The Vibraphone, also referred to as the "Vibes" or “Vibraharp”,
is an American instrument and is a hybrid of the European and South American Xylophome
Marimba, Indonesian Gender/Ganset (Gamelan) and African Balophone. Both the Vibraphone
and Gamelan have different sized tuned metal bars where as the Marimba, Xylophone
and Balophone have different sized tuned wooden bars. All of these instruments
have tuned tubular resonators which are placed directly below each bar to increase
vibration/tone, and are made out of metal, wood, bamboo or gourd.
Below each bar on the Vibraphone there is a tuned tubular metal resonator
with an electrically driven rotating propeller inside of it. While the propeller
gyrates very closely to the vibrating bar, a slight fluctuation of pitch occurs,
producing a warm soothing vibrato. The pulse or speed of the vibrato can be increased
or decreased by adjusting the speed of the electric motor. The Vibraphone uses
a foot pedal for suspending notes, similar to the suspension pedal on a piano,
and is usually played by striking the bars with two or four mallets made out of
rubber, felt or yarn.
The actual Vibraphone displayed in this picture belonged to the reknowned
pioneer percussionist/drummer and innovator of the instrument, Lionel Hampton
(1908-2002). Lionel Hampton played his “Vibraharp” at a recording
session for a colleague, Jazz king Louis Armstrong, in October of 1930, and the
rest is history in the making. Soon, Benny Goodman caught wind of Lionel’s
sound, and the first integrated performance of Jazz was received with unanimous
praise by the American public in New York city on Nov. 21, 1936 in the Manhattan
Room of the Pennsylvania Hotel. Revered grandfathers of Jazz, Louis Armstrong
and Lionel Hampton, both touched the world with their innovative creations and
sounds. Lionel Hampton was to music as Jackie Robinson was to baseball and
Martin Luther King was to equal rights. He is also historically
considered to be the first pioneer in our nation to successfully
bring different cultures together peacefully by using music and dance
as the prime catalysts to bridge the gap between the social classes/
races.
The WORLD BEATS video features live,
costumed performances of ancient, ethnic, percussive traditions. Aaron Plunkett
puts it all together in this fascinating 33 minute program. SEE
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