Extra Notes on the Vibes
I got some response from the podcast i did with john piper and ed saindon about the extra notes on the vibes. It's funny because none of the 3 of us missed extra notes. i did play an instrument in Germany i think made by sonar the went up to a G and down to an E. i remember liking that instrument. i do wish the vibes went down to an E. I think that's just dumb. Someone should have thought of all the guitar music in the world. Since grew playing classical guitar when I got to college I had a whole repertoire of music that others didn't even know about. The great thing was that I had to transpose a ton of it. That was helpful.
However I always felt that just the addition of that one note would really make a difference on the instrument and sort of link us up with guitar and bass players. Here's one reply I recieved about the extra notes. I didn't think that would be the 'highlight' of the podcast but it sort of was. I wish I saved some of the other responses.
Here's a response I did save.
I finally got a chance to check out the podcast a few days after you sent this email and am just getting around to responding to you now. Thanks so much for the personal response. I am glad to hear that there are professionals who are a bit weary of 'feature creep'. I agree that the extra notes seem less useful. Also when the instruments get too large, you lose the intimacy. It seemed like the best advantage to the extra bars was to allow for more practical comping possibilities and if opening up this avenue was significant. (And of course, classical composers will continue to write outside of the range of whatever instrument exists at the time!!) I side with you guys.
What do you think??
However I always felt that just the addition of that one note would really make a difference on the instrument and sort of link us up with guitar and bass players. Here's one reply I recieved about the extra notes. I didn't think that would be the 'highlight' of the podcast but it sort of was. I wish I saved some of the other responses.
Here's a response I did save.
I finally got a chance to check out the podcast a few days after you sent this email and am just getting around to responding to you now. Thanks so much for the personal response. I am glad to hear that there are professionals who are a bit weary of 'feature creep'. I agree that the extra notes seem less useful. Also when the instruments get too large, you lose the intimacy. It seemed like the best advantage to the extra bars was to allow for more practical comping possibilities and if opening up this avenue was significant. (And of course, classical composers will continue to write outside of the range of whatever instrument exists at the time!!) I side with you guys.
What do you think??
posted by Tony at
5:17 AM
9 Comments:
Here's a analogous situation. A few years ago, I played a full gig on a Bosendorfer Imperial Grand piano which has 93 keys instead of 88, extending down from the low end of the piano, At first I thought, "How dumb is that?" until I figured out how to use it. I used the extra seven notes to double up my lowest note an octave lower than than the piano would normally sound, and it was just great!!!
So the first time I ever played a 3.5 octave vibe, that's what I did -- use it for octave doubling only, and I loved it. I didn't really find the extended range on the high end to matter much, but I found a real use for the C-E extension at the low end. It was hard to believe only five notes would make that much difference. I have no interest in buying a new vibe at this point in my life considering that vibes is a double for me anyway, but if I were starting out, I definitely would go 3.5.
By
Anonymous, at 7:27 PM
well i'd love to play one now. it's been a while and i'm curious what i'd think. i'll tell you one drag. my vibes just fit in my subaru. another few notes and i wouldn't be able to fit the instrument in the car!!!!!!!!
By
Tony, at 8:48 PM
I hear you loud and clear on that issue. A 3.5 would present a problem for me in a van since my Provibe just fits width-wise and straps down across the front seats. Otherwise, I'd have to complete dissemble and re-assemble it.
Anyway, I've been playing my old Herbie Mann records in the car, ane I can't help but think about the way a 3.5 would work on those records. In theory, I could really hear low octaves really punching up the rhythm section, but one never knows until it's actually tried on a gig.
By
Anonymous, at 7:30 AM
i've been reading your posts for a year now i think. i think it's cool how you think. i would never listen to a cd and think that. if i could get a little piece of everyones brain, maybe i'd be smart!!! have you seen the extensions that nico makes??
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Tony, at 6:28 PM
Yes, I've played Nico's 3.5 at the PASIC, but really didn't care for the sound at all. Apples and oranges, I suppose, because lots of people love the sound but it didn't make it for me. I did like the Bergerault 3.5, but if I was really serious about buying a 3.5, I'd buy a Yamaha but replace the sustain pedal Nico's long-bar pedal. Having a swivel pedal on the Yamaha 3.5 is just a dumb design.
By
Anonymous, at 4:02 PM
wow you don't like swivel pedals? why not? i never liked those 'bar' pedals, or whatever they're called.
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Tony, at 4:47 PM
I would agree that a swivel pedal is less of a problem for me on a 3 octave than a 3.5. When I'm not soloing, I like to stand directly behind a particular octave of a vibraphone and play, and when I'm not twisting my body as a result of having to stand in the center of the instrument (due to the swivel pedal), I come up with different things to play that I would not have thought of otherwise. But again, it's apples vs. oranges based on the particular player.
But I do find that the swivel pedal seems an odd choice on an extended range vibe, particularly on a 4.0 instrument where one really has to twist themselves to play the highest octave.
By
Anonymous, at 6:22 AM
I have owned a Bergerault Vp4 for some time now. It has the exact C to C 8ve range of the standard Marimba. Eventually I had the European barpedal replaced with a Musser-type 4-sided crossbar and a Yamaha swivel pedal, which is 12 inches across at the longest angle. The disassembled frame, in upright position, is about 72 inches long. For starters, the egg shaped Deschler series mallets, and the 2 green sets of heavier Samuels Malletech series seem to make it sound. The tuning is very nice and those low notes seem to serve the purpose if the player "draws" out the sound wiith sensitivity, as opposed to banging. Oh yes, the slowest speed on the newly installed motor is but one of numerous options.
I can sometimes reach either end of the vibe without swiveling, since Yamaha's pedal is wider than that of the Musser Pro (M55). I hope to eventually alternate at will between the right and left foot with reasonablle dexterity, which will make for newfound freedom, anyway I love those extra notes, the top end suggesting the sound of a glockenspiel.
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Anonymous, at 4:01 PM
One of the only places you can test out a vibraphone like that of Vanderlas, which probably has a great future, but is just getting known in the USA, would have to be at a percussion convention. Who knows what any such instrument would really sound like there, when such a venue probably isn't designed at all for musical acoustics? In this same cavernous room, every reviewing stand has a percussionist whacking away on a diversity of instruments.
The first time I came away from a PASIC convention, I was wowed by the exotic hardware, but stressed out by the noise factor, even if I, myself am a percussionist. It represents a real catch-22, since the manufacturers of specialized and space-consuming percussion instruments need adequate room to market their wares to throngs of young buyers, who probably represent a big advertising bloc, namely the school market.
Under such circumstances, if Mr. John Keene, who's a really good musician, can favor the sound of any one vibe over another, any of the available models in a concert hall, club, or a "dry" recording studio with perforated walls would probably yield different results, given the differences in resonance and texture between a Dutch, a French, and a really first class Japanese/American hybrid vibe, and all 3 of those brands he mentioned flaunt their "uniqueness" in this recently competitive market, which was once dominated by Ludwig/Musser, but now seems, thaks to the internet, to look more like a free-for-all.
Other smaller metallic instruments like glocks, crotales, cymbals, triangles, can sound similarly ambivalent in oversized rooms where their veritable "uniqueness" evaporates as it gets filtered into ambiguity.
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Anonymous, at 7:34 PM
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