Marimba Instrument Views

Musical Instruments

The marimba is a tuned percussion instrument with wooden keys laid out like a piano that typically spans four to five octaves. Because of the larger keys and resonators, and because it's struck by softer mallets, the marimba is the mellower brother of the xylophone, producing a beautiful, sustained, warm sound. The marimba is most common in Central America, but over the past one hundred years it has made its way into Western genres, from classical to jazz to pop.

The origins of the marimba are murky and contentious. The most common theory, based on the similarities between Central American and African versions of the instrument, as well as the Bantu root of the word marimba, is that it was brought to the Americas by African slaves. However, because the marimba was found in the Guatemalan highlands inhabited by indigenous people, and because the marimba didn't appear in other areas where slaves were brought (for example, the U.S.), a countering theory - one tied to Guatemalan nationalism - is that the instrument has Mayan, pre-Hispanic origins. (Seeing as how the concerts are being supported by the Mayan Folkloric Organization of Chicago, and since the ensemble's name translates to The National Marimba Ensemble, discuss these theories at the shows at your own risk.)

The marimba ( pronunciation (help·info)) (also: Marimbaphone) 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 (similar to a piano) to aid the performer both visually and physically.

The range of the marimba has been gradually expanding, with companies like Marimba One adding notes up to F above the normal high C (C7) on their 5.5 octave instrument, or marimba tuners adding notes lower than the low C on the 5 octave C2. Adding lower notes is somewhat impractical; as the bars become bigger and the resonators become longer, the instrument must be taller and the mallets must be heavier in order to produce a tone rather than just a percussive attack. Adding higher notes is also impractical because the hardness of the mallets required to produce the characteristic tone of a marimba are much too hard to play with in almost any other, lower range on the instrument.