Home > Facts > Music Instruments Facts > Vibraphone Facts

Vibraphone Facts

Vibraphone Facts
The vibraphone is an instrument in the percussion family, also referred to as the vibes or the vibraharp. The vibraphone is similar to the xylophone in its overall design but it has bars made of aluminum rather than wood. The vibraphone also has a dampening pedal to allow for changes to the sound produced when the bars are struck by the mallets. The pedal also changes the length of time the sound is heard. The vibraphone as it is today is a relatively new instrument as it was only developed in 1927, after Henry Schluter made several improvements to an earlier instrument invented in the early 1920s by the Leedy Manufacturing Company in the U.S.
Interesting Vibraphone Facts:
The word 'vibraphone' is derived from the Latin word 'vibrare' which means to 'tremble or vibrate'.
The original vibraphone with its current features was called the "Model 145", and any changes since this model was created in 1927 have been mainly in the instruments size and weight.
The vibraphone is made so that the aluminum bars are all on one level, but with two rows similar to a piano. The bars have a hole drilled and they are attached to the frame with string. Bars are separated by isolating plates which make it possible for the bars to vibrate freely.
Some vibraphone players use two mallets in each hand (four in total) instead of using only one (two in total) in each hand. Some very talented players use five or six mallets to play the vibraphone.
The main parts of a vibraphone include the frame, pedal, resonator tubes, vibrator discs, spindles, and sound bars. The motor is referred to as the vibrato. The pedal is referred to as the secco or damper pedal.
To make the instrument more attractive and symmetrical the resonator tubes are often arranged in a semicircle, but adjustments are made to them to ensure the correct sound is produced.
The vibraphone mallet is usually manufactured with a rubber ball at the end (the part that strikes the aluminum bars).
There are different techniques for holding the mallet when playing the vibraphone. Some hold the mallet between the index finger and thumb, and some players have many different mallets to enable them to create different sounds.
Louis Armstrong was a fan of the sound created by the vibraphone. In 1931 Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton (considered to be a vibraphone genius) recorded together.
The jazz musician Benny Goodman added the vibraphone to his own music and it became a huge part of big band music.
Since its creation the vibraphone has been used for many classical compositions created specifically for this instrument including Lulu (by Alban Berg in 1935), Death in Venice (by Benjamin Britten in 1973), Omar (by Franco Donatoni in 1985) and The Triumph of Time (Harrison Birtwistle in 1972).
Compositions created for the vibraphone and other instruments include V5 (by Lior Navok in 1994), Baroque Trio (by Tomas Svoboda in 1982), and Concerto for Vibraphone and Orchestra (by Fabian Muller in 2014).


Related Links:
Facts
Music Instruments Facts
Animals Facts
Orchestra Word Search Worksheets Builder