Do any of you know what a marimba is?

Question

I just want to know, just to see how many of you actually do!!

Answer 1

Marimba is a percussion instrument that is played with soft yarn mallets to produce sound. You will traditionally begin learning using one mallet in each hand however, most songs in traditional repertoire will call for four or six mallets. Mallets are placed in between the different fingers at set intervals, of usually a second (major) minor/major third of a major fourth. You do not always play with all mallets at once.

It is typically well over five in length, and has large wooden keys, with large hollow tubes that can extend to as low as several inches from the ground. These are traditionally metal, though different materials have been used before for different sounds in experimental music. Marimba can at times also be played by two individuals.

Marimba is unique in the family of melodic percussion instruments ( chimes, glockenspiel (often called bells), xylophone etc) in that it is oftentimes a soloist instrument.


For an excellent example of what a marimba sounds like, listen to Camille Saint Sean's Carnival of Animals. the piece titled Fossils (it is actually a play on his part on over used melodies from the past.. but anyways)

There are several versions that are written for organ and solo marimba, try to find those if you can

Answer 2

A marimba is a mallet percussion instrument. It is laid out in the same way as any keyboard instrument, but it is played with either 2, 4 or sometimes even more mallets. It looks quite like a xylophone, but the bars (keys) are bigger, and the resonators extend to the bottom of the frame at the lowest point. The sound is darker and more mellow.

Answer 3

Heck yes! Its a mallet percussion instrument. Its made out of wood and is similar to a xylophone but with a warmer mellower tone. You can use different types of mallets to get different timbres. A concert marimba is like 4+ octaves I think? A few years ago the young artist concerto competition winner with my former symphony played an incredible marimba concerto.

Answer 4

It's a mythological instrument that stretched across a whole continent. Marimbas dissappeared about the same time as the rapid expansion of the global logging industry. Nobody has reported having seen one for years but there are still occaisional unsubstantiated murmerings. It's a shame because they're supposed to posses breathtaking beauty in both sound and form.

Answer 5

The marimba ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a musical instrument in the percussion family. Keys or bars (usually made of wood) are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys to aid the performer both visually and physically.

Answer 6

I love the marimba. Its kind of like a xylophone, but made of wood, and has a very rich sound.

Answer 7

A marimba is related to the Xylophone. It has wooden bars, but they have hollow resonators hanging underneath them. This gives it a richer sound, as compared to the crisp sound of the xylophone.

People who do not have a clue should not post. And why are you wasting the time of people on this list with your childish games??

Answer 8

I believe that a marimba is a type of xylaphone, with wooden rather than metal (whatever those things you hit are called).

Answer 9

About #64 on a Yamaha PSS keyboard.

Answer 10

its like a xylophone and it makes the prettiest sounds ever