How does xylophone produce sound

The sound produced from the xylophone depends heavily on the skill of the player. The player stands to play the xylophone and faces the center of the instrument. He or she must stand erect, hold the mallets hammers or beaters between the thumb and first joint of the first finger with one mallet per hand.

The wrists are used to move the mallets smoothly up and down; the palms face out. The arms are held down near the keyboard and do not move. The xylophonist plays the lower register by taking one step to the left and the upper register by making one step to the right. The player always returns to center.

Notes are struck in the centers of the bars or keys. Flats and sharps are struck along the edges of the bars but not the part of the bar that rests directly on the frame. The lowest end of the xylophone is the widest, and the highest notes are at the narrow end. The mallets are also important to the sound produced. The instrumentalist must choose the right mallets to either blend in or project above the other instruments, depending on the volume needed and the character of the music.

Xylophone players typically use rubber mallets made either of medium, hard, or extra hard rubber. Marimba players use mallets of soft rubber or medium soft woven yarn. Mallet grip is critical to the proper technique for playing any of the mallet instruments. The player must stay relaxed but completely controlled; ease of movement or flow is very important to the sound produced. Both hands hold the mallets the same way, which is called a "matched grip.

The other fingers curve around the stick portion of the mallet in a relaxed curl. Any pinching will constrict the sound and tire the player.

The pivot point allows the mallet to rebound naturally, and force is provided by the combined movement of the finger, wrist, and forearm. The player will learn to place the pivot point at the point of balance between the ball of the mallet and the end of the stick or handle. The grip is almost the same as the right hand grip for playing the snare drum.

The bars on the keyboard of the xylophone look much like the black and white keys of a piano. The best sound comes from striking the middle of each bar, although very fast passages are played at the ends of the bars. The place where the bar passes over the chord or frame of the xylophone produces a dead sound, so this is avoided. The xylophone is not pounded with the mallets; instead, the correct rebound of the mallets pulls more rounded tones out of the bars.

Beginning players learn to strike the centers of the bars to develop their feel for the reach from bar to bar. With increasing skill in getting the right tones from the bars, students can expand the parts of the bars they use to vary the sound and volume. The xylophone is an ancient instrument that originated independently in Africa and Asia. Wooden bars were originally seated on a series of hollow gourds, and the gourds generated the resonating notes that are produced on modern instruments by metal tubes.

For centuries, xylophone makers struggled with methods of tuning the wooden bars. Old methods consisted of arranging the bars on tied bundles of straw, and, as 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. African xylophonists had the widest variety of instruments, including some that were plucked instead of hammered and lightweight instruments that were suspended on a rope around the player's neck.

The mallets are held with the palm facing downward. The width of the bars on xylophones and other mallet instruments often varies, which can cause the musician problems. Based in Virginia, Nichole Liandi has been a freelance writer since Her articles have appeared on various print and online publications. Liandi has traveled extensively in Europe and East Asia and incorporates her experiences into her articles.

By: Nichole Liandi Updated September 15, The xylophone is believed to have originated in Oceania or Southeast Asia. It produces a unique brittle metallic sound. The quality of sound produced by a xylophone typically depends on the skill level of the player. The mallet is also crucial to the sound produced; mallet grip is an important technique for playing the xylophone. World View.