Xylophone
A percussion instrument with wooden bars.
What it means
The xylophone is a bar instrument with sounding bars of wood, arranged like a keyboard in two rows and struck with mallets. Resonators, mostly metal tubes, hang beneath the bars and amplify the sound. The tone is dry, hard, and short — unlike the glockenspiel with its metal plates and long ring. It is notated in the treble clef, sounding an octave higher than written. The marimba is related but lower, softer, and with a longer ring.
Musical use
Because of its sharp attack, the xylophone is especially suited to fast, rhythmically pointed figures that assert themselves even in a dense texture. It appears in the orchestra from the nineteenth century onward and is used for skeletal, dance-like, or grotesque effects; at the same time it doubles melodies and gives them contour. In wind-band and light music it has a tradition of its own as a virtuosic solo instrument. Instruments with wooden bars are widespread in many musical cultures, but there differ considerably in tuning, construction, and manner of playing from the orchestral instrument.
Performance practice
Strike the bar in the middle, because the sound is fullest there; over the suspension points it sounds dull. The choice of mallet decides hardness and the proportion of attack noise — hard heads give brilliance, soft ones take away the instrument's clarity. Keep the mallets loose and let them spring back. Because the tone is short, a sustained sound arises only through tremolo; practise it evenly. Set the height of the frame so that the forearms stay relaxed, and protect the wooden bars from moisture and impact.
Bear in mind that the sounding octave register can lead to confusion in ensemble playing: what looks like a doubling of the flute actually lies an octave higher. Check this before the rehearsal. For fast passages it is worth fixing the mallet path and practising the routes, because the bars are narrow and leaps demand accuracy. Watch for the bars resting freely and for firm resonators. Note the chosen mallets in the part, so that the decision is available for the next performance.