Pop Quiz!

[Mike Blakesley]

Well the captain IS a marimba player, so he oughta know -- just going by the sound, to my untrained ears on Magic Trumpet especially, the playing sounds quite different from what the marimba sounds like -- more different than would be caused by smaller tips on the mallets. But what do I know -- I mostly play the stereo.

 

[Mr Bill]

Well the captain IS a marimba player, so he oughta know...

Actually that's me. Captain plays trombone. And it IS a xylophone in "Magic Trumpet" and "Talk to The Animals."

Best way to keep it clear is to think of a xylophone as an "alto marimba" or (as I explain to folks who look at me funny and ask, "what's a marimba?") the marimba as a baritone xylophone. Most xylophones and marimbas have in common the top marimba octave and bottom xylophone octave (or so).

And, yes, xylophones are played with harder mallets than marimbas -- the lower the tone, the softer you want your mallets (usually). Bass marimbas have super-soft tennis ball sized mallets. And (as Julius mentioned here years ago), if the resonator tubes are straight they are so long the player is on a riser (Julius said scaffold I believe) in order to reach the bars. Modern marimbas and bass marimbas, bend and curl the lower note resonators to give them the length needed to properly resonate thier assigned note while keeping the player safely on the floor.

--Mr Bill
hack keyboard percussionist &
marimba/bell/steel drum/persussionist
for Christ Lutheran LaMesa Praise Band --
see us every Sunday at the 1030
contemporary service in the gym!

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Well the captain IS a marimba player, so he oughta know...

Actually that's me. Captain plays trombone. And it IS a xylophone in "Magic Trumpet" and "Talk to The Animals."

Correct, although when I was in high school I did play marimba & xylophone, as well as tuba, euphonium and trumpet in addition to the 'bone. That was the joy of finishing all of my academics as a junior so I could spend my senior year having all music classes.

I always looked at the relationship between the xylophone and marimba as I would the trumpet to the trombone, pitch-wise. It's just an extension, really.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mr Bill]

It's just an extension, really.

That's the best way to sum up the issue, my friend! Hallelujah!

--Mr. Bill
wondering when all the A&M Corner musicians are going to get together to "jam"...

 

[audiofile]

I want actual proof, because I think it can be either one. Playing the marimba with wooden tipped mallets and playing a xylophone (a xylophone is pretty much just a smaller version of a marimba) produces pretty much the same sound. I've seen Julius do it. I'm not saying it can't be a xylophone, but the differences between playing the higher register of a marimba with wooden tipped mallets and using a xylophone are almost non existant, I doubt many people would be able to tell the difference. Watch Julius do it on their Comeback special from the 80's. They play The Elegant Rag and Julius produces that sound.

Until we get proof, I'm not totaly convinced it's a xylophone. But I could be wrong....

EDIT: In my opinion, I think this is similar to telling the difference between a flugelhorn and a trumpet. Sometimes it's obvious what the instrument is, but sometimes you just can't tell the difference. It's like speculating whether Herb plays a flugelhorn or a trumpet on The Nicest Things Happen.. Do we really know what he's playing?

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Mallets only change the timbre of a note, not change the pitch an octave or two, as is the case in both "Magic Trumpet" and "Talk To The Animals". If you want proof just go to a music store that has a marimba and a xylophone and bang out some notes for yourself. It's not that hard to figure out.



Capt. Bacardi