Xylophone
The xylophone (pronounced /si'lophone/, from the Greek ξύλον xylon wood and φωνή phōnē voice) is a percussion musical instrument. Each reed is tuned to a specific pitch (musical note) of the chromatic scale. Since it can be tuned, it is a certain sounding laminophone. The order of the plates is similar to the order of the piano keyboard.
The xylophone uses both the tunable drum technique and the advanced mallet technique. It has a livelier timbre than the marimba, and the notes are less sustained. Modern xylophones include short percussion blades. A xylophone with a register lower than the register of the marimba is called a xylorimba.
Functions
The xylophone looms large in a number of classical pieces. Some of the best known are Danse macabre (1874) composed by Camille Saint-Saëns and "Fossils" from Carnival of the Animals (1886) by the same composer. It can also be heard in the Symphony No. 6 by Gustav Mahler.
The most widely used resource for the xylophone is the tremolo, which is obtained by striking alternately with both sticks on the same blade. The xylophone requires great virtuosity on the part of the percussionist. His current technique is very complex and requires a great specialist. Its role in the current orchestra is not to offer an exotic touch to the work, but as an independent and very important timbre within the orchestral development.
History
The instrument has unclear ancient origins. Nettl proposed that it originated in Southeast Asia and reached Africa around AD 500. C., when a group of Malayo-Polynesian-speaking peoples immigrated to Africa, and compared East African xylophone orchestras and Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestras. This theory was most recently challenged by ethnomusicologist and linguist Roger Blench, who postulates an independent origin of the xylophone in Africa, citing, among the evidence for local invention, the distinctive features of African xylophones and the greater variety of xylophone types. and xylophone-like instruments in Africa.
Asian Xylophone
The earliest evidence of a true xylophone is from the 9th century century in Southeast Asia, while a similar instrument wooden pendant, a type of harmonicon, is said to have existed in 2000 BC. C. in what is now part of China. The ranat, similar to a xylophone, was used in Hindu regions (kashta tharang). In Indonesia, some regions have their own type of xylophones. In North Sumatra, the Toba Batak people use wooden xylophones known as Garantung (spelled: "garattung"). Java and Bali use xylophones (called gambang, Rindik and Tingklik) in gamelan ensembles. They continue to have traditional importance in Malaysia, Melanesia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and parts of the Americas. In Myanmar, the xylophone is known as the Pattala and is usually made of bamboo.
African Xylophone
The term marimba is also applied to several traditional folk instruments, such as the West African balafon. The earliest forms were made of bars on top of a gourd. The wood is first roasted around a fire before the key is shaped to the desired tone. The resonator is fitted to the key by carefully choosing the size of the resonator, adjusting the diameter of the resonator mouth using wasp wax, and adjusting the height of the key above the resonator. A skilled maker can produce amazing amplification. The mallets used to play the dibinda and the mbila have heads made of natural rubber extracted from a creeping wild plant. or the alternation of rhythms appears in East African xylophone music, such as the dimbila of the Makonde, the mangolongondo of the Yao or the mangwilo i> of the Shirima, in which the opachera, the initial caller, is answered by another interpreter, the wakulela. This often doubles an already fast rhythmic beat that can also coexist with a counterrhythm.
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Mbila
The mbila (plural "timbila") is associated with the Chopi people of the Inhambane province of southern Mozambique. It should not be confused with the mbira. The style of music performed with it is believed to be the most sophisticated method of composition ever found among preliterate peoples. The Mozambican mbila, with gourd resonance and heptatonic tuning, is often played in large ensembles in a dance choreographed, perhaps enacting a historical drama. The ensembles consist of about ten xylophones of three or four sizes. A full orchestra would have two bass instruments called gulu with three or four wooden keys played standing up using heavy mallets with solid rubber heads, three dibinda tenors, with ten keys and that are played sitting down, and the mbila itself, which has up to nineteen keys of which up to eight can be played simultaneously. The gulu uses gourds and the mbila and dibinda masala apple peels as resonators. They accompany the dance with long compositions called ngomi or mgodo and consist of about 10 pieces of music grouped into 4 separate movements, with an overture, in different tempos and styles. The conductor of the ensemble acts as poet, composer, conductor, and performer, creating a text, improvising a melody partially based on the characteristics of Chopi's tonal language, and composing a second line of counterpoint. The musicians of the ensemble partially improvise their parts. The composer then consults with the choreographer of the ceremony and adjustments are made. The longest and most important of these is the "Mzeno", which will include a song telling a matter of local importance or even making fun of a prominent figure in the community! Among the performers are Eduardo Durão and Venancio Mbande.
Gyil
The gyil (English pronunciation: / ˈdʒɪlə,_dʒiːl/) is a pentatonic instrument common to the Gur-speaking populations of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and the Ivory Coast in West Africa. The gyil is the main traditional instrument of the Dagara people of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, and of the Lobi of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and the Ivory Coast. The gyil is usually played in pairs, accompanied by a gourd drum called the kuor. It can also be played by a single person with the drum and stick part as an accompaniment, or by a soloist. Gyil duets are the traditional funeral music of the Dagara people. The instrument is generally played by men, who learn to play when they are young, however there is no gender restriction.
The design of the Gyil is similar to that of the Balaba or Balafon used by the Mande, Bambara, Dyula and Sosso peoples further west in southern Mali and western Burkina Faso, a region that shares many musical traditions with those of northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. It is made of 14 wooden keys of an African hardwood called garter attached to a wooden frame, below which hang calabash gourds. Silk from spider webs covers the small holes in the gourds to produce a buzzing and buzzing sound. antelope tendons and leather are used for closures.<ref= Colter2008 /> The instrument is played with rubber-headed wooden mallets.
Silimba
The silimba is a xylophone developed by the Lozi people in Barotseland, western Zambia. The pitched keys are strung atop resonant gourds. The silimba, or shinjimba, is used by the Nkoya people of western Zambia in traditional royal ceremonies such as the Kazanga Nkoya. Today the shilimba is used throughout most of Zambia.
Akadinda, amadinda and mbaire
The akadinda and amadinda' are xylophone-like instruments that originated in Buganda, present-day Uganda. tuned on a pentatonic scale. It is mainly played by three players. Two players sit opposite each other and play the same trunks in an interlocking technique at a fast tempo. It does not have gourd resonators or buzz, two characteristics of many other African xylophones.
The amadinda was an important instrument in the royal court of Buganda, a Ugandan kingdom. A special type of notation is currently used for this xylophone, consisting of numbers for and dots, as is also the case with the embaire, a type of xylophone originating in southern Uganda.
Balo
The balo (balenjeh, behlanjeh) is used among the Mandinka people of West Africa. Its keys are mounted on gourds and struck with rubber-tipped mallets. Players often wear iron cylinders and rings attached to their hands to jingle as they play.
Western Xylophone
The first mention of a xylophone in Europe was in the work Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (1511) by Arnolt Schlick, where it is called hültze glechter (&# 34;wooden rattle"). Then there are other descriptions of the instrument, but the term "xylophone" it was not used until the 1860s. The instrument was associated with the folk music of eastern Europe, especially Poland and eastern Germany. An early version appeared in Slovakia, and the earliest reference to a similar instrument dates from the 14th century.
The first orchestral use in Europe was in the work Dance Macabre, by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1874. By that time the instrument had already been popularized to some extent by Michael Josef Gusikov, whose instrument was the five-row xylophone made up of 28 rough wooden bars arranged in semitones in the shape of a trapezoid and supported on straw supports. It had no resonators and was played quickly with spoon-shaped sticks. According to musicologist Curt 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 in vaudeville. Its bright, lively sound worked well with the syncopated dance music of the '20s and '30s. Red Norvo, George Cary, George Hamilton Green, Teddy Brown, and Harry Breuer were known users. Over time, the xylophone was surpassed in popularity by the metal-key vibraphone, developed in the 1920s. A xylophone with a range that extends down into the range of the marimba is called a xylorimba.
In orchestral scores, a xylophone may be indicated by the French claquebois, the German Holzharmonika (literally "wooden harmonica"), or the Italian silophone. Shostakovich was especially fond of this instrument; he features prominently in much of his work, including most of his symphonies and his Cello Concerto No. 2. Modern xylophone players include Bob Becker, Evelyn Glennie, and Ian Finkel.
In the United States, there are bands of Zimbabwean marimba especially concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and New Mexico, but bands exist from the East Coast to California and even as far as Hawaii and Alaska. The main event for this community is ZimFest, the annual Zimbabwean music festival. The bands are made up of instruments from high sopranos, through low sopranos, tenors, baritones and basses. The resonators are usually made with holes covered by a thin cellophane (similar to the balafon) to achieve the characteristic hum. The set lists of American bands often have a strong overlap, due to the common source of Zimbabwean musician Dumisani Maraire, who was the key person in first bringing Zimbabwean music to the West, coming to the University of Washington in 1968.
Use in education
When the xylophone is intended to apply the Orff method, they are mounted on a rectangular or trapezoidal wooden speaker.
There are usually three types of xylophones: bass, alto, and soprano, with one and a half scales each. As its name indicates, sheets of wood (xylo) are mounted, preferably Palo santo.
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