Vibraphone

A typical vibraphone
Percussion instrument
Other names	Vibraharp, Vibes
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	111.222 (Directly struck idiophone)
Inventor(s)	Henry Schluter
Developed	1927
Playing range
Related instruments
Marimba, Xylophone, Glockenspiel
Musicians
Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Stefon Harris, Ed Saindon, Dave Samuels, Gary Burton, Bobby Hutcherson, Monte Croft, Joe Locke, Steve Nelson, Tommy Vig, Cal Tjader
Builders
Musser, Yamaha, Adams Musical Instruments, Saito

The vibraphone (also known as the vibraharp or simply the vibes) is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family.

The vibraphone is similar in appearance to the xylophone, marimba and glockenspiel. Each bar is paired with a resonator tube having a motor-driven butterfly valve at its upper end, mounted on a common shaft, which produces a tremolo or vibrato effect while spinning. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to that used on a piano; when the pedal is up, the bars are all damped and the sound of each bar is shortened; with the pedal down, they will sound for several seconds.

The most common uses of the vibraphone are within jazz music, where it often plays a featured role, and in the wind ensemble, as a standard component of the percussion section.

History[link]

The first musical instrument called "vibraphone" was marketed by the Leedy Manufacturing Company in the United States in 1921. However, this instrument differed in significant details from the instrument now called the vibraphone. The Leedy vibraphone achieved a degree of popularity after it was used in the novelty recordings of "Aloha 'Oe" and "Gypsy Love Song" by vaudeville performer Louis Frank Chiha ("Signor Frisco").^[1]

Former headquarters of J. C. Deagan, Inc. in Chicago, where Henry Schluter invented the vibraphone. Now (2008) home to Century Mallet Instrument Service.

This popularity led J. C. Deagan, Inc. in 1927 to ask its Chief Tuner, Henry Schluter, to develop a similar instrument. However, Schluter didn't just copy the Leedy design, he introduced several significant improvements: making the bars from aluminum instead of steel for a more "mellow" basic tone; adjustments to the dimensions and tuning of the bars to eliminate the dissonant harmonics in the Leedy design (further mellowing the tone); and the introduction of a damper bar controlled by a foot pedal, enabling it to be played with more expression.^[1] Schluter's design was more popular than the Leedy design, and has become the template for all instruments called vibraphone today.

However, when Deagan began marketing Schluter's instrument in 1928, they called it the vibraharp. The name derived from similar aluminum bars that were mounted vertically and operated from the "harp" stop on a theatre organ. Since Deagan trademarked the name, others were obliged to use the earlier "vibraphone" for their instruments incorporating the newer design. As its popularity grew, other manufacturers began producing instruments based on Schluter's design, marketed under a variety of names, including Leedy, who marketed their new instrument as the vibraphone and abandoned their old design.

The name confusion continues, even to the present, but over time vibraphone became significantly more popular than vibraharp. By 1974, the Directory of the D.C. Federation of Musicians listed 39 vibraphone players and 3 vibraharp players.^[1] As of 2008, the term vibraharp has disappeared except for anachronistic uses. Often, vibraphone is shortened to "vibes", and the two terms are used interchangeably.

The initial purpose of the vibraphone was to add to the large arsenal of percussion sounds used by vaudeville orchestras for novelty effects. This use was quickly overwhelmed in the 1930s by its development as a jazz instrument. As of 2008, it remains primarily, although not exclusively, a jazz instrument.

The popularity of the vibraphone as a jazz instrument can primarily be credited to one man, Lionel Hampton. The story, perhaps apocryphal, is that "Hamp", a drummer at the time, was playing at the NBC Radio studios, where he discovered a vibraharp that was kept on hand to play the musical motif identifying the NBC network, the "NBC Chimes". After the gig, he spent a considerable amount of time exploring the instrument, and fell in love with it.

Later (October 16, 1930), Hampton was recording with Louis Armstrong & His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra, and the studio they were working in happened to have a Deagan model 145 vibraharp. Hampton showed Armstrong what he could do, and they decided to add vibes to one of the tunes they were scheduled to play, "Memories of You", creating the first known jazz recording using the vibes.

After this, Hampton decided to concentrate on the vibraphone, eventually joining the Benny Goodman Trio to form the Benny Goodman Quartet, and later leading his own big bands and achieving great popularity.

Manufacturers[link]

The first manufacturer of vibraphones in the modern configuration was J.C. Deagan, Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, United States, although they called the instruments vibraharps. As the market for vibraphones was proven, first as a vaudeville novelty instrument and then as a jazz instrument, several other manufacturers stepped in to supply the demand. These included the Leedy Manufacturing Company, of Indianapolis, Indiana, who retained the vibraphone name of their earlier product but abandoned its design in favor of the Henry Schluter innovations, and the Jenco Company, of Decatur, Illinois, who initially marketed their instruments as "vibrabells".

Outside of the United States, the Premier Drum Company, of London, UK, after experimenting with a variety of aluminum bar instruments more closely related to the glockenspiel that were called variations of “harpaphone”,^[1] moved to the production of the Schluter vibraphone design. Bergerault, of Ligueil, France also began manufacturing vibraphones in the 1930s.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, each manufacturer attracted its own following in various specialties, but the Deagan vibraphones were the models preferred by many of the emerging class of specialist jazz players. Deagan struck endorsement deals with many of the leading players, including Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson.

The Musser M-55 Pro Vibe, a middle level instrument in Musser's line, played by professionals and in schools around the United States.

In 1948, the Musser Company was founded by Claire Omar Musser.^[2] Musser,for many years the sales manager of Deagan, was an accomplished marimba and xylophone player famous for touring the United States and Europe leading "marimba symphony orchestras". He applied his experience and observations with the current designs of mallet instruments to his eponymous company and the result was a high-quality line of mallet instruments. His vibraphones emerged as nearly comparable in quality to Deagan vibraphones and Musser was able to garner a share of the top-end market.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a shakeup in the vibraphone market. Leedy and Jenco ceased operations. The Deagan operation was purchased by Slingerland Drum, division of Conn, division of Mcmillan, and ultimately by the Yamaha Corporation. Although Yamaha used the Deagan knowledge to improve their own designs, for vibraphones they discontinued the use of the Deagan name and Deagan model legacy; as of 2008, no visible trace to Deagan remains, although Yamaha continues to use the Deagan name for a line of orchestra bells and chimes. The Musser Company was purchased first by Ludwig Drums, and then, through Ludwig, was purchased by Conn-Selmer, Inc. Unlike the fate of Deagan, the Musser brand and model line were retained by the purchasing companies, and Musser vibraphones remain a major force in the vibraphone market. Century Mallet Instrument Instrument Co. in the old Deagan Building in Chicago, employs former Deagan craftsmen to restore, tune and refurbish quality instruments from all manufacturers.

This period also saw the emergence of new vibraphone manufacturers. Notable companies include Adams Musical Instruments of Ittervoort, The Netherlands and Ross Mallet Instruments, now owned by Jupiter Band Instruments of Austin, Texas, United States.

As of 2008, the vibraphone marketplace is remarkably active, considering the specialty nature of the instrument. The major players include Musser, Yamaha, Adams and Ross. Bergerault, Premier, Studio 49 from Gräfelfing, Germany and the Saito Gakki Company of Japan continue in operation. In addition to the "mass" producers of vibraphones, custom manufacturers, notably vanderPlas Percussion of The Netherlands, are also active.

Range[link]

The standard modern instrument has a range of three octaves, from the F below middle C (F3 to F6 in scientific pitch notation). Larger three-and-a-half or four octave models from the C below middle C are also becoming more common (C3 to F6 or C7). Unlike its cousin the xylophone, it is a non-transposing instrument, generally written at concert pitch. However, composers occasionally (for example, Olivier Messiaen) write parts to sound an octave higher.

In the 1930s several manufacturers made soprano-vibraphones with a range C4-C7, notably the Ludwig & Ludwig model B110 and the Deagan model 144. Deagan also made a portable model that had a 2½ octave range and resonators made of cardboard (model 30).^[3]

Construction[link]

The major components of a vibraphone are the bars, resonators, damper mechanism, motor and the frame. Vibraphones are usually played with mallets.

Bars[link]

Interior of vibes exposed, showing deep arch and tuning marks in bar bottom, resonators, disks, damper bar and pins for holding bars.

Vibraphone bars are made from aluminum bar stock, cut into blanks of pre-determined length. Holes are drilled through the width of the bars so they can be suspended by a cord. To maximize the sustain of the bars, the holes are placed at approximately the nodal points of the bar, i.e. the points of minimum amplitude around which the bar is vibrating. For a uniform bar, the nodal points are located 22.4% from each end of the bar.^[4]

Material is ground away from underside of the bars in an arch shape. This serves to lower pitch so the low bars are not excessively long, and is key to the "mellow" sound of the vibraphone (and marimba, which uses the same deep arch) compared with the xylophone, which uses a shallower arch, and the glockenspiel, which has no arch at all. Vibrating rectangular bars have three primary modes of vibration.^[4] The deep arch causes these modes to align and create a consonant arrangement of intervals: a fundamental pitch, a pitch two octaves above that, and a third pitch an octave and a major third above the second. For the F3 bar that usually forms the lowest note on a vibraphone, there would be F3 as the fundamental, F5 as the first partial and A6 as the second partial.^[4] As a side effect, the arch causes the nodal points of the fundamental vibration to shift closer towards the ends of the bar.

After beveling or rounding the edges, fine-tuning adjustments are made. If a bar is flat, its overall pitch structure can be raised by removing material from the ends of the bar. Once this slightly sharp bar is created, the secondary and tertiary tones can be lowered by removing material from specific locations of the bar.^[4] Vibraphones are tuned to a standard of A=442 Hz or A=440 Hz depending on the manufacturer or in some cases the customer's preference.

Vibraphones with graduated (foreground) and ungraduated (background) bars.

Like marimbas, professional vibraphones have bars of graduated width. Lower bars are made from wider stock, and higher notes from narrower stock, to help balance volume and tone across the range of the instrument. The bars are anodized, typically in silver or gold color, after fine tuning, and may have a smooth or brushed (matte) finish; cosmetic features which have a negligible effect on the sound.

Resonators[link]

Resonators are thin-walled tubes, typically made of aluminum, but any suitably strong material will do. They are open at one end and closed at the other. Each bar is paired with a resonator whose diameter is slightly wider than the width of the bar, and whose length to the closure is one-quarter of the wavelength of the fundamental frequency of the bar. The resonator for A3 (the lowest A on a vibraphone) is approximately 15 inches long.^[4] When the bar and resonator are properly in tune with each other, the vibrating air beneath the bar travels down the resonator and is reflected off the closure at the bottom, then returns back to the top and is reflected back by the bar, over and over, creating a much stronger standing wave and amplifying the fundamental frequency. The resonators, beside raising the upper end of the vibraphone's dynamic range, also affect the overall tone of the vibraphone, since they amplify the fundamental, but not the upper partials.^[4]

Vibraphonists Bobby Hutcherson and Joe Locke performing at the 2007 Jazz Baltica Festival in Salzau (North Germany, July 1, 2007). Note the difference in the front resonator sets of the two vibraphones. This difference is purely cosmetic. On Locke's vibraphone (on the right) the resonators are only as long as they need to be; the cap in each tube is near the bottom. On Hutcherson's vibraphone the resonators on the high end are much longer than they need to be to produce an arched front as seen in many instruments (and the cap is near the top of those tubes). Both instruments include non-functional resonator tubes with no corresponding bar above to avoid a gap-toothed look.

There is a trade-off between the amplifying effect of the resonators and the length of sustain of a ringing bar. Basically, all of the energy in a ringing bar comes from the initial mallet strike, and that energy can go to making the bar ring either louder initially, or not as loud but longer. This is not an issue with marimbas and xylophones, where the natural sustain time of the wooden bars is short, but vibraphone bars can ring for many seconds after being struck, and this effect is highly desirable in many circumstances. Therefore the resonators in a vibraphone are usually tuned to be slightly off-pitch to create a balance between loudness and sustain.^[5]

A unique feature of vibraphone resonators is a shaft of rotating discs, commonly called fans, across the top. When the fans are open (vertical) the resonators have full function. When the fans are closed (horizontal) the resonators are partially occluded, reducing the resonance of the fundamental pitch. A drive belt connects the shafts to an electric motor (see below) beneath the playing surface, and rotation of the fans creates what many people call a "vibrato" effect; however in actuality it is a tremolo, i.e. periodic modulation of amplitude, not pitch.^[6] In 1970 Deagan introduced a model, the Electravibe, that dispensed with resonator tubes entirely and took a signal directly off the bars, adding a tremulo in a preamplifier. This improved the portability of the instrument as well as solving the problem of micing the bars evenly that is inherent in all the tuned mallet instruments.

Damper mechanism[link]

For the first few years of production the original Leedy Vibraphone did not include a mechanism for damping, or stopping, the sustaining tones. In 1928 the J.C. Deagan company introduced a pedal mechanism that has not changed substantially since.^[7] A rigid bar beneath the center of the instrument is pressed upward by an adjustable spring, and engages a long felt pad against the sharps and the naturals. A foot pedal lowers the bar and allows notes to ring freely; releasing the pedal engages the damper and stops any vibrating notes.

The damper mechanism is a sensitive feature of the instrument, as the pad must contact all notes evenly and produce no extraneous noises, and require minimal foot or toe motion. Felt dampers can compress over time and cause uneven damping or buzzing on contact with the bars. In the early 1990s, vibraphonist John Mark Piper designed a new vibraphone for Musser that, among other innovations, included a water-filled damper pad. Later that decade, custom vibraphone maker Nico van der Plas improved on the idea by using silicone gel as the filling. This retro-fittable gel pad reduces impact transference (frame noise from mallet strikes) and provides more even and more complete damping than felt.

Motor[link]

Vibraphones usually have an electric motor and pulley assembly mounted on one side or the other to drive the disks in the resonators. The early vibraphones used motors that were intended to power record player turntables,^[1] and had limited or no speed adjustment capabilities. Whatever speed adjustments were possible were made by moving the drive belt among a small number of pulleys (usually three) of varying diameters.

Later, variable speed AC motors became available at reasonable prices. These motors allow the adjustment of the rotating speed via a potentiometer mounted on a control panel near the motor. They typically support rotation rates from about 1-12 Hz. These motors remained the preferred solution until the 1990s, and even as of today are still the most widely used.

During the 1990s, some manufacturers began using computer-controlled servo stepping motors. These motors are capable of slower rotating speeds approaching 0 Hz. The computer control also allows operations that are not possible with an analog motor, such as the ability to synchronize the rotation of the two resonator sets and stop the rotation at a desired state (all open, all closed, all half open, etc.).

Frame[link]

The vibraphone frame offers a number of challenges to designers. It must be sturdy enough to endure the torsional forces created by the damper/spring/pedal assembly and the stresses of repeated transport and playing, while still being light enough for easy transport. Considering the weight of the bars alone, that doesn’t leave much left for the frame. Also, the bars must be securely attached to the frame, but not rigidly. Each bar must have some independent flex in order to ring.

Vibraphone frames consist of two end blocks, made of metal, wood or a combination, attached by various support members. Usually the end blocks are approximately the same size as the two bars that are at the same end; therefore one block is significantly larger than the other.

The motor is attached to the frame at one end. The hinges for the damper bar are attached at each end, and the spring assembly and the pedal are usually attached in the middle. Two banks of resonator tubes are laid into grooves in the frame so that they straddle the damper bar. The resonators are not firmly fastened to the frame. The ends of the shafts that gang the disks are attached to the drive of the motor via a drive belt similar to an O-ring.

A bed for the bars is made by laying four wooden rails onto pins on the end blocks. Like the resonators, these rails are not firmly attached to the frame. Each rail has a series of pins with rubber spacers that will support the bars. The bars are arranged into two groups, and a soft cord is passed through the nodal holes in the bars of each group. The bars are laid between the support pins, with the cord hooking the pins. The pins on the outside rails have U-shaped hooks and the cord just rests in the bend. The inside pins have a hook that grasps the cord and holds the bars in place against the force of the damper pad. The two ends of the cord are attached with a spring at one end to provide tension and flex.

The two rows of bars follow the piano convention of white and black keys, with the row nearer to the player corresponding to the white keys. A rare alternate form is one in which each row of bars is arranged in a whole-tone scale, and the rows are a semitone apart. As with the piano, the lower notes are on the player’s left. Unlike the marimba and the xylophone, the two rows of bars are in the same horizontal plane so that the damper bar will come in contact with both rows at the same time.

Frames come in a variety of styles, from functional to ornate, but, except for negatively via squeaks and rattles, they don't really contribute to the tonal qualities of the vibraphone. Some frames allow the distance between the bars and the resonators to be adjusted, to compensate for variations in air temperature, pressure and moisture that change the speed of sound and therefore the tuning of the bar/resonator system, but this is more common in marimbas than vibraphones. Other frames allow the adjustment of the height of the bar bed. It’s common to see players who don’t have this capability hunched over their instruments while they play as the standard height of non-adjustable frames is often too low for men of average height.

Mallets[link]

Typical vibraphone mallets.

Vibraphone mallets usually consist of a rubber ball core wrapped in yarn or cord and attached to a narrow dowel, most commonly made of rattan or birch and sometimes of fiberglass or nylon. Mallets suitable for the vibraphone are also generally suitable for the marimba.

The specific mallets used can have a great effect on the tonal characteristics of the sound produced, ranging from a bright metallic clang to a mellow ring with no obvious initial attack. Consequently, a wide array of mallets is available, offering variations in hardness, head size, weight, shaft length and flexibility.

Classical players must carry a wide range of mallet types to accommodate the changing demands of composers who are looking for particular sounds. Jazz players, on the other hand, since "we don’t know what we’re going to want to play until the second or two that we're there",^[8] often rely on a single general-purpose mallet type that works well in all dynamic ranges. Often this choice becomes one of the defining items of the player's personal sound. Some vibraphonists alter commercially-made mallets to get a precise nuance of tone.

Technique[link]

Vibraphone busker. The resonators have been removed, presumably to ease transportation.

The world of vibraphone players can be roughly divided into those who play with two mallets, and those who play with four. In reality the division is not quite so neat. Many players switch between two, three and four mallets depending on the demands of their current musical situations.

Furthermore, concentrating on the number of mallets a player holds means missing the far more significant differences between the two-mallet and four-mallet playing styles. As of 2008, these differences are not quite as extensive as they were when Gary Burton first introduced the world to the four-mallet style in the 1960s, but they still exist to a large degree.

Two-mallet style[link]

The two-mallet approach to vibes is traditionally linear, playing like a horn. Two-mallet players usually concentrate on playing a single melodic line and rely on other musicians to provide accompaniment. Double stops (two notes played simultaneously) are sometimes used, but mostly as a reinforcement of the main melodic line, similar to the usual use of double stops in solo violin music. In jazz groups, two-mallet vibraphonists are usually considered part of the "front line" with the horn players, contributing solos of their own but contributing very little in the way of accompaniment to other soloists.

Two-mallet players use several different grips, with the most common being a palms-down grip that is basically the same as the matched grip used by drummers. The mallets are held between the thumb and index finger of each hand, with the remaining three fingers of each hand pressing the shafts into the down-facing palms. Strokes use a combination of wrist movement and fingertip control of the shaft.

Milt Jackson, circa 1980. Note his characteristic palms-inward two-mallet grip.

Another popular grip is similar to the timpani grip. The mallets are again held between the thumb and index fingers and controlled with the remaining three fingers, but the palms are held vertically, facing inward towards each other. Most of the stroke action comes from the finger-tip control of the shafts.

Passages are usually played hand-to-hand with double-sticking (playing two notes in a row with the same hand) used when convenient in minimizing crossing the hands.

The player must pay close attention to the use of the damper pedal in order to cleanly articulate and avoid multiple notes ringing unintentionally at the same time. Since the notes ring for some significant fraction of a second when struck with the damper pad up, and ringing bars do not stop ringing immediately when contacted by the pad, a technique called "after pedaling"^[9] is necessary. In this technique, the damper pedal is depressed marginally after the note is struck, shortly enough after so that the recently struck note continues to ring, but long enough after so that the previous note has stopped ringing.

Another damper technique is "half pedaling", where the pedal is depressed just enough to remove the spring pressure from the bars, but not enough so the pad has lost contact with the bars. This allows the bars to ring slightly longer than with the pad fully up and can be used to make a medium-fast passage sound more legato without pedaling every note.

Four-mallet style[link]

The four-mallet vibraphone style is multi-linear, like a piano. "Thinking like a pianist, arranger, and orchestrator, the vibist approaches the instrument like a piano and focuses on a multi-linear way of playing."^[10] In jazz groups, four-mallet vibraphonists are often considered part of the rhythm section, typically substituting for piano or guitar, and providing accompaniment for other soloists in addition to soloing themselves. Furthermore, the four-mallet style has led to a significant body of unaccompanied solo vibes playing. One notable example is Gary Burton’s performance of "Chega de Saudade (No More Blues)" from his Grammy-winning 1971 album "Alone at Last".^[11]

Although some early vibes players made use of four mallets, notably Red Norvo and sometimes Lionel Hampton, the fully pianistic four-mallet approach is almost entirely the creation of Gary Burton. Many of the key techniques of the four-mallet style, such as multi-linear playing and the advanced dampening techniques described below, are easily applied to playing with two mallets and some modern two-mallet players have adapted these devices to their playing, somewhat blurring the distinctions between modern two- and four-mallet players.

Vibraphonist Gary Burton and guitarist Julian Lage. Note the good view of the Burton four-mallet grip.

The most popular four-mallet grip for vibraphone is the Burton grip, named for Gary Burton. One mallet is held between the thumb and index finger and the other is held between the index and middle fingers. The shafts cross in the middle of the palm and extend past the heel of the hand. For wide intervals, the thumb often moves in between the two mallets and the inside mallet is held in the crook of the fingers.

Also popular is the Stevens grip, named for marimbist Leigh Howard Stevens. Many other grips are in use, some variations on the Burton or Stevens, others idiosyncratic creations of individual vibes players. One common variation of the Burton grip places the outside mallet between the middle and ring fingers, instead of between the index and middle.^[12]

Vibraphonist Joe Locke's idiosyncratic four-mallet grip. Many vibes players adapt the "standard" grips by varying degrees to suit their personal physiology and musical expression.

Four-mallet vibists usually play scalar linear passages much the same as two-mallet players, using one mallet from each hand (outside right and inside left for Burton grip), except four-mallet players tend to make more use of double strokes, not only to avoid crossing hands but also to minimize motion between the two bar rows. For example, an ascending E flat major scale could be played L-R-R-L-L-R-R-L, keeping the left hand on the "black" bars and the right hand on the "white". For linear passages with leaps, all four mallets are often used sequentially.^[10]

Pedaling techniques are at least as important for the four-mallet vibist as for two-mallet players, but the all-or-nothing dampening system of the pedal/pad presents many obstacles to multi-linear playing since each line normally has its own dampening requirements independent of the other lines. To overcome this, four-mallet players use a set of dampening techniques referred to as "mallet dampening", in addition to the pedaling techniques used by two-mallet players. The mallet dampening techniques "are to the vibist as garlic and fresh basil are to the Northern Italian chef"^[13] and contribute significantly to expressive four-mallet playing.

Mallet dampening includes "dead strokes" where a player strikes a bar, and then instead of drawing the mallet back, directly presses the head of the mallet onto the bar, causing the ringing to immediately stop. This produces a fairly distinctive "choked" sound and dead strokes are often used just for that particular sound in addition to the dampening aspects.

In hand-to-hand dampening, the vibist plays a note with one mallet, while simultaneously pressing another mallet onto a previously ringing bar. Usually the dampening mallet and the striking mallet are held in different hands, but advanced players can, in some circumstances, use two mallets from the same hand.^[14] This is the most powerful of the mallet dampening techniques as it can be used to dampen any note on the instrument while simultaneously striking any other note.^[13]

Slide dampening can be used to dampen a note that is physically adjacent to the new note being struck. The player strikes the new note and then controls the rebound of the mallet so that it slides over and onto the note to be dampened.^[13] Sometimes slide dampening can make the new note sound "bent" or as if there is a glissando from the dampened note to the ringing one, as the two notes normally ring together for some short period of time.

Hand dampening (also known as finger dampening^[13]) can be used to dampen a white note while striking a nearby black note. As the player strikes a black note with a mallet, they simultaneously press the heel of their hand or the side of their pinky finger onto the ringing white bar, using the same hand to strike the black note and dampen the white note. Using both hands, it's possible to dampen and strike two notes at once.

Specialty techniques[link]

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Pitch bending: This technique allows the pitch of a ringing bar to be smoothly lowered, or "bent", downward, by a half-step or so. To do this, the player replaces one of the normal mallets with a hard-headed mallet such as a hard rubber or plastic xylophone mallet. The player presses the special mallet onto a ringing bar at the nodal point, and then slides the mallet out towards the middle or edge of the bar. This causes the mallet to start vibrating with the bar, adding its weight to the system and slowing the vibration. The player must be very careful in placing the hard mallet onto the bar in order to avoid a rattling as the mallet and bar come into contact.

Bowing: In addition to striking the bars with mallets, the bars can be made to sound by drawing the bow of a string instrument along the edges. Since bars are fairly massive compared to strings, better results are obtained by using bows from the larger string instruments, at least a cello bow and often a double bass bow. Often a player will use two bows, one for the white bars and the other for the black. With bowing, the player is able to excite the bars directly to the pure ringing tone and eliminate many of the transient dissonant sounds that are present immediately after a mallet strikes.

Five or six mallets: In order to achieve greater density of sound and richer chord voicings, some vibraphonists have experimented with three mallets per hand, either in both hands for a total of six mallets or in just the left hand for a total of five. Results can be interesting, especially five-mallet playing where the left hand "comps" in three note voicings while the right hand plays melodic lines, similar to the popular piano technique.^[15] However, the grips tend to lead to limited musical possibilities, with little ability to adjust the interval between the outside and middle mallets and difficulties in playing hand-to-hand lines, and therefore use of five or six mallets is rare.

Harmonics: It is also possible to play harmonics on the vibraphone. This is achieved by placing one mallet in the centre of the bar in an almost vertical position, while the other mallet strikes the bar over one of the nodes. When the second mallet strikes the bar the first mallet is removed. The strongest harmonic is the first partial which on the vibraphone is 2 octaves above the fundamental.

Rolling with one hand: Another extended technique is the rolling of a note with one hand. This is for vibes, xylophone and marimba. With two mallets in one hand, by putting one mallet beneath the key and another above it, and by moving the wrist vertically, the percussionist can make a rolling sound with just one hand as opposed to using both. Obviously, this does not work on the sharps and flats.

Other techniques: The vibraphone solo "Mourning Dove Sonnet," composed by Christopher Deane, utilizes a four mallet grip with two cello (or bass) bows held where the outer mallets would be, a yarn mallet for the main melodic playing and a plastic mallet for pitch bending in the inner positions.

Vibraphone recordings[link]

Footage from the early 1940s of an orchestra of marimbists and a vibraphonist

Classical works with the vibraphone[link]

• Pierre Boulez: Le marteau sans maître, for contralto and six instrumentalists, with prominent part for vibraphone (1955), "…explosante-fixe…", version for vibraphone and electronics (1986)
• Morton Feldman: For Stefan Wolpe, for chorus and two vibraphones (1986)
• Alan Chan: Floes (2003), Without a Trail to Lace for voice and vibraphone (2008)
• Christopher Deane: Mourning Dove Sonnet (1980), The Apocryphal Still Life (1996)
• Franco Donatoni: Omar (1985)
• Philippe Hurel: Loops II for vibraphone (2006)
• Philippe Manoury: Solo de vibraphone (1986)
• Ney Rosauro: Concerto for Vibraphone and Orchestra (1996), numerous works
• Emmanuel Sejourne: Concerto for vibraphone and orchestra (1999), Concerto for vibraphone and percussion ensemble (2002), numerous works
• Stuart Saunders Smith: Links series, 11 works (1975-1994), numerous works
• Karlheinz Stockhausen: Vibra-Elufa, for vibraphone; Strahlen, for vibraphone (optionally with glockenspiel) and ten-channel electronic music (2002)
• Andersen Viana: Love Song (1986), numerous works

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vibraphones

• Balafon
• Glockenspiel
• Lithophone
• Marimba
• Marimbaphone
• Metallophone
• Xylophone
• List of vibraphonists

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} The Vibraphone: A Summary of Historical Observations with a Catalog of Selected Solo and Small-Ensemble Literature; by Harold Howland; Percussionist, volume 13, no. 2, Summer 1977
2. ^ Musser History, http://www.ludwig-drums.com/content/musser_history.php
3. ^ http://www.deaganresource.com/vibraphones.html
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Acoustics of Bar Percussion Instruments; James L. Moore, Ph.D.; Permus Publications
5. ^ Bars, Resonators. Their behavior and how to act with it. Nico vanderPlas, http://www.vibesworkshop.com/story/bars-resonators-their-behaviour-and-how-act-it/nico/120608, requires membership to access
6. ^ http://www.pas.org/experience/onlinecollection/leedyvibraphone.aspx
7. ^ http://www.pas.org/experience/onlinecollection/leedyvibraphone.aspx
8. ^ Gary Burton Mallet Demo (video), http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/burton.html
9. ^ Ed Saindon, Technical Considerations (video), http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/saindon.html
10. ^ ^{a b} Ed Saindon, Sound Development and Four-Mallet Usage for Vibes, http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/saindon/saindon_article.pdf
11. ^ Gary Burton Biography, http://www.garyburton.com/bio.html
12. ^ Tony Miceli, The Miceli Stoned Grip (video), http://larrysimprovpage.com/?q=node/49/play
13. ^ ^{a b c d} The Vibes Real Book, Arthur Lipner, MalletWorks Music, 1996
14. ^ Do You Know What It Means (to Miss New Orleans) (video), Ed Saindon, http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/saindon.html
15. ^ Ed Saindon, demonstration

• Introduction to Jazz Vibes; by Gary Burton; Creative Music; 1965.
• Vibraphone Technique: Dampening and Pedaling; by David Friedman; Berklee Press Publications; 1973.
• Contemporary Mallet Method - An Approach to the Vibraphone and Marimba; by Jerry Tachoir: Riohcat Music; 1980
• The Mallet Percussions and How to Use Them: by Wallace Barnett; J.C. Deagan Co.: 1975

The Story of Mallet Instruments: 16mm and DVD: by Barry J. Carroll J.C. Deagan Co.: 1975

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Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born June 12, 1941)^[2] is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.

Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever.^[2] Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett, he has been described as one of the major jazz piano voices to emerge in the post-John Coltrane era.^[3]

His career has been driven by his will to operate as a free agent and compulsively explore different avenues of music making. This hunger has positioned him as an important catalyst in the world of serious, mainstream acoustic jazz, and he is one of the most influential and widely studied figures in the last 40 years.^[4]

Corea continued to pursue other collaborations and to explore various musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He is also known for promoting and fundraising for a number of social issues, such as eradicating social illiteracy,^[5] and is a Scientologist.^[6]

Life and career[link]

Youth[link]

Armando Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of Sicilian and Spanish descent.^[7] His father, a jazz trumpet player who had led a Dixieland band in the Boston area in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by bebop and stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young. At eight Corea also took up drums, which would later influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument.

Corea developed his piano skills by exploring music on his own. A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo from whom Corea started taking lessons at age eight and who introduced him to classical music, helping spark his interest in musical composition. He also spent several years as a performer and soloist for the Knights of St. Rose, a drum and bugle corps based in Chelsea.

Given a black tuxedo by his father, he started doing gigs when in high school. He enjoyed listening to Herb Pomeroy's band at the time, and had a trio which would play Horace Silver's music at a local jazz club.

He eventually decided to move to New York where he studied musical education for one month at Columbia University and six months at The Juilliard School. He quit after finding both disappointing, but liked the atmosphere of New York where the musical scene became the starting point for his professional career.

Early career[link]

Corea's first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway. Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell's quintet on The Thing To Do. This album features his composition "Chick's Tune", a clever retooling of "You Stepped Out of a Dream" that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea's personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young Al Foster.)

His first album as a leader was Tones for Joan's Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with Roy Haynes on drums and Miroslav Vitouš on bass.^[2]

He made another sideman appearance with Stan Getz on 1967's Sweet Rain (Verve Records).^[2]

Avant garde period[link]

Chick Corea, 2007

From 1968 to 1971 Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of Miles Davis, his recordings with Circle, and his playing on Joe Farrell's Song of the Wind album on CTI Records.

In September 1968 Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in the piano chair in Davis' band and appeared on landmark albums such as Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew. In concert, Davis' rhythm section of Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette combined elements of free jazz improvisation and rock music.^{[citation needed]} Corea experimented using electric instruments with the Davis band, mainly the Fender Rhodes electric piano.

In live performance he frequently processed the output of his electric piano with a device called a ring modulator, producing sounds reminiscent of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Using this style, he appeared on multiple Davis albums, including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His live performances with the Miles Davis band continued into 1970, with a great touring band of Steven Grossman, tenor sax, Keith Jarrett, additional electric piano and organ, Jack DeJohnette, drums, Dave Holland, bass, Airto Moreira, percussion, and Miles on trumpet.^[2]

Holland and Corea left to form their own group, Circle, active in 1970 and 1971. This free jazz group featured multi-reed player Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. This band was documented on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from soloing in an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached in the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971 or 1972 Corea struck out on his own.

The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life – in 1968, 1969 or so – was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I did not even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later.^[8]

Jazz fusion[link]

Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2008

In the early 1970s Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz elements. He founded Return to Forever in 1971. This band had a fusion sound and even though it relied on electronic instrumentation it drew more on Brazilian and Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music. On its first two records, Return to Forever featured Flora Purim's vocals, the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and Joe Farrell's flute and soprano saxophone. Airto Moreira played drums. Corea's compositions for this group often had a Brazilian tinge. In 1972 Corea played many of the early Return to Forever songs in a group he put together for Stan Getz. This group, with Stanley Clarke on bass and Tony Williams on drums, recorded the Columbia label album Captain Marvel under Getz's name.

Only Clarke remained from the group's first lineup; Bill Connors played electric guitar and Lenny White played drums. No one replaced vocalist Purim. (Briefly, in 1977, Corea's wife, Gayle Moran, served as vocalist in the band.) In 1974 Al Di Meola joined the band, replacing Connors. In this second version of Return to Forever, Corea extended the use of synthesizers, particularly Moogs. The group released its final studio record in 1977 named "Romantic Warrior". Thereafter, Corea focused on solo projects.^[2]

Corea's composition "Spain" first appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album Light as a Feather. This is probably his most popular piece, and it has been recorded by a variety of artists. There are also a variety of subsequent recordings by Corea himself in various contexts, including an arrangement for piano and symphony orchestra that appeared in 1999, and a collaborative piano and voice-as-instrument arrangement with Bobby McFerrin on the 1992 album Play. Corea usually performs "Spain" with a prelude based on Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1940), which earlier received a jazz orchestration on Miles Davis' and Gil Evans' "Sketches of Spain".

In 1976 he issued My Spanish Heart, influenced by Latin American music and featuring vocalist Moran and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.The record was somewhat misunderstood at the time but it is considered nowadays as a true example of Corea's ability to write fussion material. The album combined jazz, flamenco, supported by plenty of mini- moog backup and a powerful horn section.

The late Ana Mazzotti, a Brazilian jazz pianist and vocalist, dedicated what is perhaps her last ever recorded track, "Grand Chick", to Corea. The song may be found on her "Ao Vivo Guaruja 1982" album. As Ana Mazzotti worked with Brazilian jazz fusion masters Azymuth in her first album, it was further testament to Corea's influence in the genre.

Duet projects[link]

In the 1970s Corea started working occasionally with vibraphonist Gary Burton, with whom he recorded several duet albums on ECM, including 1972's Crystal Silence. They reunited in 2006 for a concert tour. A new record called The New Crystal Silence (which has received 3 nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards) was issued shortly into 2008. The package includes a disc of duets and another disc featuring the Sydney Symphony.

Later, toward the end of the 1970s, Corea embarked on a series of concerts and two albums with Herbie Hancock. These concerts were presented in elegant settings with both pianists formally dressed, and performing on Yamaha concert grand pianos. The two jazz greats traded playing each other's compositions, as well as pieces by other composers such as Béla Bartók.

In December 2007 Corea recorded a duet album, The Enchantment, with banjoist Bela Fleck.^[9] Fleck and Corea toured extensively behind the album in 2007. Fleck was nominated in the Best Instrumental Composition category at the 49th Grammy Awards for the track "Spectacle."^[10]

In 2008 Corea collaborated with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara on the live album Duet (Chick Corea and Hiromi). The duo played a concert at Tokyo's Budokan arena on April 30.^[11]

Later work[link]

Corea performs with Béla Fleck, March 1, 2008

Corea's other bands include the Elektric Band, the Akoustic Band, and Origin.

The Akoustic Band released a self-titled album in 1989, and featured John Patitucci on bass and Dave Weckl on drums. It marked a turn back toward traditional jazz in Corea's career, and the bulk of his subsequent recordings have been acoustic ones. The Akoustic Band also provided the music for the 1986 Pixar short Luxo Jr. with their song The Game Maker.

In 1992 Corea started his own label, Stretch Records.^[2]

In 2001 the Chick Corea New Trio, with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard on bass and drums, respectively, released the album Past, Present & Futures. The 11-song album includes only one standard composition (Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"). The rest of the tunes are Corea originals.

He also participated in 1998's Like Minds, which features Gary Burton on vibes, Pat Metheny on guitar, Dave Holland on bass and Roy Haynes on drums.

Recent years have also seen Corea's rising interest in contemporary classical music. He composed his first piano concerto – and an adaptation of his signature piece, Spain, for a full symphony orchestra – and performed it in 1999 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Five years later he composed his first work not to feature any keyboards: His String Quartet No. 1 was specifically written for the Orion String Quartet and performed by them on 2004's Summerfest.

Corea has continued releasing jazz fusion concept albums such as To the Stars (2004) and Ultimate Adventure (2006). The latter album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.

In 2008 the second version of Return to Forever (Corea, keyboards; Stanley Clarke, bass; Lenny White, drums; Al Di Meola, guitar) reunited for a worldwide tour. The reunion received positive reviews from most jazz and mainstream publications.^[12] Most of the group's studio recordings were re-released on the compilation Return to Forever: The Anthology to coincide with the tour. A concert DVD recorded during their performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was released in May 2009. He is recently working on a collaboration CD with the Grammy Award winning jazz vocal group The Manhattan Transfer, due to be released in August 2009.

A new group, the 5 Peace Band, which features Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin, began a world tour in October 2008. Corea had previously worked with McLaughlin in Miles Davis' late 1960s bands, including the group that recorded Davis' album Bitches Brew. Joining Corea and McLaughlin in the 5 Peace Band are saxophonist Kenny Garrett and bassist Christian McBride. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta played with the band in Europe and on select North American dates; Brian Blade played all dates in Asia and Australia, and most dates in North America.

Scientology[link]

Corea says that Scientology has helped deepen his relationships with others, and helped him find a renewed path.^[3] Under the "special thanks" notes, found in all of his later albums, Corea mentions that L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, has been a continual source of inspiration. In 1968 Corea discovered Dianetics, Hubbard's principal work, and in the early 1970s developed an interest in Hubbard's science fiction novels. The two exchanged letters until Hubbard's death in 1986, and Corea had three guest appearances on Hubbard's 1982 album Space Jazz: The Soundtrack of the Book Battlefield Earth, noting, "[Hubbard] was a great composer and keyboard player as well. He did many, many things. He was a true Renaissance Man."^[6]

Corea said that Scientology became a profound influence on his musical direction in the early 1970s:

I no longer wanted to satisfy myself. I really want to connect with the world and make my music mean something to people.^[13]

Due to Corea's religious affiliation, he was banned from performing in a concert to be held in Stuttgart, Germany, on August 15, 1993.^[14] Members of the U.S. Congress sent letters to the German government concerning a violation of basic human rights that are upheld by the German Constitution. The ban was not upheld, and in later years Corea performed in festivals in Germany, including several times at the government-supported International Jazz Festival in Burghausen where he was awarded a plaque in Burghausen's "Street of Fame" in 2011.^[15]

In 1998, Corea and fellow entertainers Anne Archer, Isaac Hayes, and Haywood Nelson attended the 30th anniversary of Freedom Magazine, the Church of Scientology's investigative news journal, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to honor 11 human rights activists.^[16]

Discography[link]

Awards[link]

Over the years, he has been nominated for 51 Grammy Awards out of which he has won 18:

Corea has also won two Latin Grammy Awards.

His 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 2010, he was named doctor honoris causa at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).^[17]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Jazz portal
	Scientology portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chick Corea

• Analog synthesizer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Official discography
• Jazzreview.com biography
• Verve Records Archived October 13, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• An Interview with Chick Corea by Bob Rosenbaum, July 1974 (PDF file) "You put these notes together and you come out with that sound, and isn't it beautiful. So what? What does it do to another person? What does it do to your neighborhood?"
• Chick Corea talks to Michael J Stewart about his Piano Concerto