Vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist, vibraharpist, or vibist.
Not to be confused with Vibraslap.Percussion instrument
- Vibes
- vibraharp
- vibraceleste
- vibratone
Keyboard percussion
111.222
(Sets of percussion plaques)
Herman E. Winterhoff
1916
The vibraphone resembles the steel marimba, which it superseded. One of the main differences between the vibraphone and other keyboard percussion instruments is that each bar suspends over a resonator tube containing a flat metal disc. These discs are attached together by a common axle and spin when the motor is turned on. This causes the instrument to produce its namesake tremolo or vibrato effect. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to a piano. When the pedal is up, the bars produce a muted sound; when the pedal is down, the bars sustain for several seconds or until again muted with the pedal.
The vibraphone is commonly used in jazz music, in which it often plays a featured role, and was a defining element of the sound of mid-20th-century "Tiki lounge" exotica, as popularized by Arthur Lyman.[1] It is the second most popular solo keyboard percussion instrument in classical music, after the marimba, and is part of the standard college-level percussion performance education. It is a standard instrument in the modern percussion section for orchestras, concert bands, and in the marching arts (typically as part of the front ensemble).
Characteristics[edit]
Range[edit]
The standard modern instrument has a range of 3 octaves, starting from the F below middle C (F3 to F6 in scientific pitch notation). Larger 3+1⁄2 or 4 octave models from the C below middle C are also becoming more common (C3 to F6 or C7). Unlike its cousin, the glockenspiel, the vibraphone is generally a non-transposing instrument, written at concert pitch.[18]
Repertoire[edit]
Classical[edit]
As part of the standard percussion section, the use of the vibraphone in classical music has increased over the past fifty years, especially within the collegiate percussion ensemble.[66]