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 My Newest Toy - a Marimba! (Page 1)
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 07 June 2005 05:31 PM
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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! quote: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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HowardR Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y. |
posted 07 June 2005 05:35 PM
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b0b, is there any particular style of music that you have in mind for your marimba? I've always liked those. |
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Mark Herrick Member From: Los Angeles, CA |
posted 07 June 2005 07:52 PM
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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... ------------------ [This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 07 June 2005 at 07:59 PM.] |
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 07 June 2005 08:40 PM
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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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Dave Grafe Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 07 June 2005 11:08 PM
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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. ------------------ 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.] |
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HowardR Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y. |
posted 08 June 2005 04:41 AM
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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.... |
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Charlie McDonald Member From: Lubbock, Texas, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 05:20 AM
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Is it tuned in ET or JI? |
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D Schubert Member From: Columbia, MO, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 06:20 AM
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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... |
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David Mason Member From: Cambridge, MD, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 06:55 AM
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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?) |
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Kiyoshi Osawa Member From: Mexico City, Mexico |
posted 08 June 2005 07:43 AM
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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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jim milewski Member From: stowe, vermont |
posted 08 June 2005 10:14 AM
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no surprise b0b, the sound of resonating wood is nice, do they have aluminun bars for Emmons fans |
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 10:22 AM
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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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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 10:47 AM
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And you thought we had tuning problems! http://www.lafavre.us/tuning-marimba.htm |
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jim milewski Member From: stowe, vermont |
posted 08 June 2005 11:35 AM
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that's it, I'm gonna sell Marimba tuners, consisting of a file and small weights |
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HowardR Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y. |
posted 08 June 2005 02:37 PM
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b0b, how about a composition for the marimba....."The Marimba Rag" |
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 02:43 PM
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It's impossible to play ragtime on a diatonic instrument, Howard. Maybe when I go chromatic. |
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Stephen Gambrell Member From: Ware Shoals, South Carolina, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 03:00 PM
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b0b, did you search E-Bay for any old Julius Wechter albums? |
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Adrienne Clasky Member From: Florida, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 04:07 PM
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Very cool! My husband wants one for our anniversary. Is it rude to ask how much it cost? |
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David Doggett Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 04:48 PM
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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. |
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Keith Cordell Member From: Atlanta |
posted 08 June 2005 05:06 PM
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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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Donny Hinson Member From: Balto., Md. U.S.A. |
posted 08 June 2005 05:18 PM
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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! |
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 05:19 PM
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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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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 08 June 2005 05:22 PM
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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.] |
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Andy Volk Member From: Boston, MA |
posted 08 June 2005 07:44 PM
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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 |
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John McGann Member From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
posted 09 June 2005 06:15 AM
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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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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 09 June 2005 08:12 AM
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John - Yes, I have always enjoyed Ruth Underwood's parts with Frank Zappa. I don't know of any other recordings of her, though - do you? Andy - Van Halen solos really aren't what I had in mind when I bought the instrument. |
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John McGann Member From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
posted 09 June 2005 09:18 AM
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Someone on the 'net said (so you know it must be true) she was spotted as a soccer mom at a game somewhere in California... Ed Mann did do a few solo albums... There is a Boston based musician, Nancy Zeltsman http://www.bmop.org/musicians/artist_bio.aspx?cid=90 She's amazing- i saw her play with the violin/marimba duo Marimolin about 15 years ago... She also wrote a book on marimba playing, available through http://www.nancyzeltsman.com/home.htm ------------------ |
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Dave Grafe Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 09 June 2005 10:49 AM
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quote: Yes, it's called a Vibraphone and it's electric, too. |
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Rick Schmidt Member From: Carlsbad, CA. USA |
posted 09 June 2005 11:45 PM
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b0b....here's another site to check out. This guy was a pal of mine 30 years ago that has gone on to build all kinds of related musical pieces of art. Check out the "Great Fan Bass Marimba"! http://www.maxkrimmel.com/ |
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HowardR Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y. |
posted 10 June 2005 05:49 AM
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Next thing you know, b0b will be staying home watching Lucy re runs... |
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Archie Nicol Member From: Ayrshire, Scotland |
posted 10 June 2005 07:23 AM
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I bet the first thing you did when you opened it was `strum` up and down with the mallets. Cheers, Arch. |
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Mark Herrick Member From: Los Angeles, CA |
posted 10 June 2005 12:35 PM
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"That's right you heard right, The secret word for tonight is Mud Shark. And of course with the Mud Shark secret word is the Mud Shark arpeggio.... Marvelous little arpeggio...." ------------------ |
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 10 June 2005 04:04 PM
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Huh? |
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Stephen Gambrell Member From: Ware Shoals, South Carolina, USA |
posted 12 June 2005 05:48 PM
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I heard a Speedy West/Jimmy Bryant tune on the way home from work today, "Lazy Summer," or something like that---but it had some KILLER vibes, marimba, xylophone, whatever...Stee guitar and mallets--What a sound! |
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Mark Herrick Member From: Los Angeles, CA |
posted 12 June 2005 09:21 PM
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Just a little Frank Zappa humor reference... |
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Jon Moen Member From: Canada |
posted 12 June 2005 10:33 PM
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b0b, you will be playing with four mallets in no time. I wonder how long before you will want to jump up to a multi-octave instrument? Jon |
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Dave Grafe Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 12 June 2005 11:54 PM
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I'd post my calypso marimba-and-steel-drum version of June Carter's "Ring of Fire" here but BMI would have my hind parts for sure. I recorded it in 1996 along with a number of my own tunes, several of which are posted on my website (see "pickin', etc. below) in MP3 format. I still have a few properly licensed eight-song cassettes left. If anyone is interested you can email me and I'll mail you a copy. ------------------ 1978 ShoBud Pro I E9, Randall Steel Man 500, 1963 Precision Bass, 1954 Gibson LGO, 1897 Washburn Hawaiian Steel Conversion |
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Tim Harr Member From: East Peoria, Illinois |
posted 13 June 2005 05:23 PM
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Vibraphonist Gary Burton recorded an album with the late Hank "sugarfoot" Garland... Check it out |
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David Doggett Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
posted 14 June 2005 11:06 AM
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b0b and his marimba are now on the cutting edge. Jack White plays marimba on several songs on the White Stripes' new album "Get Behind Me Satan." I just read a review of it that mentioned the marimba, but I haven't heard it yet. |
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Bobby Lee Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA |
posted 14 June 2005 02:04 PM
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But Jack White doesn't play a D-12 pedal steel! Seriously, I sort of like the White Stripes. They break the "rules" of what a rock band is supposed to be. I'd like to hear their new CD, especially now that I know it has some marimba on it. |
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