Next Marimba Building Workshop, MLK Weekend, January 17-19

Following Halloween weekend, the world has two more marimba builders! Music Ed titans David Reynolds (who crossed a continent to be here) and Dr. Randall Moore. Alum Barb Durno of Vancouver BC joined us for a refresher. Next marimba building class in Bellingham: MLK weekend in January.

Click here to contact me for more info

Mind Your Own Buzziness!

If you grope in the dark long enough, you will eventually stumble upon an interesting thing or two. 

I have made over 100 bass marimbas, I’d say, and I put buzzers on the tubes of every one. On the higher pitched instruments, I supply buzzers if the customer wants them. So you would think that I have buzzers all figured out by now, and I almost do, but I have been a sloooow learner. 

In the last few years I began to notice that drilling a hole in a tube and covering it with a piece of thin plastic, or any kind of material, does indeed create the intended buzz, but it also seems to diminish the strength of that fundamental, lowest tone that the bar produces. So for instance if you have a bass C bar, two octaves below middle C, played into a properly tuned tube you will hear a real nice boomy resonant loooow C frequency as the main sound. Now drill a hole in the tube and cover it with plastic and you introduce a host of higher frequencies that are the cool buzz sound. BUT you simultaneously diminish the low boomy resonance you heard originally. I guess that energy that you’ve used to create the buzziness has to come from SOMEWHERE. 

You can test this by playing any buzzing note, then muting the buzzer and hitting it again - if the tube is properly tuned, there’s a good chance you will hear your note blossom in it’s basement as the buzz diminishes, like turning your tone controls on an amp away from high and boosting the low.

More buzz, less rich resonance. This is not an argument for no buzz, just a note that sometimes good things come at a price. Anyone who’s fiddled with their buzzers knows that there is a wide range of possible sounds, so with buzzers, perhaps we are looking for some optimal combination of buzz and lowness and amongst all the possibilities I'm learning it may be possible to get your buzz on without all of your bottom falling out.

The Science Of It All(?)

So the other day teacher and multi-talented fellow David Reynolds Jr. brought a spectrograph iPad app to my shop and we played around with buzzers. We confirmed what I have been hearing for a long time:

picture 1

Picture 1 is an F bass bar with my standard chintzy shopping bag plastic tape over a 1 1/4” hole in the tube. The spectrograph shows us the harmonic profile of the resulting sound, with that lowest frequency (the highest mountain on the left) peaking at -32 db. and a whole bunch of higher frequencies that are the various overtones and buzzing in the -60db and -42db range. So far so good, sounds OK.

picture 2

Picture 2 is the same setup with the buzzer choked off (by my dirty fingers!). Check the profile now, with the buzzing removed. The low F frequency is boosted to -16db, and the various overtones etc. are hovering between maybe -66db and -48db.

Seems pretty clear in an amateur scientist kind of way then that introducing a buzzer on a bass tube is also diminishing the main low tone - David’s spectrograph seems to have confirmed what I’ve been hearing.

One reason I like to put some kind of adjustment on the buzzers, like those big rubber bands you see in the pictures, is so you can dial in how much of the buzzy bits you want. Back in picture 1, muting the buzzer just a tad with the bands really improved the buzziness and length of the tone - a 1 1/4” hole with such thin plastic covering dissipates the energy of the sound way too fast otherwise.

Many Variables, Many Sounds

As you might imagine, there is a whole world of buzzy variations to be heard, depending on how big the hole is, how thin or thick the material is, how taughtly you’ve taped… 

Frinstance: in this case we are working with that 1 1/4” hole as the given. What effect might other kinds of plastic have on the sound? The same hole covered with some super cheap packing tape, which is by far the easiest kind of buzzer to apply and manage and sounds great on higher pitched instruments, gave us a bass buzz that wasn’t all that strong or interesting compared to the super thin shopping bag plastic. It’s just too thick for that size hole, and with a smaller hole on a bass, it will hardly buzz at all. But now, Walt Hampton’s basses, made by John Eichmann (sp?) utilize packing tape with a great buzziness and I’d like to know exactly how big those holes are….. Of course there are different thickness of packing tape too - maybe Walt has found the world’s truly chintziest Dollar Store with the truly chintziest packing tape - again, more variables.

My Current State of the Blart

Here is my personal buzzer breakthrough to report, complete with more visual proof. Ready? Getting a really cool buzz in my basses (but not the higher pitched instruments) now involves the following simple steps, take note:

1. Travel to Portugal, Lisbon specifically.

2. Visit a Merlins hardware outlet, they are the Portuguese version of Home Depot.

3. Buy something. Make sure they put whatever you bought in one of their big plastic bags. Say "Obrigado".

4. Whatever you do with what you bought, save the bag, bring it home with you and use it for your buzzer material.

Something about that Merlins plastic… it is thicker than the usual US cheap shopping bag but seems very pliable too. Check out the profiles for my Merlin Style Portuguese Buzzers:

Picture 3

Picture 3, with the hole choked, pretty similar to the choked hole in Picture 2 as you might except. The buzzer is muted and you get the predictable stronger, isolated fundamental pitch peaking between -16db and -12db.

Picture 4

Picture 4, with uninhibited buzz. Look, we’ve only lost maybe 4 db on the fundamental, and all those buzzes and harmonics ranging between -54 and -24, are stronger across the board than the buzzing in Picture 1 produced by the thinner American shopping bag.

The visual evidence was sure apparent to our ears. I really like the liveliness of ALL the sound coming from this Portuguese plastic. Dang, I only brought one such bag with me from my recent visit there. Please do not ask me for any. But I will be on the lookout Stateside for this bag material.

Audiologists and acousticians and sound engineers may detect that I am no scientist. No doubt my terminology is poorly applied here, but hopefully you can appreciate how many variables are at work with these simple buzzers. If you and your students do some experimenting with those holes in your marimba tubes, in all ranges, you can control the variables to your sonic advantage. Bottom line for all your buzzing marimbas: Mind Your Own Buzziness!

Crafting Your Marimba, Fall 2014 edition

Crafting Your Marimba, Fall 2014 edition

The Fall edition of Crafting Your Marimba is set for the weekend of October 31 through Nov 2.

Weekend class with marimba builder Tom Bourne

Where: Bourne Marimbas in Bellingham, Washington USA

Cost: STILL only $250, plus your accommodation and food

Learn everything you need to know about building marimbas for your local school or marimba band. Since 1995, Tom Bourne has built around 1500 marimbas of all sizes for schools and invites you to his shop to share his knowledge.

We will focus on the fabrication and tuning of marimba bars, since that is the single most challenging aspect of making a marimba.

Also in the workshop we will explore the acoustics of marimba bars and resonators, along with ways of constructing and outfitting frames of all sizes. Discussions will include wood selection and various practical matters for builders, with plenty of time to address special concerns and gain experience with various woodworking tools. We can also discuss the possibilities for your marimba project, focusing on how to plan and design your instrument.

Bellingham, Washington is located just south of the Canadian border between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. It is near all kinds of great activities on the water and in the mountains. Bellingham has a modern airport with direct flights to Denver, Las Vegas and other cities in the western USA.

This class is suitable for adults and teens who can use, or are willing to learn to use, a few basic power tools and hand tools safely.  Helpful also is the ability to distinguish musicals pitches relative to one another (which of two tones is higher or lower, for instance). If you have any concerns regarding your qualifications, let me know and we can figure it out.

I can provide suggestions in procuring lodging in Bellingham, many options available.

Class limited to 6.

To sign up or for further questions, contact Tom at:

Bournemarimbas@gmail.com

Re-designed Minne M

Here's a look at my updated Minne M. First one shipped today.

The most obvious change is that the bars curve, a bit like a balafon or gyil. With a new way of suspending the bars on rubber grommets instead of metal eyebolts, the ringiness and clarity of the notes is improved. Weeellll, I can't say that scientifically for sure yet, but the first two of these I've made sound better in that regard than my "classic" Minnie Ms.

My goal was to design this instrument so that there are NO metal parts. Success! There are NO metal parts in it! The five plywood components interlock with ears that insert through slots, held together with a few pins - not unlike the Amish style tressle dining table I build for us many years ago. 

If you look close you may see a couple of the rubber grommets I am using to suspend the bars, in place of the traditional eyebolts. The new Minnie M stacks one on top of the other, and stands upright with a small footprint for storage - just like the old ones.

Like all of my instruments, the bars are removable, so you can swap out F# and Bb bars. Or order your own scale and tuning. Now if I can just figure out how to make these instruments buzz....

Builder Boards

Yesterday I visited The Foundry, a "Makerspace" in Bellingham that provides access to hi-tech resources (like 3D printers) to entrepreneurs:

http://www.bellinghamfoundry.com/

There I met Jack McKee, the maker of Builder Boards:

http://www.woodshop4kids.com/Hands_On_Books/builder.html

He was showing off his invention which is a set of interlocking boards kids use their IMAGINATIONS to make stuff out of. Yes, that's right, he wants kids to be creative! In school even! At 70 years old he seems young at heart, and before long he and one of the Foundry staff guys were on the floor, playing like tykes.

These are basically great big plywood Lincoln Logs and as a kid I would have LOVED to get my hands on these, just like I would have LOVED playing big marimbas.

I think Jack must be my professional doppelganger as we share identical phraseology regarding the kid-appeal of our respective products. I told Jack we are in the same business of building stuff for active, imaginative, collaborative and result-oriented kids.

Sweet and Dandy

Here's page one of "Sweet and Dandy" the roots reggae classic by Toots and the Maytals. This tune is a real feel-good gem.

The parts are easy enough, but I suspect the tenor and baritone parts will be a challenge to achieve a tight groove. You can hear this arrangement as rendered from my Finale file at:

https://soundcloud.com/thetwangbabies/sweet-and-dandy

... and make sure to listen to the original recording to hear how it REALLY goes!

Crafting Your Marimba, Fall 2014 edition

The Fall edition of Crafting Your Marimba is set for the weekend of October 31 through Nov 2.

Weekend class with marimba builder Tom Bourne

Where: Bourne Marimbas in Bellingham, Washington USA

Cost: STILL only $250, plus your accommodation and food

Learn everything you need to know about building marimbas for your local school or marimba band. Since 1995, Tom Bourne has built around 1500 marimbas of all sizes for schools and invites you to his shop to share his knowledge.

We will focus on the fabrication and tuning of marimba bars, since that is the single most challenging aspect of making a marimba.

Also in the workshop we will explore the acoustics of marimba bars and resonators, along with ways of constructing and outfitting frames of all sizes. Discussions will include wood selection and various practical matters for builders, with plenty of time to address special concerns and gain experience with various woodworking tools. We can also discuss the possibilities for your marimba project, focusing on how to plan and design your instrument.

Bellingham, Washington is located just south of the Canadian border between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. It is near all kinds of great activities on the water and in the mountains. Bellingham has a modern airport with direct flights to Denver, Las Vegas and other cities in the western USA.

This class is suitable for adults and teens who can use, or are willing to learn to use, a few basic power tools and hand tools safely.  Helpful also is the ability to distinguish musicals pitches relative to one another (which of two tones is higher or lower, for instance). If you have any concerns regarding your qualifications, let me know and we can figure it out.

I can provide suggestions in procuring lodging in Bellingham, many options available.

Class limited to 6.

To sign up or for further questions, contact Tom at:

Bournemarimbas@gmail.com

2 New Marimba Builders

It was a small class for the summer's 2nd session of Crafting Your Marimba, but it allowed us to achieve a set of bars and a frame for Terri from Las Vegas and Eric from Ogden. We got some help from an extra-terrestrial, as this photo proves.

More classes next summer, if not sooner. If you have interest in learning to build marimbas in a 3 day long weekend, let me know. In the meantime, off to new adventures!

3 New Marimba Builders!

Some shots from my inaugural 3-day marimba building class. The world now has 3 additional marimba builders: Ray from Walla Walla, Barbara from Maple Ridge BC and Randy from Pasco. p.s. next session for this 3 day class will be August 2-4. See the post below if you are interested, or if you know anyone who is.

Session Added - Crafting Your Marimba, with Tom Bourne in Bellingham Washington

Updating this event, I'm adding another session: August 2-4. This new time slot might be of special interest to folks attending the World Music Drumming event in Portland until August 1st. (BTW, scroll further in this blog for info and links to Will Schmid's World Music Drumming summer workshops)

Weekend class with marimba builder Tom Bourne - Two sessions to choose from: June 27-29 or August 2-4.

Where: Bourne Marimbas in Bellingham, Washington USA

Cost: $250, plus your accommodation and food

Escape the summer heat for a long weekend in Bellingham, Washington and learn everything you need to know about building marimbas for your local school or marimba band. Since 1995, Tom Bourne has built around 1500 marimbas of all sizes for schools and invites you to his shop to share his knowledge.

We will focus on the fabrication and tuning of marimba bars. As you gain hands on experience, you can expect to make and leave with a high and low bar for your planned marimba - the first step toward measuring out and building your instrument.

Also in the workshop we will explore the acoustics of marimba bars and resonators, along with ways of constructing and outfitting frames of all sizes. Discussions will include wood selection and various practical matters for builders, with plenty of time to address special concerns and gain experience with various woodworking tools. We can also discuss the possibilities for your marimba project, focusing on how to plan and design your instrument.

Bellingham, Washington is located just south of the Canadian border between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. It is near all kinds of great summer activities on the water and in the mountains. Bellingham has a modern airport with direct flights to Denver, Las Vegas and other cities in the western USA.

This class is suitable for adults and teens who can use, or are willing to learn to use, a few basic power tools and hand tools safely.  Helpful also is the ability to distinguish musicals pitches relative to one another (which of two tones is higher or lower, for instance). If you have any concerns regarding your qualifications, let me know and we can figure it out.

I can provide suggestions in procuring lodging in Bellingham, many options available.

Class limited to 10.

To sign up:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VnnaSkNUwhX_9yAI0MsVwMIqf_EFB1YHjkVwIYdLHRI/viewform

for further questions, contact Tom at:

Bournemarimbas@gmail.com

This Just In from Antigua

Great shot coming in from Gilly Rainey and her Island Academy marimba group in Antigua, performing for the locals and tourists in St. Johns. Looks like alotta fun!

Summer Class in Bellingham, Washington - Crafting Your Marimba, with Tom Bourne

Weekend class with marimba builder Tom Bourne - June 27-29

Where: Bourne Marimbas in Bellingham, Washington USA

Cost: $250, plus your accommodation and food

Escape the summer heat for a long weekend in Bellingham, Washington and learn everything you need to know about building marimbas for your local school or marimba band. Since 1995, Tom Bourne has built around 1500 marimbas of all sizes for schools and invites you to his shop to share his knowledge.

We will focus on the fabrication and tuning of marimba bars. As you gain hands on experience, you can expect to make and leave with a high and low bar for your planned marimba - the first step toward measuring out and building your instrument.

Also in the workshop we will explore the acoustics of marimba bars and resonators, along with ways of constructing and outfitting frames of all sizes. Discussions will include wood selection and various practical matters for builders, with plenty of time to address special concerns and gain experience with various woodworking tools. We can also discuss the possibilities for your marimba project, focusing on how to plan and design your instrument.

Bellingham, Washington is located just south of the Canadian border between Seattle and Vancouver B.C. It is near all kinds of great summer activities on the water and in the mountains. Bellingham has a modern airport with direct flights to Denver, Las Vegas and other cities in the western USA.

This class is suitable for adults and teens who can use, or are willing to learn to use, a few basic power tools and hand tools safely.  Helpful also is the ability to distinguish musicals pitches relative to one another (which of two tones is higher or lower, for instance). If you have any concerns regarding your qualifications, let me know and we can figure it out.

I can provide suggestions in procuring lodging in Bellingham, many options available.

Class limited to 10.

To sign up:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VnnaSkNUwhX_9yAI0MsVwMIqf_EFB1YHjkVwIYdLHRI/viewform

for further questions, contact Tom at:

Bournemarimbas@gmail.com

World Music Drumming Summer Events

Including Walt Hampton, going "Nationwide" with a week in Boston and a week in Portland.

http://www.worldmusicdrumming.com/workshop.html

Zimarimba Event at UW

Worth attending folks, and a great way to pick up some clock hours too.

http://music.washington.edu/events/2014-02-21/zimarimba-celebration

Click here for The Click Song.

Or for Under Pressure.

It was pointed out to me that some of my links on this new web site/blog are outdated. Here are a couple crucial corrections, the links to pdf files of two marimba arrangements/transcriptions I've done in the past year. The Click Song, and Under Pressure.

http://208.106.163.253/the%20click%20song.pdf

http://208.106.163.253/under%20pressure.pdf