2:46 glockenspiel 6:35 Xylophone 12:05 Vibraphone 17:47 Marimba

Most children's glockenspiels are marketed as "xylophones", probably because that word is commonly used to represent the letter X in alphabet-learning books...

@girlscouttroop1345

4 жыл бұрын

Still a bad excuse us percussionists have to deal with people laughing when we say we play the xylophone

@Fahrenheit4051

3 жыл бұрын

Easy solution: Rename "glockenspiel" to "xlockenspiel".

@user-hd4wf5gq8r

3 жыл бұрын

I was kinda thinking that.

@liam_er

3 жыл бұрын

@@girlscouttroop1345 trueeeee

@alexscott1257

2 жыл бұрын

I thought another possible explanation or contributing factor to this naming in English speaking countries is that xylophone is a English word while glockenspiel is Germanic and so could sow confusion amongst children learning the English language. The X in the alphabet sounds more probable though.

If it helps anyone remember the difference, “xylo-“ comes from the Greek word for wood. “Glocken” is German for bells.

@moubhattacharyya1141

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the input. The last part 'spiel' made me believe that it should be of German origin. Spiel can be play or instrument from German related languages.

@user-pp3bf3he1c

4 жыл бұрын

@@moubhattacharyya1141 "Spiel... mit mir" ))

@okey7261

4 жыл бұрын

Oh

@lil_weasel219

4 жыл бұрын

well but chimes are RohrenGLOCKEN xD

@sanablue

4 жыл бұрын

@Hal Martin No that's wrong. It is in fact Glockenspiel. The german word is the same, just like it's written in the video's title. Please do not spread false information. The word Glocken (=bells) is the plural form of Glocke (=bell). None of these contains any ö's. ;)

I just learned i have gone my entire life calling glockenspiels xylophones.

@themetr0gn0me

4 жыл бұрын

Common error, Noobz. That's often how they're described to us as kids, regardless of what they're made of.

@badideabearcub2747

4 жыл бұрын

Well, in my case, I have what I thought was a two octave marimba that now I learned is really a Xylophone. Or is not?

@6butterflywings6

2 жыл бұрын

@@badideabearcub2747 does it have resonators? I think that’s a big distinction.

11:35 the smile on his face was so genuine and I had that exact same reaction to the vibraphone. God I love music and it never fails to inspire me when other people love it too.

It may be a bit too technical for this type of video, but having built one of each I can tell you that the most important difference between a xylophone and a marimba (apart from the xylo transposing an octave higher) is the way the overtones are tuned. The overtones of bars do not follow the normal harmonic series that wind and string instruments follow. Overtones can be tuned to almost anything the builder likes mainly by adjusting the shape of the arch cut into the bottom of the bar. If you place your finger in the center of a xylophone bar and strike half way between there and the string, you will hear that the second partial is the quint, an octave and a fifth above the fundamental. This pitch happens to also be the second partial of a closed resonating tube. Doing the same experiment on the marimba will produce a pitch two octaves above the fundamental, which while still being consonant, is absent from the harmonic series of the closed resonator tube, and thus is not amplified. This is part of what gives it a more pure or mellow sound.

@bradleydoyle6752

5 жыл бұрын

Wow, I've been learning about overtones, and that is a fascinating bit of info!

@s90210h

5 жыл бұрын

Perhaps you could make a video on this?

@susanmeertens606

5 жыл бұрын

@@s90210h Agreed! That would be awesome Matt! :D

@moosuch1

5 жыл бұрын

play the iphone ringtone !

@craig_z

5 жыл бұрын

So... if I'm following you correctly... would that imply that common chords on stringed instruments and piano might not sound "good" on the marimba due to the different spectrum of harmonics muddying up the chord?

I have no idea why I just watched a 20 minute video on idiophones when I play the French Horn XD

@danielracovitan9779

4 жыл бұрын

for your musical culture

@alexraphael6534

4 жыл бұрын

Yep, guitarist here... but it's fascinating stuff! Great company to keep!

@vmbearbrown

4 жыл бұрын

It's the same reason I recently read an article on everything you need to know before buying a flugelhorn.

@notanotherjamesmurphy5574

4 жыл бұрын

Cuz they’re cool!

@TimEssDub

4 жыл бұрын

If you make music, learning about any instrument is fun

I have never anyone so genuinely hyped to play a marimba before. This is wholesome.

@proverbalizer

4 жыл бұрын

Oliver Cant why not, it's one of the best sounding instruments in the world and extensive use of Marimba sounds/samples is part of why Afrobeats is taking over the world

I had no idea the marimba was so different from the xylophone. When I was a child my parents bought me a xylophone which actually was a glockenspiel, you're right they use to call them by the wrong name. Enjoyed your video, thanks for the education.

Love the sound of the Marimba - except for that damn iPhone ringtone

@MentabytesChill

4 жыл бұрын

Sound Dude lol I like both

@doritobandito_1323

4 жыл бұрын

lol I learned how to play the ringtone to annoy people in the band room

@Rio_1111

4 жыл бұрын

That's damn right!!

literally my elementary school music teacher had glockenspiels and she called them xylophones and we all thought that they were xylophones, like she was the MUSIC teacher and she didn’t even know

@tekanova7480

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe she didn't like the German word Glockenspiel, it is quite a mouthful.

@lil_weasel219

4 жыл бұрын

same haha

@Boccaccio1811

4 жыл бұрын

@@tekanova7480 - I always just called them "bells"

I'm a bassist and fell totaly in love with that Marimba's lower side, what amazing deep tone!

@iainoam2565

3 жыл бұрын

I’m a bassist and percussionist and I gotta tell you it’s amazing

The title on the thumbnail I saw was Marimba vs. Xylophone vs. Vibraphone vs. Glock... So I clicked

@user-pp3bf3he1c

4 жыл бұрын

...and I was surpised that Marimba is not a name, and Xylophone is not an alien race.

@1978garfield

3 жыл бұрын

This is what my Glock 17 sounds like. It doesn't have much of a range but it is way louder than the other instruments.

@thezosokid

3 жыл бұрын

@@1978garfield did you ever saw that video where the guy makes music by shooting metal targets?

@thezosokid

3 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/mGtslMqGftjVkpc.html

Those bass notes are simply beautiful... hearing such low tones coming from "just" pieces of wood is so cool.

Our marching band used a glockenspiel like that one for marching but it may have been a little larger (it's been over 30 years). It was quite heavy but I enjoyed playing it. The mallets were BRASS...talk about loud! But it could be heard all over the football field.

I wonder what the vibraphone would sound like if the pulsator disks were arranged at varying angles instead of all being "coherent". It might create an other-worldly "shimmering" sound.

@zmanwithfire

5 жыл бұрын

Make one!

@spenceralger3600

5 жыл бұрын

mstalcup I think the Marimba One Vibes disk will always stop vertically

@morganahoff2242

5 жыл бұрын

I'd like to hear the speed of the pulsator disks controlled by an expression pedal, so the player could vary it throughout the song.

@mfb5642

5 жыл бұрын

it would sad bad.

@3deeguy

5 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Probably a similar effect to a brass or a wind section. If you added a micro-controller you could program it dynamically. Manual adjustment would be tedious. (The added circuitry might add another 20 lbs.)

The marimba is the national instrument here in Guatemala. Only it is made of two big instruments. One, smaller is called a "tenor" and the other is the bass. they usualy add a four string bass and a reduced drum section. three people play the tenor and four play the bass. it is a nine person orchestra. Sounds beautiful.

3:08 So THIS is how ringtones are made.

The amplitude modulation on a vibraphone is technically "tremolo" not "vibrato" as it is a modulation of volume. Vibrato is a modulation of pitch. But the terms are often used incorrectly as on guitar amps. It is a lot harder to produce vibrato electronically than tremolo.

You are so knowledgeable and it's wonderful seeing how passionate and excited you are by these instruments!!

Don't forget about the pedal glockenspiel! It's like a glockenspiel but with resonators and a pedal to control the sustain.

@mal2ksc

5 жыл бұрын

Should put discs on it too. Vibraglock!

Very educational. Thanks for taking the time to teach us about these instruments.

@ThePianoforever

5 жыл бұрын

So glad you enjoyed it.

“The plastic mallet is a bit annoying to listen to” yeah I had to play glockenspiel with brass mallets. I think I have hearing problems now.

@gweedomurray9923

4 жыл бұрын

They now have ear plugs that are designed to lower decibels while accurately, as possible for such devices, to maintain the sound spectrum unlike shop ones which simply dull the sound coming to your ears. Mr. Townshend and others would have benefited greatly had they been available years ago.

@robertcamiller

4 жыл бұрын

Felix Bosquez in band we have 2 glockenspiels and we always want the plastic ones not the copper ones We used to have 3 mallets (1 copper) but the other plastic one went to the vibraphone so i agree

@Ralph2

4 жыл бұрын

I have that problem now. It's very annoying.

: Plays the glockenspiel Me: IIIIIIIIIIIHHHIIIIII DONT WANT A LOT FOR CHRISTMAS

@momo-chanthegerbil6205

3 жыл бұрын

THEEEEREEEE IS JUST ONE THING AAHHH NEED

@jukeboxheros9820

3 жыл бұрын

I DONT CARE ABOUT THE PRESENTS

Thanks - can confirm that growing up in the 70s & 80s, it seemed like every idiophone was called a "xylophone".

@lil_weasel219

4 жыл бұрын

same for 2000s tho

I have my marching band glockenspiel from the 70’s. I played it through junior high and high school. Love it.

Thank you so much for sharing your joy in making simple music with these forgotten masterpiece instruments!

Imagine replacing the sticks with handguns. Now THATS a GLOCKenspiel

Yes, I was in a toy store and found a "xylophone" with metal colored bars and a clear sound and my friend bought it for me. I still have it, can't actually play it but and rarely will get it out and play Mary Had a Little Lamb. I've had it 35-40 years.

The marimba produces this... like shockwave of bass that swells after the note, that is so cool.

Gorgeous tones. Thank you for explaining the comparisons. I love the idiopone instruments. They're my favs, but I haven't really known much about them.

When he played that marimba bass, my heart rate started oddly increasing.

@ThePianoforever

5 жыл бұрын

It happens to me everytime I play the Musser M500. It's the greatest Marimba ever made for sure.

You really send out good vibes !!

@poss420

5 жыл бұрын

ha ha !

@depressedtiger677

4 жыл бұрын

So hilarious

@Pickleeeee

4 жыл бұрын

Pun intended?

I've never seen anything about instruments like this. Very interesting.

Very interesting. Vibraphone sounds like 1960's Twilight Zone, or some StarTrek episodes. Sci-fi sound.

@megelizabeth9492

4 жыл бұрын

Reminds me a bit of a hammond Organ actually.

The sound of a vintage Jenco Xylophone is amazing

Thanks so much for making this comparison! I'd always confused the terms. Now I can properly identify them.

This person is a prodigy doing what he loves, you can see it, feel it. ❤❤💖❤😊

@ThePianoforever

5 жыл бұрын

Not really a prodigy, but I do love music.

8:20 why does a smile just appear on my face?

Look at that bright smile while playing! Watching you having such fun is a pleasure. You're sharing good vibrations... in every way you can read it ;) Thank you!

I remenber using metallophone in primary school. I think we had single and dual octave. We also had a range of single bar metallophone, making it possible to hand out individual tones in class.

Thank you for this demo. I can't say I blame you for loving the sound of that marimba. Those bass notes are silken and sexy. One of the most gorgeous tone colors.

Hey James could you introduce the Chimes(Tubular Bells) & Timpani these 2 tuned percussion instruments?

This video is fantastic for those of us who never knew. Great Job man!

For many years the hits that were recorded in Nashville had a slow rotating vibraphone. It wasn't featured but just hid down in the rhythm track to really fill up the track. Average listeners were not aware of it but if you removed it they would say "What the heck happened to the music?"

Xylos is Greek for wood, so guess what a xylophone is made from. Glockenspiel is German, it means "bell play" and is pronounced "Glocken-shpeel".

@BanaiFeldstein

4 жыл бұрын

Well now, calling it "the bells" back in elementary school makes more sense.

@brandonchandlerMGnO

3 жыл бұрын

@@BanaiFeldstein cool.

@mikedominguez9690

2 жыл бұрын

@ iwilltubeyouall ....So, what language is "Vibraphone" from?......"Vibra"...... Spanish?.... Anyone know?........ LOL!

Nice presentation! A few comments from a mallet player: * I don't think you mentioned this, but the glockenspiel and xylophone are transposing instruments -- the xylo plays an octave higher than what's written and the glock two octaves higher than written. So a concert xylophone (which runs F4 to C8) would match the pitch of the top 2.5 octaves of the marimba, and another octave above that. Not sure how the Jenco matches up, but I'm guessing the highest C on it matches the highest C on the marimba. * Musser's low-end xylos and marimbas use a fiberglass and resin mixture for their bars, so technically they're glass idiophones. :-) * If anyone used metal mallets (or even hard plastic) on my xylophone I'd never speak to them again.

@johncoyle8551

5 жыл бұрын

Just to add to what you said. Most companies have a synthetic bar for their marimbas and xylos, each one has a different type and gives it their own name. Musser's called kelon, Adam' called zelon, and then Yamaha's called Acoustalon. And then on the other end of your mallet comment, its highly advised to never use yarn on xylophone because it can easily ruin your mallet, but if the xylo you're using has synthetic bars, a harder plastic is an option, I just wouldn't use it if I was using a rosewood or even padouk xylo. In that case, I'd lean towards a soft plastic or hard rubber.

@Leo-mu8kn

3 жыл бұрын

What happens with the mallets? Do they degrade the instrument over time?

I was taking my AP music theory quiz and the question asked: "what is the xylophone doing in this excerpt?" and the excerpt had xylophone and some kinds of bells (maybe chimes) in it. For some reason, I thought that the bells sounded like the marimba lol. Then I found this video, it really helped me to separate out which is which. Thanks a lot!!

I used to tune church organs and some of the deep bass pipes were curved over twice to fit the chamber. St. Pat's cathedral set its longest pipes horizontal in the triforium.

No wonder glockenspiel and xylophones are confused. In our country glockenspiels were often referred as xylophones and most kids see metal bars when they imagine a xylophone. I also learned how it should be many years later. Nice instruments, btw. ;-)

Thank you for making this video. I was “today” years old when I finally learned the differences.

Thank you! Wonderful comparison of these beautiful instruments, that I previously knew very little about! Now I'm inspired to learn more! Thank you for the explanations and demos. You are very well spoken and knowledgable and loved hearing the different sounds each instrument produces! Thanks so much!

Thanks for taking the time and spread knowledge to us!

Damn 17:47 now thats amazing !

@HouseofKhaine

4 жыл бұрын

I wonder what it was. Did he just make that up?

@ThePianoforever

4 жыл бұрын

House of Khaine, Yes, I made that up on the spot, haven't played it before or since.

@Croatiauefaeuro

3 жыл бұрын

Bridg It (Sunlight island)

You are doing the same mistake that Leo fender did. Well not exactly the same because he called a vibrato mechanism a tremolo and you are calling a tremolo mechanism (On the vibraphone) a vibrato. A vibrato is a change in pitch. A tremolo is a change in volume.

@lawabidingcitizen5153

4 жыл бұрын

I was about to point that out too, it's a very common mistake

@jussikuusela7345

4 жыл бұрын

The vibraphone was named that without thinking and the name stuck, I imagine. Tremophone would be closer to truth. The disks adjust volume but also cutoff frequency and possibly resonance. Often Hammond and some other electric organs, less often guitar, even vocals or choir sounds, are played through the Leslie or similar rotating speaker, and this tends to cause a tremolo effect, but especially in a large room this also imparts a vibrato effect because it constantly alters the signal path length between the speaker and the listener/microphone.

@neiliusflavius

4 жыл бұрын

It really should have been called a tremolophone. Although, I think the rotating disks may give a slight pitch bend - I can't really hear it but @wintergartan did a video about it recently.

@tomleahy5383

4 жыл бұрын

Didn't some amps have a tremolo function? Too long ago to remember.

@HBSuccess

4 жыл бұрын

He’s not making a “mistake” a Vibraphone is not modulating volume and it IS modulating pitch. It’s true vibrato, and it does it via the Doppler effect. It is exactly the same thing as a Leslie rotating speaker connected to a tone wheel organ. Each of the spinning disks is like a mini-Leslie, and the change you hear IS in pitch as the wave moves closer and farther from your ear- only a few cents difference , but pitch nonetheless NOT volume. Next time do some homework before making a public fool of yourself.

The video I did not know I needed, but needed.

Good to see a video explaining the differences. I always found articulating the difference between a xylophone and marimba hard when talking to young students or non musos but the biggest difference to me is that the marimba is tuned to even order harmonics while xylos are tuned to odd order harmonics giving them the brighter tone.

I played Lira in a drum band for a few years. You hold it facing the metal bars, "White keys" on the right, lower keys low, higher keys high. My mallets were wooden, and to practice I would cover them with handkechiefs, as to avoid difficulty with the neighbours. ;-)

I've heard these instruments so many times throughout my life, but never knew what they were. I feel like my third eye just opened

I had a set of "Xylophone pipes" as a young girl of 1970. They were made of actual pipes and they rested on a large cell open foam mat and were played with wood tipped sticks. They sounded so cool to me as a child.

I love this channel . I'm currently writing some preludes for solo violin . Now i want to write abook for vibraphone and violin . You hear vibes in a lotta jazz now it's time for me to do ssomething in serious contemporay "classical " music . Thanks so very much for this introduction . The range and variety of mallets on some of these instruments is staggering !

Definitely not me watching this video at 4am the day of my musical instruments exam xd

Great video, I always used to wonder about the differences between this family of instruments. I played the glockenspiel in middle school.

I don't know who you are but anyone that can make me watch at 20min video on instruments I have never played, and will never play, earns a subscriber. Thank you!

Dang I forgot how good the M500 sounds. Lovely tone! The vibraphone is pretty sweet too, the resonator discs really add a lot to the sound. Love these instruments.

This takes me back to my very first music lessons at school 💕

I really wish I'd a played with these in school. Never knew how cool they are.

I played in a band as a young lad. One of the members played vibraphone, sax and Hamond B3, very talented.

We had one Glockenspiel in elementary school. No one wanted to play it because you needed to be more accurate for the songs we played. So I played it and loved it.

Long ago I was in a drum line. We had a girl who played the glockenspiel. Her name was Casey. I usually played tris or big bass for the parades. But during concert season, her and I would switch between all the ideophones. Bells, chimes, vibes, bones, all the tonal shit the others couldn't play. She was far more gifted than I was, or at least far more practiced, and I practiced a lot. I probably should have asked her out, but I was young and stupid. I can still hear us now, marching down the street: boom bam boom, ding dong ding. Washington Post March. Good stuff...

In elementary school we had music class where everyone played a "xylophone." Well looks like we were mislead as they were glockenspiels.

Great video. I played a glockenspiel in an LOL band in early 70's. Held upright, metal post , lyre type frame with belt cup support for marching... striker hard plastic. Lots of fun and distictive sound with drums and bugles in full march. Now playing trombone..... its a blast. Thank you

Shoulda played St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast

Amazing video James. Thanks for the thorough explanation and examples of the differences between these wonderful instruments. The vibraphone tone is my favorite.

Thanks so much for sharing these instruments! Your passion for your music is very apparent!

Fascinating. Thank you. I've been watching the Modern New York Jazz Orchestra so I wanted to learn about these instruments. Gosh he can really get some high pitch sound out of it. I would love to hear a version of Sonata Number 11 on one, the first movement . Oooh, that Vibraphone is lovely. It's really nice to see how much joy you get out of them.

I just wanted him to break into the Wintergatan Marble Machine song!

@FishSnackems

4 жыл бұрын

I did too!

@HungryGuyStories

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah! That would be awesome!!!

That is fascinating, these instruments have synth counterparts but one does not get the tactile feel and look of the real instrument from a synth so this is very helpful! 😉

Wow that marimba truly sounds amazing.

I played these instruments for four years in high school. We never called the glockenspiel a glockenspiel ... we called it the bells, and it was as part of the pit and had its own stand ... and every xylophone we had (we had two) used acrylic keys. We had no J-tubes on our marimba though. The vibraphone, however - that was pretty much the same as what we had.

It's great to see someone informing everyone that a marimba, in fact, is NOT a xylophone.

I learned so much. The only thing that would make this better is if he was playing the background track to his own lecture.

Excellent video, really enjoyed your explanation and comparison of these different instruments. My personal favourite is the vibes and the familiar George Shearing jazz band combo sound. 😀

Such a wonderful energy from this guy! And so talented and knowledgeable! Just a little note: The name of the last instrument is MAH REEM BAH, not a MAH ROOMBA! Have a great musical journey!

Have no idea how I got here but I found this very interesting! Thank You.

I am used to hearing 4 sticks at a time, and the soft and hard sounds. You mentioned organ. I am used to the Hammond triple keyboard. Thanks for the memories, as Bob Hope said. I would like to hear longer “songs “.

omg i literally dont have any knowledge about music theory and stuff like that but this is really coolllll gosh I wanna learn more about this !!! i listen to some music that have these sounds specially from marimba and i really enjoy them, and this video just made me want to maybe learn more and even playing it !!! nice video :)

I was so pleased to see the vibraharp. Thanks for turning on the motor. I call it motor because that was what it was called in 1950’s. My father played the vibraharp. I learned to like it better than the xylophone. Yet, the vibraharp is not played in 2019.

Great presentation and explanation of the similarities/differences between these instruments! They have such a broad spectrum of use in a variety of genres. Love their sound when played in tiki lounge music and jazz. If you haven't already heard him, check out Mike Mainieri's album "Wanderlust" and particularly the song "Crossed Wires". A blend of vibraphone and marimba with complex chord structures. Again, thanks for another wonderful and edifying video.

@bradleydoyle6752

5 жыл бұрын

Zappa got me into marimba/percussion (as well as orchestral music). Inca Roads and St Alphonsos Pancake Breakfast had some cool marimba/xylophone parts

Julius Wetchter would be proud. He played on all the Tijuana Brass albums."Ladyfingers" is a unique song, off the Whipped Cream album. Interesting video, Thanks.

When I was in high school -- back in the 1980s, which is just so hard to believe was more than 30 years ago! -- I played the xylophone in the marching band, and the keys were made of fiberglass, of all things. I think for the weight-savings, perhaps.

Back in the 60's and 70's I played a vertical Glockenspiel carried with a leather harness, 1 mallet. Carried pretty much center but I probably adjusted it a bit to the left (I'm right handed) to actually play it. In parades, I remember the drum major would

GOD I LOVEEEE when someone is sooooo good at what they do.

The overtones of the bass in the marimba are fabulous

I love your vocabulary on describing the various sounds 👍🏼

Loved the explanation of the various controls, especially the j tubes. I watched the Eastman percussion sextet, which was the first time I saw those huge jtubes. I was thinking hot rod (car)! Hot rodders have been using a similar device called headers. They're designed so that the exhaust from one cylinder helps pull the next cylinder's exhaust out. Of course, the limited space in the engine bay will dictate what you can do, trying to snake around other structures. HOT ROD Marimbas!

Thank you! Very well presented! I found your video after doing a google search on marimba and vibraphones - as i really enjoyed listening to Bobby Hutcherson play these in Jazz. Now i understand! 👍🏼🙏🏻

After all these years, I believed that the keys on a Xylophone were metal, while the Marimba had wooden keys. I'm a hobby keyboard player...thank you, for clarifying this ancient (!) mystery! Great, informative video. 🎶🎹

now I know some things I did not know before

Hello, nice video, I always wondered what the difference was between these instruments. One thing you forgot to mention about the vibraphone is that it is also referred to as a Vibraharp and actually the Vibraharp is the newest instrument of the idiophones as its only been around since the 1920s and also the Vibraharp was really popular in the 1940s and 1950s when people combined it with chimes (Tubular Bells) to play old hymns or church music that was usually then played over church outdoor loudspeakers to give the effect that the church had a chime tower (also known as a Carillion Tower). I actually have about 20 such recordings on vinyl 12" 78 RPM Records as well as 12" 33 1/3 RPM Records and usually on those recordings the Vibraharps that were used had their resonator spinner things spinning at moderate speed to emulate a moderate vibrato. Its quite an interesting effect.