one "Mom" Lopp, took the organist out of their job at every church she visited; she was probably 85 when I was 15, but she could keep me on the edge of my seat for a couple hours playing vibraphone. But they are SERIOUSLY pricey.

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MSA Classic 12, Peavey Delta Blues, Proco Rat, Robert Randolph - Shubb bars

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 8 Jun 2005 4:18 pm

Seeing how Bob likes to tinker with his tunings and pedal setups, I find it strange he now gravitates towards something that is totally "fixed"!

But I betcha in a month he has 12 different sets of mallets!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 8 Jun 2005 4:19 pm

Adrienne, I paid $225 for it, but I'll be darned if I can figure out where to get another one like it. There's no maker's name on it. It looks like maybe it's a Heartsong marimba with Salazar keys. I bought it from a woman in Arcada, California who seemed to know a lot about Salazar, and there's a similar looking unit on Heartsong's web site.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - 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** » 8 Jun 2005 4:22 pm

Donny, I quickly discovered that there are a variety of tones available depending on where and how hard you strike each key. It's quite an art to get an even tone and volume from the low notes to the high ones. I'm sure that different mallets produce different tones, too. The tonal palette of this instrument is quite sublime!

[This message was edited by b0b on 08 June 2005 at 05:22 PM.]

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 8 Jun 2005 6:44 pm

And while you're getting your feet wet, b0b, perhaps you'd like to tackle Eddie Van Halen solos transcribed for Marimba?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41782&item=7327423204&rd=1

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 9 Jun 2005 5:15 am

Bob- as a new Marimbist and fan of electric guitar stuff, you should be aware of some amazing '70's period Zappa music that featured Ruth Underwood and/or Ed Mann on marimba- stuff like You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore- the Helsinki Concert and Live in New York...

Congratulations, I LOVE the sound of that instrument.

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...