The Difference Between Melodic Percussion Instruments
Recently, I was spending time with a friend who was a brilliant musician. They admitted to me that they did not know the difference between the melodic percussion instruments. After talking for a bit, googling some, and playing some videos, they had a much better understanding. We then talked about how this would be an excellent blog post, so here I am. Here are some of the basic melodic percussion instruments and their differences:
Name: Glockenspiel
Other Names: Bells or Orchestral Bells
Materials: Metal
Range: Usually 2.5 or 3 octaves. Some more expensive ones can be 3.3 octaves Pedal: Some come with a sustain pedal. The pedal is is connected to a bar with felt on it. When it is pressed down, the felt bar will lower allowing the bar to resonate. When the pedal is not lifted, it will dampen each bar so that the note does not resonate.
Sound: Higher pitched and metallic sound. Some would describe it as sounding like a bell. It tends to ring a good bit.
Type of Mallets Used: Most commonly, a plastic, acrylic, brass, or aluminum mallet. On occasion, rubber mallets are called for.
What Sets Them Apart: Their high pitch, metallic sound.
Video examples: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Name: Xylophone
Other Names: Xylo
Materials: Wood or synthetic material
Range: Usually 3 or 3.5 octaves. Some of the more expensive ones are 4 octaves.
Sound: High pitched wood sound.
Type of Mallet Used: most often plastic, acrylic, or rubber mallets.
What Sets Them Apart: The high pitch, wood sound. It tends to be a very staccato sound with little resonance. The bars to
Video examples: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Name: Marimba
Materials: Wood or synthetic material
Range: Usually 4, 4.3, 4.5, or 5 octaves. There are also 5.5 octave models, though they are more rare.
Sound: A resonant, wood sound with a low, mid, and high range.
Type of Mallet Used: Most commonly yarn mallets. Chord and rubber mallets are sometimes often used.
What Sets Them Apart: The resonant wood sound. The bars tend to be longer, wider, not as deep, and far more resonant than a xylophone.
Video examples: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Name: Vibraphone
Other Names: Vibes
Materials: Metal
Range: Typically, 3 octaves. Some companies do make 3.5 to 4-octave versions.
Pedal: The instrument comes with a sustain pedal. The pedal is connected to a bar with felt on it. When it is pressed down, the felt bar will lower allowing the bar to resonate. When the pedal is not lifted, it will dampen each bar so that the note does not resonate.
Motor: The instrument can come with a motor, which can be turned on to spin discs on the resonators to create a vibrato effect. The speed in which the discs turn can also be adjusted.
Sound: A resonating, mid-ranged to low-pitched metallic sound.
Type of Mallet Used: Chord mallets. Yarn, plastic, and rubber mallets can at times also be called for.
What Sets Them Apart: Its resonant metallic sound. The dampening bar and motor also set it apart from many of the instruments in the mallet family.
Video examples: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Name: Orchestral Chimes
Other Names: Chimes or tubular bells
Materials: Metal
Range: Usually 1.5 octaves
Pedal: The instrument comes with a sustain pedal. When the pedal is pressed down, the dampener does not touch the tubes, which allows it to resonate. When the pedal is not pressed, the damping system keeps the tubes from resonating.
Sound: Mid-ranged very resonant bell-like sound. Some confuse the sound for church bells
Type of Mallet Used: Plastic, rawhide, or felt hammers
What Sets Them Apart: Its ringing, bell-like quality
Video examples: Example
Name: Crotales
Other Names: Antique Cymbals
Materials: Metal, usually bronze or brass
Range: They are usually sold in one-octave groupings and most companies make two octaves.
Sound: Higher pitched, metallic, bell-like sound.
Type of Mallets Used: Plastic, acrylic, brass, or aluminum
What Sets Them Apart: Their brass, high pitched, bell-like sound
Video examples: Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Bonus!
Name: Aluphone
Materials: Aluminum
Range: 1.3-2.5 octaves. They also do make large versions that are lower in pitch.
Sound: Mid-ranged to higher-pitched, metallic, mellow, resonant sound. Some describe it as a tuned larger wind chime-like sound.
Type of Mallets Used: Yarn, chord, metal, plastic, or rubber mallets.
What Sets Them Apart: Its metal, mellow sound. It also has a unique shape. It is pretty new instrument.
