The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It has wooden bars that are struck with mallets to create sound. Each bar is a type of instrument called an idiophone, and it is tuned to a specific pitch in a musical scale. Some instruments use a five-note or seven-note scale, like many African and Asian xylophones. Others use a common Western scale, such as those found in children's instruments, or a full scale with all notes, which is used in orchestras.

The word "xylophone" can refer to several similar instruments, such as the marimba, balafon, and semantron. However, in an orchestra, the term "xylophone" specifically describes a chromatic instrument with a higher pitch range and a less resonant sound compared to the marimba. These two instruments are different and should not be confused. A person who plays the xylophone is called a xylophonist or a xylophone player.

The term "xylophone" is also used for similar instruments made of stone or metal, such as the lithophone or metallophone. For example, the Pixiphone and other toys labeled as xylophones have metal bars instead of wooden ones. These are classified as glockenspiels in the study of musical instruments, not as xylophones.

Construction of xylophones

The modern western xylophone has bars made from rosewood, padauk, cocobolo, or synthetic materials like fiberglass or fiberglass-reinforced plastic, which help produce a louder sound. Some xylophones have a range as small as 2 + 1⁄2 octaves, but concert xylophones usually have a range of 3 + 1⁄2 or 4 octaves. Like the glockenspiel, the xylophone is a transposing instrument, meaning the written music is one octave lower than the actual sound produced.

Concert xylophones use tube resonators beneath the bars to improve the tone and make the sound last longer. Frames are often made of wood or inexpensive steel tubing. More expensive xylophones have adjustable height and more stable stands. In other music traditions, some xylophones use gourds that act as Helmholtz resonators, while others have "trough" xylophones with a single hollow body that serves as a resonator for all the bars.

Older methods involved placing the bars on bundles of straw tied together, a practice still used today. Bars are also sometimes arranged next to each other in a ladder-like pattern. Ancient mallets were made from willow wood with bowl-shaped ends on the striking side.

Mallets

Xylophones are played using mallets made of hard rubber, special rubber, acrylic, or very hard rubber with a solid core. For softer sounds, medium or hard rubber mallets, very hard rubber cores, or yarn mallets may be used. Lighter, softer tones can be produced by using mallets with wooden heads made from rosewood, ebony, birch, or other types of hardwood.

History

The instrument has unclear ancient origins. Nettl suggested it began in southeast Asia and reached Africa around AD 500 when a group of people who spoke Austronesian languages moved to Africa. He compared East African xylophone ensembles with Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestras. Roger Blench, an ethnomusicologist and linguist, disagreed. He argued the xylophone developed independently in Africa, pointing to differences in African xylophones and the wide variety of xylophone-like instruments found there.

The earliest known true xylophone dates to the 9th century in southeast Asia. A similar hanging wooden instrument, called a harmonicon, is said to have existed in what is now China as early as 2000 BC. In Hindu regions, the ranat was used (kashta tharang). In Indonesia, many areas have their own xylophone types. In North Sumatra, the Toba Batak people use wooden xylophones called Garantung. In Java and Bali, xylophones like gambang, Rindik, and Tingklik are used in gamelan ensembles. These instruments remain important in Malaysia, Melanesia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and parts of the Americas. In Myanmar, the xylophone is called Pattala and is usually made of bamboo.

The term "marimba" also refers to traditional instruments like the West African balafon. Early versions had wooden bars placed over gourds. The wood was heated near a fire before shaping to create the desired sound. The resonator was adjusted by choosing the right size, changing the opening with wasp wax, and setting the height of the bar. A skilled maker can create very loud sounds. Mallets used for playing instruments like dibinda and mbila have heads made from natural rubber from a wild plant. In Eastern African xylophone music, rhythms alternate, such as in the Makonde dimbila, Yao mangolongondo, or Shirima mangwilo. Here, one player, the opachera, starts a rhythm, and another player, the wakulela, responds by repeating a fast beat that may also include a counter-rhythm.

The mbila (plural "timbila") is connected to the Chopi people of southern Mozambique. It should not be confused with the mbira. The music played on the mbila is considered the most complex among preliterate cultures. The gourd-resonated, heptatonic-tuned mbila from Mozambique is often played in large ensembles during choreographed dances, possibly depicting historical stories. Ensembles usually have about ten xylophones of three or four sizes. A full orchestra includes two bass instruments called gulu, with three or four keys played standing up using heavy mallets. Three tenor dibinda, with ten keys, are played seated. The mbila itself has up to nineteen keys, with up to eight played at once. Gulu uses gourds, while the mbila and dibinda use Masala apple shells as resonators. They accompany dances with long compositions called ngomi or mgodo, which include about ten pieces grouped into four movements with an overture, different tempos, and styles. The ensemble leader acts as poet, composer, conductor, and performer, creating a text, improvising a melody based on the Chopi language, and writing a second melody. Musicians partially improvise their parts. The leader then works with the ceremony’s choreographer to make changes. The most important piece is the "Mzeno," which may tell a story about a local issue or mock a community figure. Performers include Eduardo Durão and Venancio Mbande.

The gyil is a pentatonic instrument used by Gur-speaking groups in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ivory Coast. It is most common among the Dagara people of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso and the Lobi of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. The gyil is usually played in pairs with a calabash gourd drum called a kuor. It can also be played by one person with the drum and stick as accompaniment or by a soloist. Gyil duets are traditional at Dagara funerals. Men often learn to play it as children, though there is no restriction on gender.

The gyil’s design is similar to the Balaba or Balafon used by Mande-speaking groups like the Bambara, Dyula, and Sosso in Mali and Burkina Faso. It has 14 wooden keys made from liga wood attached to a frame, with calabash gourds below. Spider silk covers small holes in the gourds to create a buzzing sound, and antelope sinew and leather are used for fastenings. It is played with rubber-headed wooden mallets.

The silimba is a xylophone used by the Nkoya and Lozi people of Barotseland, western Zambia. Its tuned keys are tied above resonating gourds. Called shinjimba by the Nkoya, it is used at the Kazanga, a traditional royal ceremony. The silimba is central to Lozi folk music and is played during their annual Kuomboka ceremony. It is now used widely in Zambia.

The akadinda and amadinda are xylophone-like instruments from Buganda, modern-day Uganda. The amadinda has twelve logs tuned in a pentatonic scale and is played by three people. Two players sit opposite each other, playing the same logs in an interlocking pattern at a fast tempo. It lacks gourd resonators or buzzing tones, features found in many other African xylophones.

The amadinda was important in the royal court of Buganda. A special notation system uses numbers and periods, similar to the embaire, a xylophone from southern Uganda.

The balo (balenjeh, behlanjeh) is used by the Mandinka people of West Africa. Its keys are mounted on gourds and struck with rubber-tipped mallets. Players wear iron cylinders and rings on their hands to create jingling sounds while playing.

The earliest European mention of a xylophone was in Arnolt Schlick’s *Spiegel der

Use in elementary education

Many music teachers use xylophones in classrooms to help children learn music. One teaching method that uses xylophones is called Orff-Schulwerk. This method includes playing instruments, moving, singing, and speaking to help children develop musical skills. Xylophones used in American music classes are smaller, with about 1 and one-half octaves, compared to performance xylophones, which have 2 and one-half or more octaves. The bass xylophone's written range starts at middle C and goes to A one octave higher, but it sounds one octave lower than written. The alto xylophone's written range also starts at middle C and goes to A one octave higher, but it sounds the same as written. The soprano xylophone's written range starts at middle C and goes to A one octave higher, but it sounds one octave higher than written.

According to Andrew Tracey, marimbas were brought to Zimbabwe in 1960. Marimbas in Zimbabwe are based on Shona music and have become popular in Western countries. These instruments are used to play music transcribed from traditional instruments like mbira dzavadzimu, nyunga nyunga, and matepe. These transcriptions were first used for music education in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean marimbas are often tuned to a diatonic C major scale, which allows them to be played with a "western-tuned" mbira (G nyamaropa). Sometimes, an extra F sharp key is added to the marimba.

General and cited references

• Hallis, Ron and Hallis, Ophera (1987). Chopi Music of Mozambique (16 mm video; 28 minutes). Saved from the original on July 20, 2011.
• Paco, Celso (2000). "A Luta Continua." In World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, edited by Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, James McConnachie, and Orla Duane. Published by Rough Guides Ltd. and Penguin Books. Pages 579–584. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.
• Tracey, Hugh (1948). Chopi Musicians: Their Music, Poetry, and Instruments (1970 edition). Published in London by the International African Institute and Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197241820.
• Chopi village in southern Mozambique by Gei Zantzinger and Andrew Tracey. OCLC number: 47815221.