Marimba
The marimba is a struck idiophone. It has long been used in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, often in an equiheptatonic or equipentatonic tuning. In more recent times, the marimba has appeared in many genres of Western music, such as Jazz, Mexican/Latin, New Classical music, drumcore/marching bands, and percussion ensemble. Most Western marimbas have a range of 4.3, 4.5, or 5 octaves.
Sound
The Marimba’s sound ranges from warm and rich, to brighter and piercing, depending on the choice of mallets and register. (Softer mallets bring a darker sound, while harder mallets bring brighter sounds, simplistically.) The harmonicity of the bars depends on how it is tuned. Typically in commercial marimbas, the bars’ spectra have a strong 4th and 10th harmonic, which is by some called “Triple Tuned,” as they stop tuning the transverse modes at the third. The prominence of these overtones can be heard by humans. There are also the lateral and torsional modes of the bar, which although possible to hear, are not normally present in performance due to the performer's placement of their strikes. It is also notable that resonator tubes amplify the third harmonic, which would not have its same presence from just the bar.
DIY
Music
- Iván Cipactli Marimba microtonal Iván Cipactli- miCROfest 2018 and Concierto de marimba microtonal
- Redshift Music Society Echo in aetheria, for microtonal glass marimba (31edo) and Asterion, for microtonal glass marimba (31edo)
References
- Jeff La Favre. Tuning the Marimba Bar and Resonator
- J. Haaheim and A. Merkle. (1999) Acoustical Studies of the Marimba (lab report)
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