what's the difference between a xylaphone and a vibraphone?

Answer 1

As others have already said, a xylophone has wooden bars which are thicker, generally shorter, and has a brighter tone than the vibraphone. You can play the xylophone with a variety of mallets, but hard rubber or plastic produce a brighter, louder tone. Melodies from the band/orchestra can be brought out very nicely with the xylophone

Vibraphone, on the other hand, has a warmer, mellow sound which is better for a soft, sometimes "creepy" effect. It blends into the background, but the resonating (effectively described as "wah-wah-wah" above ;-) ) waves stick out. You can also do cool effects with the vibraphone - for example, you can bow the metal bars with a double-bass bow (Vesuvius, Frank Ticheli) to get a haunting, impending-doom effect, you can roll with yarn mallets, or you can strike the bars with a rubber mallet.
Structurally, the vibes have longer, flat metal keys, and there is a damper pedal, similar to the piano, that travels the length of the keyboard close to the ground. With the pedal pressed down, the sound waves continue for a VERY long time, and often resonates the rest of the ensemble's notes. The xylophone's resonation, however, dies rather quickly.

I often hear vibes used more in jazz music or for effect in band pieces, while xylophone is usually used in orchestral or band music.

Answer 2

Just a little clarification: Vibraphones are not the only mallet percussion instruments with metal bars. Glockenspiel is a much higher pitched instrument that also uses metal bars. The sound is metallic and shrill and nothing like the rich mellow tones of the vibraphone. Also, the "vibrato" on the vibraphone can be adjusted so that it vibrates quickly or very slowly or anything in between, or it may be left off entirely (which is often called for, since the vibrato can become tiresome).
Marimbas and xylophones are both wood-bar mallet instruments. We can make an analogy to the glockenspiel and vibraphone here, because the xylophone is the higher pitched and the marimba is the deeper and richer of the two. The xylophone has a kind of "bony" sound, while the marimba has long resonators and large rosewood bars to bring out its sonorous ringing sound. Really deep bass marimbas have become popular in the last 15 years or so.

Answer 3

A xylophone has wooden bars...

A vibraphone has metal bars. Additionally, a vibraphone has discs in the resonating pipes under the bars that are attached to a motor, and can spin if the percussionist so desires. There's also a variable dial on the motor to make the discs spin at different speeds, resulting in a faster or slower vibrato. This effect is really popular in jazz (and elevator music, heh).

Answer 4

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Answer 5

a xylophone has wooden bars
a vibraphone has metal bars

but the big difference is in the pipes under the bars. a vibraphone has little rotating disks inside the pipes, you plug it in and they spin. when you play a note, it gives the sound a 'vibrato', a kind of 'wah-wah-wah' wavering in the pitch.

Answer 6

It's simple:

a xylophone has wooden bars
a vibraphone has metal bars

I hope this is ok...

Answer 7

Sounds like a Weekend at the Professor's house.

Answer 8

xylophones have wooden bars while vibraphones have metal bars.

Answer 9

2

Answer 10

xylo wood
vibra metal