Marimba

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Well. I am starting this because, basically, I think marimbas were used in a truly great way by a couple of 80s acts I was - and still am - highly into. But I still have the impression it isn´t a usual instrument, at least when it comes to incorporating it as an integrated part of the act´s sound.

The ones I am still so much into are Japan and Thompson Twins, who were both using marimbas in a very great and characteristic way. I am also very much aware of Tom Waits, although I am not that fond of his way of using it. But then, are there any other acts who have been using marimba as a permanent part of their sound?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 28 October 2006 18:31 (nineteen years ago)

stereolab use it a lot, High Llamas and their ilk. Love how they use it but LOVE how Tom Waits uses it, yer crazy. There's a whole genre called marimba resident to Guatemala, consisting of a full band where the marimba player leads. You may or may not like that, it's pleasant but tends to get a bit too placid and samey over time(I'm force-fed marimba when we stay with my mother-in-law down there).

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Saturday, 28 October 2006 18:47 (nineteen years ago)

Captain Beefheart - at least while Art "Ed Marimba" Tripp III was a member of The Magic Band

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Saturday, 28 October 2006 21:01 (nineteen years ago)

Steve Reich to thread!

― Craig Dunsmuir (Craig D.), Saturday, 28 October 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

Sigur Rós used a stone marimba (54 stone slabs) during a couple of gigs:

http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/images/odin/marimba-03.jpg

― StanM (StanM), Sunday, 29 October 2006 03:36 (nineteen years ago)

I'm using marimba on my album. And vibes, and glock, and tubular bells, and crotales, and timpani. Suckas!

― Steve Go1dberg (Steve Schneeberg), Sunday, 29 October 2006 04:45 (nineteen years ago)

Is Tchad Blake mixing

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Sunday, 29 October 2006 04:48 (nineteen years ago)

Robert Palmer's single "Clues" has a bitching marimba solo. At least I think it's a marimba.

― scriblerus (mike lynch), Monday, 30 October 2006 07:55 (nineteen years ago)

I've just been listening to a Haircut 100's Pelican West, and the marimba riffs in a couple of songs are one of the most delightful things about it. Peter Gabriel's third album (melting face) is another record that always comes to mind when I think of good uses of marimba in popular music.

I want to hear Steve G's album just based on the instrumentation!

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Monday, 30 October 2006 08:11 (nineteen years ago)

Played in unison with a flute I reckon it sounds fantastic.

― Jez (Jez), Monday, 30 October 2006 08:31 (nineteen years ago)

The Brazilian band Uakti have basically built their act around custom-made marimbas and flutes (though they use a lot of weird self-made instruments besides that), and it's a pretty unique sound.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 30 October 2006 10:47 (nineteen years ago)

Ruth Underwood to thread! Some great marimba playing on Roxy-era Frank Zappa albums.

― avery keen-gardner (avery keen-gardner), Monday, 30 October 2006 12:49 (nineteen years ago)

Geza X used marimbas to great effect on a couple of his songs.

― Roger Aristotle (roger_aristotle), Monday, 30 October 2006 18:30 (nineteen years ago)

I am curious about this Smithsonian Folkways cd

iARRIBA SUENA MARIMBA! CURRULAO MARIMBA MUSIC FROM COLOMBIA
BY GRUPO NAIDY

"The marimba is a vivid legacy of African presence in Latin America, but only on the Pacific coast of southern Colombia and northern Ecaudor does it keep its close connections to a strongly African culture. Hailing from small towns along the river-ridden Colombian coast, the seasoned women singers of Grupo Naidy raise their voices to the accompaniment of marimba and drums, performing their unique styles of music known collectively as currulao." 36-page booklet, bi-lingual notes, photos, 54 minutes.

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 30 October 2006 18:33 (nineteen years ago)

its excellent

― bb (bbrz), Monday, 30 October 2006 19:31 (nineteen years ago)

Bobby Hutcherson's Rosewood album; the title refers to one type of wood used to manufacture the keys of the instrument. Also McCoy Tyner's Sama Layuca, again with Hutcherson on marimaba. Also related: Pharoah Sanders trio of albums Deaf, Dumb & Blind, Thembi and Black Unity where the balaphone (alternate spellings abound). The balaphone is a similar wood-keyed percussive instrument and eMusic has recently added a fair amount of music by the Guinean master El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate.

I know, I know, this isn't the pop music link y'all are looking for and I'm not offering this as contrarian or "mine is better" but rather as a source of other musics you may find you enjoy if you like the sound of the marimba or the balaphone without having to resort to Julius Wechter's Baja Marimba Band.

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Monday, 30 October 2006 19:38 (nineteen years ago)

Boy, I butchered that post. But you get the point.

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Monday, 30 October 2006 19:39 (nineteen years ago)

Sun Ra was fond of the bass marimba for a time.

It's easy to confuse a marimba with a kalimba, bettr known as a thumb piano. (Or, at least it's easy for ME to confuse 'em.)

― M. Agony Von Bontee (M. Agony Von Bontee), Monday, 30 October 2006 19:40 (nineteen years ago)

Kalimba also known as m'bira. Kithara became both zither and guitar, possibly also koto. Marry those strings with the idea of percussive striking of the keys of a xylophone/marimba/vibraharp/balafon and you might come up with a piano.

The blues had a baby and they called it rock&roll.

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Monday, 30 October 2006 19:56 (nineteen years ago)

"The blues had a baby and they called it rock&roll."

It'll never last 'though, I'm tellin' ya.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 30 October 2006 19:59 (nineteen years ago)

I saw the below described group, Marimba Linda Xelaju, at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest. Was not wowed by the music, but the marimba sure looked nice.

http://www.marimbaxelaju.com/xelaju/bio1ingles.htm

"Robert C. Giron had a dream of bringing the unique rhythms of the Marimba to people everywhere. In 1995, his dream was realized when he put into actions his plans to create a marimba from Quetzaltengo.
Nojobel Salazar, one of the most known and respected marimba manufacturers in the industry, crafted the unique instrument. Building the marimba was no easy task. He began by selecting the finest and rarest types of wood, Cohova and Palo de hormigo. These types of wood are only found in Guatemala. Salazar began the project in 1995 and brought it to completion a year later.

The instrument was shipped to the United States upon completion. Since its arrival in America, Marimba Linda Xelaju has kept Guatemala's culture alive for people of all ages and all cultural backgrounds."

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 30 October 2006 21:13 (nineteen years ago)

ahem

http://www.musicobsession.com/Pictures/e/c/echo16940.jpg

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 30 October 2006 21:16 (nineteen years ago)

(that stone marimba looks fucking sweet btw)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 30 October 2006 21:18 (nineteen years ago)

liquid liquid

― mikko (mikko), Monday, 30 October 2006 21:51 (nineteen years ago)

also some chat here:

Dreamy vibraphone and/or marimba music

i like coil's use of marimba.

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 02:25 (nineteen years ago)

Did the P. Furs use a marimba of some kind or was it just keyboards on "Love My Way"?

― Hideous Lump (Hideous Lump), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 04:04 (nineteen years ago)

Cure's "Close to Me" but I can't be sure that's not vibes. Sounds marimbesque.

Doesn't "Soul Mining" also have marimba?

Tasty bit of vibes on Coldcut-Let Us Play. On "Atomic Moog 2000"?

― J Arthur Rank (Quin Tillian), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 15:12 (nineteen years ago)

"Close To Me" is a synth

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 31 October 2006 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

Chick Corea played it on a relatively recent album, I think it was called Change. I used to be pretty fond of it actually.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

Echo & The Bunnymen, of course!

My favourite single of theirs, "Never Stop" has marimbas all over the place!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

seventeen years pass...

Can't beat that Marimba in "King of Pain" . Or "Hold Me Now" by Thompsonz Twins

― | (Latham Green), Friday, 1 December 2023 20:46 (two years ago)

for anyone having a bad day here is reg kehoe and his marimba queens pic.twitter.com/S69ZQCWiaE
— don hertzfeldt (@donhertzfeldt) June 28, 2023

― active spectator of ecocide and dispossession (Eric H.), Friday, 1 December 2023 20:59 (two years ago)

yay!

― | (Latham Green), Sunday, 3 December 2023 03:11 (two years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reg_Kehoe_and_his_Marimba_Queens

― StanM, Sunday, 3 December 2023 04:42 (two years ago)

wtf!? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panoram

― | (Latham Green), Monday, 4 December 2023 13:25 (two years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=soundies !

― StanM, Monday, 4 December 2023 14:14 (two years ago)

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