* The marimba consists of a set of wooden bars of different sizes placed together which have resonators.
* It works by striking the wooden bars with a mallet, which makes the sound travel through the resonating box, making the sound resonate.
* The bars on top are different sized which makes them produce or create different pitches and sounds.
* The keys are arranged the same way as those of a piano which aids the performer both visually and phsically when playing the music.
* The marimba is a type of xylophone but it has a broader and a lower tonal range and resonators.
* The mallets are long, strong wooden sticks which have round, hard plastic balls at the front end of the stick so as to produce a gentler sound than hitting the wooden bars with wooden sticks on their own.
* When one hits the wooden bars with a mallet, the marimba vibrates and produces a powerful sound.
* Marimbas vary in size.
* The top bars are hard but smooth in texture and are labelled with alphabetical letters: C D E F G A B C with accidentals, sharps and flats.
* These bars, that produce beautiful, dark, sweet tones are made from rosewood which is hard wood found in tropical forests.
The way a marimba works is by hitting the wooden bars with a mallet, which makes the sound travel through the pipes.
- Different sized wooden bars and tubes make the different pitches and sounds.
- The hammers/sticks you play the marimba with are called mallets.
- mallets are always different colours because it helps distinguish the varying hardness.
- Softer mallets are used for for lower notes where as harder mallets are used for higher notes.
- Depending on how much force you put in hitting the bars affects how Forte or Piano your sound will be.
- There are the resonaters as well on the marimba which help resonate the sound produced by hitting the bars.
- The marimba is made up of a set of wooden bars or keys which are like piano but has resonators.
- The bars are struck by mallets which produce a sound.
- The marimbas have lower and broader tonal range and resonators.
- The resonators are hang below each bar so when you hit a bar with a mallet it creates vibrations which resonates as the vibrations pass tubes.
- Ranges of the marimbas have expanded hence they have 5-octave.
- The marimba is non-transposing instrument with no octave displacement.
- The mallets are wooden handles and a rubber disk attached at one end.
Watch a video on how the marimba works
Listen to Marimbas being played