The vibraphone is the odd one of the mallet family. Its bars are aluminum, not wood; it has a pedal, like a piano; and it has a motor that makes the sound pulse. It is not the only pitched percussion instrument that can be damped at will (the tubular bells also have a damper pedal), but it is the one where the pedal is part of everyday technique: here it is used not only to silence the instrument but to shape phrases.
Like the marimba, and unlike the xylophone, it sounds where it is written: it does not transpose. It is written in treble clef.
| Family | Pitched percussion (mallet instrument, metal bars) |
|---|---|
| Pitch | C (not a transposing instrument) |
| Transposition | None: it sounds as written |
| Range | F3–F6 (three octaves, 37 bars), about 175 Hz to 1397 Hz |
| Layout | Piano layout: naturals in the front row, sharps and flats in the back row |
| Clef | Treble |
The notes of the vibraphone
Three exact octaves, from F3 to F6. The bars are arranged like a piano keyboard: the natural notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) in the front row and the sharps and flats in the back row, so the black-key pattern of groups of 2 and 3 is the same as on the piano. The material is, in fact, the quickest way to tell the mallet keyboards apart: the xylophone and the marimba have wooden bars, the glockenspiel has steel bars and the vibraphone has aluminum bars. Some larger models add extra low bars.
The pedal, and what you do with it
Under the bars runs a felt-covered damper bar, pushed against them by a spring. At rest it damps everything: without the pedal, a note stops almost as soon as it starts. When you press the pedal, the bar drops and the bars are free to vibrate, which is when the long resonance of the instrument appears.
This gives techniques that do not exist in the rest of the family:
- Pedal legato. As on the piano: the pedal is changed just after striking the new note, so the previous one is damped without cutting the one that has just sounded.
- Half pedal. Leaving the damper bar lightly touching the bars gives a short, intermediate resonance, very useful in fast passages.
- Hand damping. A finger or a mallet is placed on one particular bar to silence it without using the pedal, which damps all of them.
- Dead stroke. The bar is struck and the mallet is left pressed on it: the sound is born already cut off, dry and dull.
- Bowing. Drawing a bow across the edge of a bar, with the pedal down, makes the note appear with no attack and sustain as long as you like. It is the same technique as on the crotales, and a double bass or cello bow is typically used.
The motor and the "vibrato"
Inside each resonator tube there is a disc, and all the discs turn together, driven by an electric motor. As they turn they open and close the top of the tube, and that continuous opening and closing makes the sound rise and fall in loudness: the vibraphone's "vibrato".
It helps to be exact about what happens: what oscillates is the loudness, not the pitch. Strictly speaking it is a tremolo, not a vibrato, although everybody calls it that. The speed is set with a control. Whether the motor runs is a musical decision: orchestral and concert-band parts mark when it is on or off, and in jazz players choose it (often slow) according to the style.
Mallets
Vibraphone mallets usually have a rubber core wrapped in yarn or cord. Harder mallets give a clearer attack and are often preferred for fast jazz lines; softer ones give a rounder, warmer tone.
The vibraphone is, along with the marimba, an instrument where four-mallet technique is everyday practice: holding chords with the pedal while playing the melody is half the point of the instrument.
Why aluminum
The vibraphone was born in the United States in the 1920s, and the choice of aluminum is no accident: its bars ring for a long time. That long ring is why the pedal is needed: without it, the instrument would be unplayable.
As in the rest of the family, each bar has its own tuned resonator and an arch cut into the underside that sets the pitch and tunes the first overtones.
The jazz instrument
No other mallet instrument is so identified with a style. Lionel Hampton made it a solo instrument in the 1930s, and later Milt Jackson, with the Modern Jazz Quartet, defined the language still studied today: long phrases, constant use of the pedal and a slow, very measured motor. The four-mallet Burton grip, named after Gary Burton, was designed for playing jazz chords, and some marimbists use it too.
In the orchestra and the band
In orchestral music the vibraphone is relatively recent (it enters in the 20th century) and is used for its ability to sustain: chords held under the rest of the ensemble, long notes that appear and fade without a noticeable attack, cool, floating colors that no other percussion instrument gives.
In the wind band it plays a similar role and can also provide harmonic support in soft passages, where a marimba would sound more percussive.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the motor on by default. Check the part: concert music marks whether the motor is on, and at the wrong speed it can ruin a passage.
- Writing without thinking about the pedal. Overlapping harmonies need pedal changes; if none are marked, the sounds pile up.
- Confusing it with the celesta. They can sound alike on recordings, but the celesta is a keyboard with hammers and the vibraphone is played with mallets.