Xylorimba
An extended xylophone with a large range.
What it means
The xylorimba is a bar instrument with wooden bars that unites the range of the xylophone and the marimba in a single instrument. It reaches further down than the xylophone and further up than the usual marimba, so that a continuous tonal space of several octaves is available. Construction and manner of playing correspond to the related instruments: sounding bars in two rows, resonators beneath them, struck with mallets. The sound is dry and woody, fuller in the low register and ringing somewhat longer than with the xylophone.
Musical use
The instrument is called for above all in twentieth-century orchestral works, in which composers need a large tonal space in a uniform wooden colour, without the player having to switch between two instruments. The musical gain lies in its unity: runs over several octaves keep the same timbre. Because the instruments are rare, the part is in practice often distributed between xylophone and marimba, which changes the sound and playability; when planning rehearsals it should therefore be clarified early which instruments are actually available.
Performance practice
Because of the large range, the distances are wide; plan mallet movement and standing position so that leaps over several octaves succeed reliably, and practise them without looking. The choice of mallets must suit the register: what sounds brilliant in the high register produces only attack noise in the low one — many players therefore use different hardnesses in the two hands. Keep the mallets loose and let them spring back. A sustained sound arises only through an even tremolo. Protect the wooden bars from moisture, check the suspension before use, and watch for the bars resting freely and for firm resonators, because otherwise individual notes sound dull. Also check early the range of the available instrument against the score, since many venues do not own the instrument and must distribute the part in substitute scoring.