On October 18th, the rest of my marimba finally showed up! I ordered it back in July, from the only company I've ever found that finances these instruments: Music123.com. They don't keep these things in stock, so they had to order one from Musser's factory in Illinois. I received one box in August, but there was no sign of the other box--the one that held everything but the pipes. To make a long, frustrating story short, half of my marimba took a rather long sightseeing trip to California. But it's here now, and it's incredible to finally be able to play again. I'm considering returning to Berklee, or possibly the New England Conservatory, but we'll see what happens. Right now I'm just concentrating on getting my ability and technique back!
With dual resonator track positioning, distortion-free bar suspension system, arched and mitered hand-turned resonators, and many other features of the Musser Concert Grand, this is truly a professinal quality instrument.The primary difference is the Classic's Kelon bars. Kelon, a Musser development, is more durable and climate-resistant than rosewood--yet it offers superlative tone, resonance, and dynamic response. Add the fact that Kelon is considerably less expensive than rosewood, and it is easy to see why the Classic Grand is the preference of so many colleges, high schools, and is an excellent choice for field "pit" percussion .
52 notes, 4.3 octaves (A2-C7), 81 1/4 inches long, 151 pounds.
Samantha really likes the marimba. She is surprisingly gentle with it. Luckily, with the Kelon bars, there's not really a whole lot of damage she could do. After Sam's third birthday (coming up this January) I'll start some real teaching with her. I'm really happy to see that she has an enthusiasm for it already.
Music123.com
marimba.org
Nancy Zeltsman (my teacher at Berklee)
Percussive Arts Society
What does a marimba sound like??
Listen to samples:
I hope to have sound files of my own playing up soon...as soon as I figure out how to make a sound file....
Steve Reich, "Six Marimbas"
