MAKING MARIMBAS - Made Easy!How the Average Handyman can Make Marimbas...
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On this site you will find...
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DOWNLOAD MARIMBA MAKING GUIDESP524 Marimba Building Guide (Variable range - 4 to 5 octaves)
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I design and build BOTH types of marimbas, but my goal is to encourage better quality marimbas. I want to help YOU with better marimba tuning in both bars and resonators - better bar mounting for freely vibrating bars that are secure and don't bounce - Fully chromatic marimbas with professional specifications.
1. Pro Concert Marimba | | 2. Mini Marimba | | 3. 3 Octave Baritone/Alto | | 4. Orff Style Xylophones |
This design is flexible and can be made without the top end so it just becomes a bass marimba... or it can be made with any range at all you like. It is very popular as a basic four octave marimba for student practise or ensembles - or with a different concert range... like the one in the first photo on this page - which is a four octave + 3rd version.
Average cost:... 4 octave version fully finished with purpleheart bars.
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The legs just slide into the body at the ends, so you can have BOTH a stand up height version AND a sit or kneel version. You can even make these interlocking to stack on top of each other for super space saving storage!
Light enough to be caried by a pair of small children.
Big enough to be taken seriously by adults.
Incredibly cheap and quick n' easy to build.
Average cost:... fully finished with purpleheart bars.
Quick to build design & simple materials, make this a great value marimba.
Average cost:... fully finished with purpleheart bars.
Average cost:... fully finished with hardwood tone bars.
Now for bars... you want timber that DOES vibrate well and produces a clear ringing sound. You can of course get SOME tone from any timber at all but there is definitely a difference in the quality of sound. Some timbers are ok for low pitch bars but lose clarity and that ringing quality in the top register - and some are nice and bright but lack oomph in the bottom end. A very FEW timbers work well over a whole concert range instrument.
Of course in addition to the actual sound a bar produces the issue of hardness and of weight can also play a part. Lightweight timbers are not desirable as they have a tendency to bounce when played. Also light timbers tend to be softer. Soft timbers can be ok for very low pitch bars, but are definitely no good for mid to high bars. The problem is you are hitting these bars with mallets and soft timbers will dent and not stand up over time. Cedar is a good example of a timber which has a nice ring in some registers, but would never be suitable because it is just too soft! It is a myth that hardness ALONE makes a timber actually sound good - it is not the case - but you do need a CERTAIN amount of hardness, and the timbers that DO sound good, tend to be harder ones.
Traditionally the number one choice for marimba bars has been Honduras Rosewood (Dalbergia Stevensonii). You can still get it in some parts of the world but it is always among the more expensive timbers. Here in Australia it is no longer being imported at all as it is an endangered species essentially... you certainly can't really get enough for a marimba, and even if you can get small amounts... it is INCREDIBLY expensive. African Padauk has often been used over the last few decades as a tried and trued second best. Many people will say that it does not sound as good but actually I think it sounds every BIT as good - in fact I think it sounds even better in the low end than rosewood does. For a five octave marimba I think that rosewood often has the lowest few bars sounding a little over prevalent in the overtones - although that is being picky. Padauk makes an extremely fine sounding marimba and works across the entire concert range - and it sounds even better than rosewood on bass marimbas. The only issues one can have with padauk - and once again I'm being fussy here - is that the hardness and weight of the timber is sometimes not quite up to task for the top of the range. The small bars can bounce a little if not mounted well, and if you continuously use harder mallets and play the top octave hard, those bars can start to get damaged over time. Padauk comes from a bigger tree and is considerably less expensive than rosewood though - and easier to get. If you use it for a concert marimba, try to use the hardest heaviest planks you can find to make the top notes.
Purpleheart is another favorite timber of mine. I think it is the best possible timber for bass bars. It is certainly harder and heavier than padauk and is a very robust timber - and it LOOKS sensational with its deep rich purple colour. It can work for a full range marimba as well and sound great - the only thing is that sometimes the top octave or so - the higher notes can sound just a fraction lacking. They don't ring QUITE as well or clearly and I would say on average are about 15% less good in the top of the range. Like with padauk, if you select the hardest and best bits you have for the top notes, you can offset this effect a bit. It is exactly this slight suppression of the upper notes that actually leads to the great sound in the bass as the overtones do not stick out too much.