Crafting Your Marimba

And here I proudly present a new video from Seattle videographer Izzy Corey documenting the building and delivery (by me!) of a 2 octave soprano "Lowrider" marimba. This is about 20 minutes long and will be of interest to young malleteers, teachers, parents - anyone who is curious about how these instruments are created.

 
Crafting Your Marimba from Tom Bourne on Vimeo.

Because the world needs MORE marimba builders, the follow-up to this video will be a longer version intended for folks planning to build their own marimba. No doubt that crafty craftsman you know can view this shorter version and get a good start, and the forthcoming longer version will be the "director's cut", narrated by me and covering all the details of marimba building start to finish. Stay tuned!

Baffling Baffles

I believe I've built over 200 of my Aussie model over the years, and as a box resonator instrument covering three and a half octaves, it took alot of experimenting with the box dimensions to get a fairly consistent presence of sound across the entire range. Finally I stumbled upon the sizings that seem to produce a good strong sound for every note. But there are many variables at play in musical instruments and I introduced a new one with a recent batch of 3 Aussies, incorporating 1/4" plywood for the sides instead of the customary 3/8". Makes for a lighter instrument to tote around a classroom, and with that thinner ply vibrating as it does, these new Aussies might just be a tad louder than the thicker-walled variety. The middle range is especially strong.

Building all three boxes with the same dimensions and materials and bar wood, you might expect them to all sound the same. Hah! Aussie #3, it turns out, has a decidedly weaker sounding Low C, something I dont like to have in an instrument where the key of C is king. So I switched out the low c bar from one model to the next. Same result, Aussie #3 is definitely weaker on that important root tone.

So I did what any dissatisfied Aussie builder can do, which is to measure out the inside dimensions at around the low G note and fashion a baffle that can be inserted to produce an entirely different vibrational profile. Low and behold, the Aussie #3 Low C comes through loud and clear now, and sounds on par with her sister instruments. Hmmm.... baffling.......

My Idea for Orff-Style Bass Bars

A couple things have always bothered me re: the traditional Orff bass bars that are commonly available. The bars are really narrow compared to the box they sit on, and each tone you buy sets at a different height. So a collection of these bass bars seems like several different random single note instruments, with the notes so far apart, both sideways and up/down-wise. Poor young malleteers!

So here are my Bourne Marimbas Bass Bars with double-wide American ash bars perched on boxes that share the same height - set them up in a row and you have .... ONE INSTRUMENT! Music teacher Bart Roderick of Yakima, WA has a full set of these now, he seems to like them.

My first generation of these bass bars left me unconvinced - I couldn't seem to dial in a consistent resonance on the boxes. But I do believe I've solved those problems, so these are available if you yearn for bass bars that are created equal, united side by side to form a more perfect bass marimba!

The Box Baritone

I haven't made one of these in several years, but they always impress me. It's got a good solid sound and rolls and stores upright like my Lowriders and Aussies. So it takes up much less space during its downtime (uptime?) than the regular Baritone, and stands lower to the ground as well. A good low end sound for the really young kids to belly up to. It's the Baritoniest!

The bars are made of ash, which I have switched to on all my baritones.

note: All good things have wheels.

Here's something for late summer enjoyment while you sit in your lawnchair with a beverage. Avalon, written by Al Jolsen, Buddy DeSilva and Vincent Rose, played by me on my Yamaha Silent guitar, with the help of garageband.

http://www.bournemarimbas.com/twangbabies/avalon%20II.mp3

New Walt Hampton Music

It was a great week at Walt Hampton's Hot Marimba division of Will Schmid's World Music Drumming sessions in Seattle, with talented teachers from around the country (and world!) learning how to introduce marimbas into their classrooms. Several of the 28 teachers in the class already have marimba groups of their own, and there was a good mix of experience and some great performing at the culminating event on Friday.

Walt unveiled selections from his newly self-published collection "Son of Hot Marimba". Here's one example:

As you can see, grown-ups have as much fun banging on marimbas as youngsters. The group also learned this chestnut - great motion in this performance:



Here's another new Walt Hampton tune: "UFO".



Stay tuned for ordering info as Maestro Hampton's book becomes available.

Bourne Marimbas Feeds the Hungry Teachers of the World (Music Drumming Workshop)

We had a great cookout tonight for 50 attendees of the World Music Drumming workshop at beautiful Carceek Park in Shoreline, Washington. Bourne Marimbas provided the burgers and brats, and received favorable reviews on Tom's Mom's Baked Beans, such that a sharing of the secret recipe, upon her permission, is in order.

Tom's Mom's Baked Beans

• In large skillet or heavy pan, over medium heat, Cook 6 slices of thick sliced bacon until crisp Drain on paper towel and cut into about 1" pieces. 
• Leave about 3 TB grease in skillet. Chop about half a large sweet onion, and cook in same skilet in drippings until tender, stirring often. Then: 
• Add 3 TB brown sugar (I use light brown), stir and cook until this mixture carmelizes slightly. 
• Add about 2 TB ketchup and 1 TB yellow mustard and the bacon pieces. I like to keep some of the bacon to put on the top about 10 minutes before I take it from oven. 
• Add 2 large (16 oz.) cans pork and beans (I use Van Kamps) and heat well. 
•  Transfer to baking dish or pan and bake 1 hour in 350 degree oven or longer if it's too runny. 
• Let stand a bit before serving. 

Rose Bourne

Tom wielding tongs

Charlene Sutton wielding a marshmellow

from the Department of Bass Prettification...

Val Barton Ellett posted this shot at Facebook. Another breakthrough in Bass Decor!

The Big Picture

Here's a graphic I made many many years ago, still helpful in understanding the ranges of the instruments I offer:

The latest from Beatin' Path Publications:

Volume II from Eric Shopmeyer and Adrienne Leverette

http://woodenvoicesmarimbas.com/EShop%20Previews/index.html

Love Letter to Plywood

I use a good bit of plywood in my marimbas. Here's why:

Love Letter to Plywood. By Tom Sachs

Phil Onishi's Wired Musicians

A few years ago I built a set of instruments for music teacher Phil Onishi of Edmonds Washington. He surprised me with this gift: a wired malleteer playing a marimba styled after my Lowrider. When he's not teaching kids, Phil creates all sorts of jiggling, wirey musicians and is featured at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TotallyWiredArts?ref=pr_shop_more

totallywiredmusicians@gmail.com

Solsbury Hill

A couple years ago I did a marimba arrangement for Peter Gabriel's classic Solsbury Hill. Very effective for any malleteer who can count to seven. Here is a shockwave file of the arangement, which will scroll and play as you watch notes fly by:

http://www.bournemarimbas.com/SolsburyVid.swf

...and here is the pdf. file:

http://www.bournemarimbas.com/Solsbury/solsburymarimba.pdf

Walt Hampton made some improvements on this arangement, notably a stop-time effect in the drums as everyone wails in unison on the notes lyricized: "BOOM BOOM BOOM". Now there's a good example of onomatopoeiaic arranging if ever there was one!

DIY Bari Modification

I've always been torn as to whether to install any kind of foamy or rubberized tone bar support on the baritone marimba. I've found that the usual foam support eventually gets mashed down from the weight of the bars. And the indestructible black rubber heater hose I install on my basses for bar support seems to be too unyielding for the bari bars. Option #3 is to just suspend the bars with the cord only, but I have had more than one customer complain about undue cord wearage as all the weight of the bars rests on the cord.

If your baritone has a cord-only suspension system, then here is a DIY (do-it-yerself) option that seems not to affect the sound while providing additional support for the bars. This is an easy and inexpensive fix, and worth a try if your cord gets worn down too fast.

Take a close gander at the serpentine foam strip snaking it's way around the posts and under the cord. It's 3/8" Poly Foam Calk Saver from the good folks at Frost King, hopefully available anywhere cold enough to need calk insulation. I'm not sure if tropical environs carry this stuff, but you might find something similar in a big hardware store. No glueing or other attachment seems to be necessary here, just wind it around the posts underneath the cord and it stays put, serving as a buffer for the bars, and hopefully reducing the weight and wear and tear on the cord. 

If this stuff gets mashed down after a year or so but works well otherwise, well, maybe you can consider it a cheap and normal bit of upkeep, like getting new brake pads on the car. Those bars exert A LOT of cumulative downward force on any kind of support during weeks and months of enthusiastic malleteering. The bar supports bear the brunt!

A customer asks:

"Should I buy the optional F# and Bb bars that are offered with your marimbas?"

My impression over the years is that lots of folks buy the extra bars to have them if needed or because their budget will cover that additional cast - and then never use them. The bars can take up space in a school closet for a loooong time! F#/Bb bars are handy in the Orff curriculum for the occasional songs in the keys of F or G, but the vast majority of music played on these instruments is in C or related modes with the standard bars. You can always order F# and Bb bars in the future if they are needed, so unless you foresee the specific need for those, it's OK to save the $$ and go with the standard set. If you teach the Orff curriculum, definitely get them.

What All Teachers Should Learn from Jazz-band Teachers

What All Teachers Should Learn from Jazz-band Teachers

Here is a GREAT article. Good jazz programs, as well as other performance based arts programs, are preparations for a meaningful adult life, where one must show up on time, be professional, be prepared, work with others cooperatively and creatively, be judged and most importantly be inspired by something really fun. Other than sports, what other school environments provide such preparation for a satisfying adulthood? This is why I like selling instruments to grade school marimba bands, which under the direction of a good teacher provide this very brand of good learnin'.

Customer feedback is nice to receive:

Tom,

I wanted to thank you for the instruments and working them into your

build schedule. First of all, they are beautiful! and they have a

great tone.

Secondly, the money that I received as a donation was from a woman who

is a parent at this school. She was diagnosed a year ago with stage 4

breast cancer that had matasticized.  It has since spread to her

bones, and they have just found the first signs of it in her blood.

She is 45 years old. She wanted to donate the money to the music

program to "do what ever I wanted with," because she was greatly

impacted by something she witnessed in my music program about four

years ago. Four years ago, I borrowed a complete set of your marimbas

from Carinn Ormson, a good friend of mine here in Vancouver. The

entire school took a month off of our "regular" curriculum and learned

all about the marimbas. We then performed by grade level for the

parents. She was blown away that students could make such beautiful

music. Buying these instruments with her donation seemed fitting

somehow. And, they arrived just in time. She has been given about a

month to live, and is being honored this Saturday night at the Relay

for Life dinner here in Washougal. We got many pictures with the kids,

and of their faces when they saw the instruments! (priceless!)

I want to thank you for the build, but also for creating a very

special gift for a great woman to give to these students. I should

also thank you for the gift that you allowed my students to give which

was that of great music.

Thank you again, Tom.

Bryn Scamahorn

Music Cape Horn-Skye Elementary

Back to work

Back to work and on schedule now, I was out the past two weeks doing this:

NIST

Nice logo for the New International School of Thailand Marimba Ensemble

This just in from our nation's capitol

Here's some footage from long-time teacher/customer Premila Mistry of E.L.Haynes Public Charter School in WA D.C. Watch out, the first piece may revive memories of your formative teen years!

The second piece really shows how big marimbas and traditional Orff instruments can be combined - a great jangly sound. Very impressive ensemble playing by this group, I think!

E.L Haynes Public Charter School directed by Premila Mistry