Xylophone

The term xylophone may be used generally, to include all such instruments such as the marimba, balafon and even the semantron. However, in the orchestra, the term xylophone refers specifically to a chromatic instrument of somewhat higher pitch range and drier timbre than the marimba, and these two instruments should not be confused. A person who plays the xylophone is known as a xylophonist or simply a xylophone player.[3]

The term is also popularly used to refer to similar instruments of the lithophone and metallophone types. For example, the Pixiphone and many similar toys described by the makers as xylophones have bars of metal rather than of wood, and so are in organology regarded as glockenspiels rather than as xylophones.

Xylophone

Download 🔥 https://urllio.com/2y3Kgf 🔥

Concert xylophones have tube resonators 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 have gourds[4] that act as Helmholtz 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 earliest evidence of a true xylophone is from the 9th century in southeast Asia, while a similar hanging wood instrument, a type of harmonicon, is said by the Vienna Symphonic Library to have existed in 2000 BC in what is now part of China. The xylophone-like ranat was used in Hindu regions (kashta tharang). In Indonesia, few regions have their own type of xylophones. In North Sumatra, The Toba Batak people use wooden xylophones known as the Garantung (spelled: "garattung"). Java and Bali use xylophones (called gambang, Rindik and Tingklik) in gamelan ensembles. They still have traditional significance in Malaysia, Melanesia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and regions of the Americas. In Myanmar, the xylophone is known as Pattala and is typically made of bamboo.

The term marimba is also applied to various traditional folk instruments such as the West Africa balafon. Early forms were constructed of bars atop a gourd.[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 play dibinda and mbila 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 Makonde dimbila, the Yao mangolongondo or the Shirima mangwilo in which the opachera, the initial caller, is responded to by another player, the wakulela.[11] This usually doubles an already rapid rhythmic pulse that may also co-exist with a counter-rhythm.

The mbila (plural "timbila") is associated with the Chopi people of the Inhambane Province, in southern Mozambique.[10] It is not to be confused with the mbira. The style 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-ratio heptatonic-tuned mbila of Mozambique 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 called gulu with three or four wooden keys played standing up using heavy mallets with solid rubber heads, three tenor dibinda, 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. The gulu uses gourds and the mbila and dibinda Masala apple shells 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 ensemble leader serves as poet, composer, conductor and performer, creating a text, improvising a melody partially based on the features of the Chopi tone language and composing a second contrapuntal line. The musicians of the ensemble partially improvise 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 Duro and Venancio Mbande.[10][13][14]

The silimba is a xylophone common among the Nkoya and Lozi people of Barotseland, western Zambia.[16] The tuned keys are tied atop resonating gourds.[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 the Lozi people and can be heard at their annual Kuomboka ceremony. The shilimba is now used in most parts of Zambia.

The akadinda and the amadinda are xylophone-like instruments originating in Buganda, in modern-day Uganda.[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 of notation is now used for this xylophone, consisting of numbers for and periods.[20] as is also the case with the embaire, a type of xylophone originating in southern Uganda.[20]

The first use of a European orchestral xylophone was in Camille Saint-Sans' Danse Macabre, in 1874.[4] By that time, the instrument had already been popularized to some extent by Michael 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 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 the syncopated dance music of the 1920s and 1930s. Red Norvo, George Cary, George Hamilton Green, Teddy Brown and Harry Breuer were well-known users. As time passed, the xylophone was exceeded in popularity by the metal-key vibraphone, which was developed in the 1920s. A xylophone with a range extending downwards into the marimba range is called a xylorimba.

In orchestral scores, a xylophone can be indicated by the French claquebois, German Holzharmonika (literally "wooden harmonica"), or Italian silofono.[23] Shostakovich was particularly fond of the instrument; it has prominent roles 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.

Hi! Today I want to make a xylophone recording and playing back notes. I know there is one tutorial in App Inventor, but I want to use my own coding instead. I will use another alternative way to store a song.

Here are the instructions: Xylophone Advanced.pdf (324.4 KB)

The assignment is proved difficult and I even don't know how to do it.

For the designer part: Xylophone Designer21571335 343 KB

I'll set some variables to do the process: lastPair, lastTime, song.

When I press any of the buttons, it will make a sound corresponding to the note.

The variables and procedures of the code:

Step 1 of the code: (I have no problem for that currently)

Xylophone Step 1803471 29.8 KB

Step 2 of the code: (when one of the note buttons click, what will happen?)

Xylophone Step 2862692 48.8 KB

Step 3 of the code: (most confusing )

Xylophone Step 3669617 42.4 KB

Here are all the codes that I have made.

But when I tested the app, it has a runtime error showing that the index originally need to change to 1 but the length of the list is 0...

Also, I cannot record or playback any of the notes, which is the most concerning for me.

It is complicated, and I don't know how to solve the problem or finish the app in success.

Thus, please help me or give me some advice! Thank you!

In the second installment of this series I am going to tackle and explain my two mallet keyboard routine. This applies for all mallet instruments including marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, and vibes. I chose to spend most of my time on xylophone when focusing on technique and improvement. The skills and technique used on xylophone transfers to all of the other instruments much easier in my opinion than the other way around.

Both the marimba and the narrowly defined xylophone are xylophone instruments, and they look virtually identical. If you want to find out which kind of xylophone instrument a given unit is, you should look at the undersides of the tone plates for the lower-ranged notes. The central portions of these bars on a marimba are considerably hollowed out, while those of a xylophone are wavy. Comparing the sounds, the marimba has a soft and mellow tone that sounds like it could meld with wind instruments. The impression one receives is somewhat restrained. By contrast, the xylophone's notes could be described as distinct and sharply defined. 2351a5e196