Instructions For Building
A Mallet Percussion Instrument
BOOKS[TOP]
Banek, Reinhold, and Jon Scoville. Sound Designs: A Handbook of Musical
Instrument Building. Berkley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1980. (209 p. Bibliography,
discography, photos, illustrations) ISBN 0-89815-011-6. [Detailed descriptions
and plans for making a redwood marimba, an Amadinda xylophone, cloud chamber
bowls, metal and plastic tubaphones, crystal marimba, bells, and resonators.
Note: A review of the revised edition (212 p., ca. 1995) appears in Percussive
Notes 34/4 (August 1996): 73]
Banta, Christopher C. The Bass Marimba: The Romance of Instrument
Design. Paperback Workbook edition, Volume 1. n.p.: Funhouse Press,
1976. ISBN: 0942742028
Banta, Christopher C. The Bass Marimba: A Guide to Instrument Design
& Fabrication. Paperback Workbook edition, Volume 2. n.p.: Funhouse
Press; 1976. ISBN: 0942742095
Coleman, Satis N. The Marimba Book: How to Make Marimbas and How to
Play Them. New York: The John Day Co., 1926
MacCallum, Frank. The Book of the Marimba. New York: Carlton Press,
1969 [Chapter Seven discusses "The Construction of a Marimba,"
pp. 75-77, 89-92.]
Madin, Jon. Make Your Own Marimbas. [Geelong West, Australia:
the author (P.O. Box 7082, Geelong West, Victoria 3218, Australia), ©1996]
(48 p.) [Includes photos and blueprints for building four marimbas: 1) box
resonated 3-1/2 octave 3 player diatonic marimba; 2) pipe resonated 3-1/2
octave 3 player diatonic marimba; 3) pipe resonated 2 octave 2 player bass
(diatonic) marimba; 4) box resonated 13 note 1 player (diatonic) minimarimba.]
Partch, Harry. Genesis of a Music: An Account of a Creative Work,
Its Roots and Its Fulfillments. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974 (2nd edition,
enlarged) [Chapter Thirteen, "Percussion Instruments and Their Notations,"
gives dimensions and tuning ratios for Partch's instruments, including the
Diamond Marimba, Quadrangularis Reversum, Bass Marimba, Marimba Eroica,
Zymo-Xyl, and others. Note: The 2nd enlarged edition contains much more
information than the first edition (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press,
1949).]
Richter, Hans Georg. Holz als Rohstoff fuer den Musikinstrumentenbau.
Celle: Hermann Moeck Verlag, 1988. English title: Wood as raw material for
musical instrument making. Review: Journal of the American Musical Instrument
Society 17 (1991): 163-169. [Includes a section on the use of wood in
the construction of xylophones. Text in German.]
Sawyer, David. Vibrations: Making Unorthodox Musical Instruments.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. (102 pp.: photos, illus.) ISBN
0-521-20812-2. LCCN 76-11499 [Instructions for making a pitch tube, bamboo
bonca, metal bonca, bamboo chime bar, tube bars, ceramic chimes, angel bars,
and beaters.]
Wiggins, Trevor, and Joseph Kobom. Xylophone Music from Ghana.
(Crown Point, In: White Cliffs Media, 1992) [Offers transcriptions of several
tunes and instructions on how to build an instrument.]
ARTICLES[TOP]
Chappell, Robert J., Jr. "The Amadinda xylophone: The instrument,
its music, and procedures for its construction." Percussionist 15/2
(Winter 1978): 60-85 [Includes plans and directions for constructing an
Amadinda xylophone, used by the Baganda tribe of southern Uganda. Also discuses
tuning and musical structure with 69 Amadinda compositions notated in the
appendix. See also the letter with corrections by Michael C. Hakes in 16/1
(Fall 1978): 45-46.]
Coe, Matt. "A summer's project." Percussive Notes 32/4
(August 1994): 65-66 [The author's experience building a practice marimba.]
Coolen, Michael T. "Constructing a diatonic African marimba."
Woodwind, Brass & Percussion 21/5 (September 1982): 12-15
Halenz, H. F. "How to build a marimba." Mechanix Illustrated
(September 1956): 106-110, 157, 159 [Includes detailed blueprints with bar
size and tuning charts]
Hoing, Clifford. [Article on tools and instructions for making a xylophone.]
Lutherie 4 (May 1958) [Note: This article, from the Journal of the
Violin Makers Association, has not been verified.]
Johnston, Thomas F. "How to make a Tsonga xylophone." Music
Educators Journal 63/3 (November 1976): 38-49 [Includes detailed diagrams,
tuning chart, and transcriptions of seven Tsonga Mohambi tunes.]
RELATED TOPICS[TOP]
Bork, Ingolf, and Jurgen Meyer. "On the tonal evaluation of xylophones."
Percussive Notes 23/6 (Spring 1985): 48-57
MacCallum, Frank K. "The marimba's bass notes." Percussionist
5/2 (December 1967): 266-269
MacCallum, Frank K. "The marimba's bass register." Percussive
Notes 5/4 [1967]: 3-4, 7
Moore, James L. Acoustics of Bar Percussion Instruments. Columbus,
OH: Permus Publications, 1970
Rossing, Thomas D. "Acoustics of bar percussion instruments."
Percussionist [Percussive Notes Research Edition] 19/3 (Fall 1982):
6-17
Samuels, Ron. "The acoustics of resonators." Percussive
Notes 31/7 (October 1993): 59 [Advertisement for the Marimba One company
with a lengthy editorial on tuning resonators.]
Stevens, Leigh Howard. "Resonator acoustics." Percussive
Notes 32/5 (October 1994): 40-43
Stoutmeyer, Gene L. "A detailed description and acoustical study
of the marimba and xylophone." Percussionist [Part I] 9/2 (Winter
1971): 35-37; [Part II] 9/3 (Spring 1972): 59-62
Youhass, William. "Ask the experts." Percussive Notes
24/4 (April 1986): 12 [Brief reponse to a question about building a marimba.]
Youhass, William. "Caring for your xylophone or marimba bars."
Percussive Notes 21/2 (October 1982): 58-59 ["Answers to significant
questions about the maintenance of wood bar instruments."]
VIDEO TAPES[TOP]
Build Your Own Marimba: A complete instructional guide to the construction
of a Shona-style marimba.
[This videotape guide to marimba construction leads the beginning builder
through all the steps in the construction of a soprano marimba. The student
builder is guided through the process of selecting wood for the keys and
frame, determining the dimensions of the keys, making and tuning undercuts,
key finishing, and frame construction for a soprano marimba. Made by marimba
player and builder Fred King. (2 hrs 30 min., 1996) VHS $30.00 (181-V).
Available from Dandemutande, www.rootsworld.com/rw/dandemutande/] | 
