The termxylophone may be used generally, to include all such instruments such as themarimba,balafon and even thesemantron. However, in theorchestra, the termxylophone refers specifically to a chromatic instrument of somewhat higher pitch range and driertimbre than themarimba, and these two instruments should not be confused. A person who plays the xylophone is known as axylophonist or simply axylophone player.[3]
The term is also popularly used to refer to similar instruments of thelithophone andmetallophone types. For example, thePixiphone and many similar toys described by the makers as xylophones have bars of metal rather than of wood, and so are inorganology regarded asglockenspiels rather than as xylophones.
The modern western xylophone has bars ofrosewood,padauk,cocobolo, or various synthetic materials such asfiberglass orfiberglass-reinforced plastic which allows a louder sound.[4] Some can be as small a range as2+1⁄2 octaves but concert xylophones are typically3+1⁄2 or 4 octaves. Like the glockenspiel, the xylophone is atransposing instrument: its parts are written one octave below the sounding notes.[5]
Concert xylophones have tuberesonators below the bars to enhance the tone and sustain. Frames are made of wood or cheap steel tubing: more expensive xylophones feature height adjustment and more stability in the stand. In other music cultures some versions havegourds[4] that act asHelmholtz resonators. Others are "trough" xylophones with a single hollow body that acts as a resonator for all the bars.[6] Old methods consisted of arranging the bars on tied bundles of straw, and, is still practiced today, placing the bars adjacent to each other in a ladder-like layout. Ancient mallets were made of willow wood with spoon-like bowls on the beaten ends.[4]
Xylophones should be played with very hard rubber, polyball, or acrylic mallets. Sometimes medium to hard rubber mallets, very hard core, or yarn mallets are used for softer effects. Lighter tones can be created on xylophones by using wooden-headed mallets made from rosewood, ebony, birch, or other hard woods.
The instrument has obscure ancient origins. Nettl proposed that it originated in southeast Asia and came to Africa c. AD 500 when a group of Malayo-Polynesian speaking peoples migrated to Africa, and compared East African xylophone orchestras and Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestras.[7]: 18–19, 100 This was more recently challenged by ethnomusicologist and linguist Roger Blench who posits an independent origin in of the Xylophone in Africa, citing, among the evidence for local invention, distinct features of African xylophones and the greater variety of xylophone types and proto-xylophone-like instruments in Africa.[8]
The earliest evidence of a true xylophone is from the 9th century insoutheast Asia, while a similar hanging wood instrument, a type ofharmonicon, is said by the Vienna Symphonic Library to have existed in 2000 BC in what is now part of China. The xylophone-likeranat was used inHindu regions (kashta tharang). InIndonesia, few regions have their own type of xylophones. InNorth Sumatra, TheToba Batak people use wooden xylophones known as theGarantung (spelled: "garattung").Java andBali use xylophones (calledgambang,Rindik andTingklik) ingamelan ensembles. They still have traditional significance inMalaysia,Melanesia, Indonesia,Thailand,Myanmar, and regions of the Americas. In Myanmar, the xylophone is known asPattala and is typically made of bamboo.
African Xylophone also known as Ogbongelenge by the Igbo tribe.AID Project
The termmarimba is also applied to various traditional folk instruments such as the West Africabalafon. Early forms were constructed of bars atop agourd.[9] The wood is first roasted around a fire before shaping the key to achieve the desired tone. The resonator is tuned to the key through careful choice of size of resonator, adjustment of the diameter of the mouth of the resonator using wasp wax and adjustment of the height of the key above the resonator. A skilled maker can produce startling amplification. The mallets used to playdibinda andmbila have heads made from natural rubber taken from a wild creeping plant.[10] "Interlocking" or alternating rhythm features in Eastern African xylophone music such as that of the Makondedimbila, the Yaomangolongondo or the Shirimamangwilo in which theopachera, the initialcaller, is responded to by another player, thewakulela.[11] This usually doubles an already rapidrhythmic pulse that may also co-exist with acounter-rhythm.
The mbila (plural "timbila") is associated with theChopi people of theInhambane Province, in southern Mozambique.[10] It is not to be confused with thembira. Thestyle of music played on it is believed to be the most sophisticated method of composition yet found among preliterate peoples.[12] The gourd-resonated, equal-ratioheptatonic-tuned mbila ofMozambique is typically played in large ensembles in a choreographed dance, perhaps depicting a historical drama. Ensembles consist of around ten xylophones of three or four sizes. A full orchestra would have two bass instruments calledgulu with three or four wooden keys played standing up using heavy mallets with solid rubber heads, three tenordibinda, with ten keys and played seated, and the mbila itself, which has up to nineteen keys of which up to eight may be played simultaneously. Thegulu uses gourds and thembila anddibinda Masala apple shells as resonators. They accompany the dance with long compositions calledngomi ormgodo and consist of about 10 pieces of music grouped into 4 separate movements, with an overture, in differenttempos and styles. The ensemble leader serves as poet, composer, conductor andperformer, creating a text, improvising amelody partially based on the features of the Chopitone language and composing a secondcontrapuntal line. The musicians of the ensemble partiallyimprovise their parts. The composer then consults with the choreographer of the ceremony and adjustments are made.[7] The longest and most important of these is the "Mzeno" which will include a song telling of an issue of local importance or even making fun of a prominent figure in the community![10] Performers include Eduardo Durão and Venancio Mbande.[10][13][14]
Thegyil (English:/ˈdʒɪlə,dʒiːl/) is apentatonic instrument common to theGur-speaking populations inGhana,Burkina Faso,Mali andIvory Coast inWest Africa. The Gyil is the primary traditional instrument of theDagara people of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, and of theLobi of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, andIvory Coast. The gyil is usually played in pairs, accompanied by a calabash gourd drum called akuor. It can also be played by one person with the drum and the stick part as accompaniment, or by a soloist. Gyil duets are the traditional music ofDagara funerals. The instrument is generally played by men, who learn to play while young, however, there is no restriction on gender.
The Gyil's design is similar to theBalaba orBalafon used by theMande-speakingBambara,Dyula andSosso peoples further west in southernMali and westernBurkina Faso, a region that shares many musical traditions with those of northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. It is made with 14 wooden keys of an African hardwood called liga attached to a wooden frame, below which hangcalabash gourds.[15] Spider web silk covers small holes in the gourds to produce a buzzing sound and antelope sinew and leather are used for the fastenings.[15] The instrument is played with rubber-headed wooden mallets.
Thesilimba is a xylophone common among the Nkoya and Lozi people ofBarotseland, westernZambia.[16] The tuned keys are tied atop resonatinggourds.[17] Known as shinjimba among the Nkoya, it is used at the Kazanga, a traditional royal ceremony of the Nkoya. The silimba is an essential part of the folk music traditions of theLozi people and can be heard at their annualKuomboka ceremony. The shilimba is now used in most parts of Zambia.
Theakadinda and theamadinda are xylophone-like instruments originating inBuganda, in modern-dayUganda.[18] The amadinda is made of twelve logs which are tuned in a pentatonic scale. It mainly is played by three players. Two players sit opposite of each other and play the same logs in an interlocking technique in a fast tempo. It has no gourd resonators or buzzing tone, two characteristics of many other African xylophones.[19]
The amadinda was an important instrument at the royal court in Buganda, a Ugandan kingdom. A special type ofnotation is now used for this xylophone, consisting of numbers for and periods.[20] as is also the case with theembaire, a type of xylophone originating in southernUganda.[20]
Thebalo (balenjeh,behlanjeh) is used among theMandinka people of West Africa. Its keys are mounted on gourds, and struck with mallets with rubber tips. The players typically wear iron cylinders and rings attached to their hands so that they jingle as they play.[21]
The earliest mention of a xylophone in Europe was inArnolt Schlick'sSpiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (1511), where it is calledhültze glechter ("wooden clatter").[22][23] There follow other descriptions of the instrument, though the term "xylophone" is not used until the 1860s.[24] The instrument was associated largely with the folk music of Central Europe, notably Poland and eastern Germany. An early version appeared inSlovakia[7]: 98 and the earliest reference to a similar instrument came in the 14th century.[25]
The first use of a European orchestral xylophone was inCamille Saint-Saëns'Danse Macabre, in 1874.[4] By that time, the instrument had already been popularized to some extent byMichael Josef Gusikov,[26] whose instrument was the five-row xylophone made of 28 crude wooden bars arranged in semitones in the form of a trapezoid and resting on straw supports. There were no resonators and it was played fast with spoon-shaped sticks. According to musicologistCurt Sachs, Gusikov performed in garden concerts, variety shows, and as a novelty act at symphony concerts.
The western xylophone was used by early jazz bands and invaudeville. Its bright, lively sound worked well the syncopated dance music of the 1920s and 1930s.Red Norvo, George Cary,George Hamilton Green,Teddy Brown, Harry Breuer and Harry Robbins were among the well-known players. As time passed, the xylophone was exceeded in popularity by the metal-keyvibraphone, which was developed in the 1920s. A xylophone with a range extending downwards into the marimba range is called axylorimba.
In orchestral scores, a xylophone can be indicated by the Frenchclaquebois, GermanHolzharmonika (literally "wooden harmonica"), or Italiansilofono.[23]Shostakovich was particularly fond of the instrument; it has prominent roles in much of his work, including most of hissymphonies and hisCello Concerto No. 2. Modern xylophone players includeBob Becker,Evelyn Glennie and Ian Finkel.
In the United States, there are Zimbabwean marimba bands in particularly high concentration in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and New Mexico, but bands exist from the East Coast through California and even to Hawaii and Alaska. The main event for this community is ZimFest, the annual Zimbabwean Music Festival. The bands are composed of instruments from high sopranos, through to lower soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass. Resonators are usually made with holes covered by thin cellophane (similar to thebalafon) to achieve the characteristic buzzing sound. The repertoires of U.S. bands tends to have a great overlap, due to the common source of the Zimbabwean musicianDumisani Maraire, who was the key person who first brought Zimbabwean music to the West, coming to the University of Washington in 1968.
Three Orff-Schulwerk xylophones of different ranges.
Many music educators use xylophones as a classroom resource to assist children's musical development. One method noted for its use of xylophones isOrff-Schulwerk, which combines the use of instruments, movement, singing and speech to develop children's musical abilities.[27] Xylophones used in American general music classrooms are smaller, at about1+1⁄2 octaves, than the2+1⁄2 or more octave range of performance xylophones. The bass xylophone ranges are written from middle C to A an octave higher but sound one octave lower than written. The alto ranges are written from middle C to A an octave higher and sound as written. The soprano ranges are written from middle C to A an octave higher but sound one octave higher than written.[28]
According to Andrew Tracey, marimbas were introduced to Zimbabwe in 1960.[16]Zimbabwean marimba based uponShona music has also become popular in the West, which adopted the original use of these instruments to play transcriptions ofmbira dzavadzimu (as well asnyunga nyunga andmatepe) music. The first of these transcriptions had originally been used for music education in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean instruments are often in a diatonic C major scale, which allows them to be played with a 'western-tuned' mbira (G nyamaropa), sometimes with an added F♯ key placed inline.
^Henry George Liddell; Robert Scott, eds. (1940)."ξύλον".A Greek-English Lexicon. Henry Stuart Jones, Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved24 February 2023 – via www.perseus.tufts.edu.
^Henry George Liddell; Robert Scott, eds. (1940)."φων-ή".A Greek-English Lexicon. Henry Stuart Jones, Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved24 February 2023 – via www.perseus.tufts.edu.
^Blench, Roger (1 November 2012). "Using diverse sources of evidence for reconstructing the prehistory of musical exchanges in the Indian Ocean and their broader significance for cultural prehistory".African Archaeological Review. special issue:7–11.doi:10.1007/s10437-014-9178-z.S2CID162200224.
^"xylophone".Oxford English Dictionary (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989.7 April 1866 edition of theAthenaeum: 'A prodigy ... who does wonderful things with little drumsticks on a machine of wooden keys, called the 'xylophone'.' "Leaves for the Little Ones".The Ladies' Companion. Rogerson and Tuxford: 152. 1865....and Master Bonnay, on the Xylophone, is always recalled. Both citations refer to the performance of a child prodigy, Sunbury.
^"The Xylophone".Concertgoersguide.org. Oregon Symphony Players Association. Archived fromthe original on 13 August 2007. Retrieved5 June 2015.
.svg)
.jpg)
