Choosing a Marimba

[jlamb1996]

So I am looking to purchase either a Yamaha marimba or a Marimba One. Both are basically the same price so that doesn't affect my decision. I was just looking for your opinion on sound. Personally, I like the look of the Marimba One so that's a plus. The Marimba One that I was looking at was their keyboard with traditional voicing and classic resonators (cheapest 5 octave they have). I have played on a Yamaha, not so much a Marimba One. So what marimba do you prefer and why?

[doylejd]

These instruments sound completely different. If you're going to spend that much money, you really need to play them and make up your mind after that. PASIC is just around the corner and you'll be able to play not only these, but instruments from Adams, Malletech, Musser, Kori, Dynasty, and more. Please do not make a rash decision and play everything before you decide.

[hotbeats645]

marimba one's sound amazing, especially if you take care of them. the yamahas are good instruments as well, but definitely don't have as warm or resonant of a tone

[gee]

if it's just about sound, go marimba one. don't go completely crazy on the bars though, they aren't super durable. but yeah, i would make sure that you've played on both of them, because they are both great instruments.

[hotbeats645]

i mean, if you know what you're doing and play with good technique and the right mallets in the right octaves, the bars will be fine. if you wail away with balter greens on the low e, yeah, it's going to crack, no matter what instrument you're playing on

[pcs80]

As others have said, if it's for sound quality, Marimba One all the way. If you take care of it it will last for a long time, but be extra careful.

[PioCreature09]

It's a matter of personal opinion. I love the yamahas resonance but the price is way to high and shipping might become a pain when that new rare materials law kicks in. Μarimba one is Awesome I've played on a few and their easier to get

[num1drummer]

my high school had yamahas and my college has marimba ones, so i have played extensively on both.

one major thing i noticed (besides sound quality) is the distance of the keys from each other. i noticed that with yamahas that the keys tend to be farther apart than the marimba ones.

it's noticeable, but it won't really affect playing at all. i highly suggest playing on them

[gamertooth17]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

[lij2015]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

The higher end mussers are pretty fricking good marimbas.
I know I was the happiest kid in the world when I got my 600$ handmade 3.5 octave marimba for christmas this past year.

[gamertooth17]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

The higher end mussers are pretty fricking good marimbas.
I know I was the happiest kid in the world when I got my 600$ handmade 3.5 octave marimba for christmas this past year.

haha that's awesome! i've only played on a marimba once in my life because my school doesn't own one. </3 I'm pretty unsure what brand it was.

[lij2015]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

The bells we used in indoor this year were from the 40's or 50's.
Honestly the best sounding bells I've ever heard.

[gamertooth17]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

The bells we used in indoor this year were from the 40's or 50's.
Honestly the best sounding bells I've ever heard.

haha my school owns 1 set of Musser concert bells and a few bell kits. and 2 sets of marching bells. 1 Musser one that actually works. And the other is a lyre that's broke. We also own a Musser concert xylophone, Musser chimes, Yamaha concert vibes, Yamaha concert timpani.

[hotbeats645]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

The bells we used in indoor this year were from the 40's or 50's.
Honestly the best sounding bells I've ever heard.

the vintage stuff is the best. I toured the old Deagan factory and got to play on all sorts of vintage or refurbished stuff. it sounds incredible

[gamertooth17]

When was the last time a corp used Musser? I know during the 70's and probably 80's, corps used Musser and Deagan. But Deagan was bought by another company, I believe Yamaha. I don't hear of corps using Musser much though. Mostly schools use Musser, I'm guessing? My school does. I like the bells and xylophones from them.

I've also played on Deagan bells at honors band last November. Simply the most beautiful thing ever, with either hard plastic, or brass mallets.

The bells we used in indoor this year were from the 40's or 50's.
Honestly the best sounding bells I've ever heard.

the vintage stuff is the best. I toured the old Deagan factory and got to play on all sorts of vintage or refurbished stuff. it sounds incredible

haha yeah. my band director let us use his old school marching snare for a few concerts. it's b-a.

dude, i'm a big fan of old school drum corp. Piston/Rotor Bugles, Marching Timp/Mallets, military style colorguard. etc

[lij2015]

The only thing I'm against from old school is marching mallets, just I'm a pit guy at heart. And marching bells sucks, because you either have to know the music by heart not look down and the way the weight is positioned is just awkward.

[gamertooth17]

The only thing I'm against from old school is marching mallets, just I'm a pit guy at heart. And marching bells sucks, because you either have to know the music by heart not look down and the way the weight is positioned is just awkward.

Ah. Pit *is* the smarter way.. Lower tones, less back pain for the players, more possibilities with mallet changing (old school had mallets between bars. i used a stickbag last year), pedaling (unless you have a hand-activated damper), etc.

But even with all those advantages, there's not much mallet percussion-wise that I like more than an old school mallet and timp line. They might not sound the best, but there's just something about it that really gets to me


Last year I marched bells. Haha I memorized all the show music by the first percussion practice, sometime in July. We had 4 songs, and for one i played cowbell and shaker (attached to the bells). For one song (Circle of Life), I played mostly chords.

I was able to see in front of me, and the bars at the same time. And the height wasn't an issue for 4 mallet playing. It was like..a perfect height.

With timp, it'd be awkward with it so high (they usually were carried high). But I think it'd be fun to be on a cranking 4 or 5-man timpani line. I always the timpani parts. While some were playing, others were retuning. It'd be hard to play some of those parts on timpani without having 3 legs to tune with! XD sorry, i'm rambling. haha i read and watch a bunch of old school stuff. i'm a nerd about it.

[teh_Guardian]

That's a pretty limited spectrum of sounds, right there. Have you checked out any other companies?

I have a korogi, personally.

[najwinters]

Marimba One is by far superior in tone quality and aesthetics.
Yamaha is much more durable and has more overall support.

[hurt-a]

Marimba One is by far superior in tone quality and aesthetics.
Yamaha is much more durable and has more overall support.

Nice