South-east Asia and the Pacific.

(i) Insular South-east Asia.

Of the many different types of xylophones found in this area, the instrument with keys resting on cloth or rattan strips at the edges of a wooden trough (trough xylophone with bedded keys) is commonly associated with Gamelan and other ensembles in various parts of Indonesia. Xylophones with suspended keys or tubes are found in the greatest variety. A few examples of a type with keys suspended over individual resonators are found in Bali (e.g. in gamelan gandrung), but that island’s most ancient ensembles (caruk, gambang and luang) have a trough-resonated xylophone with suspended keys. A common term for the xylophone in South-east Asia is gambang (gabbang, gambangan), but it may mean a different type of instrument depending on the ensemble in which it is used; in Sabah, Malaysia and the southern Philippines, gabbang always refers to a trough xylophone with bedded keys, played with rubber-tipped beaters which are curved on the underside and delicately carved in a bird- or kidney-shape.

(ii) Mainland South-east Asia.

Comparatively few xylophone types are found on the mainland. A two- or four-key xylophone has been reported in West Malaysia. Suspended tubes or wooden keys in a rope ladder arrangement are found in central Vietnam and north-east Thailand. Among the Jörai, Bahnar and Rhade people in Vietnam, the torung consists of 14 to 20 tubes suspended between the two players, one of whom holds an end of the cord; the other end is tied to the second player’s leg. In Thailand, the kaw law or bong lang with 12 wooden keys is played by the Lao people in Kalasin province. The upper end of the instrument is tied to a tree and the lower end to the player’s leg. These instruments resemble the calung renteng of West Java.

Groups of ten players, each with a xylophone with one key suspended over a coconut resonator (kertuk kelapa), compete with similar groups in West Malaysia; two such instruments may also accompany the harvest dance. The trough-resonated xylophone, Gambang, with bedded keys is found only in the Malaysian court gamelan of Trengganu, where it accompanies the joget dance. The xylophone with keys suspended over a trough resonator is important in instrumental ensembles in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, and is also used for chamber music in Myanmar. The ranāt ēk (see Ranāt) is featured in the Thai pī phāt and mahōrī ensembles. It has 21 keys suspended over a curved resonator and resting on a pedestal. In some types of pī phāt a larger xylophone (ranāt thum) is added (fig.9); 16 keys are suspended over a rectangular shaped resonator, with sloping sides and a curved upper surface. The same type of xylophone may have been used in an ensemble that accompanied the ashek dance at the 16th- and 17th-century Malay court of Patani, and later at the Kelantan court (see Malaysia, §I, 1(iv)).

In Myanmar, the pat-talà with 20 to 25 (usually 24) keys suspended over a curved resonator and resting on a pedestal is played with the end-blown flute (palwei), or in chamber music as vocal accompaniment; it is taught by hsaìng-waìng musicians as a beginner’s instrument. It was also played at the Chinese court during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911); a description (in the Da Qing huidian, 1899) of the smaller of two Burmese ensembles that played for banquets includes the 22-key ‘pat-talà’, as well as harp, the mí-gyaùng zither, a three-string bowed lute, the palwei flute, a drum and a pair of cymbals.

(iii) Pacific.

The leg xylophone is found in scattered areas in west Melanesia, and is used primarily for courtship; in some areas, women are not allowed to see it. The instrument has been found on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, on New Ireland, the Duke of York Islands and Tami Island, and in Morobe Province of eastern Papua New Guinea. Usually two wooden keys (convex on the upper side, flat on the under side) are laid over the player’s thighs and are struck with two sticks. The player may sit with his legs over a pit or over a mound of earth; alternatively, the keys may rest on banana trees or wooden branches. Names for the instrument include tinbuk, timbuk, timbul, tinbut, timboik, tutupele, or lau lau. The two-note instrument is used for playing signal patterns. On New Ireland and the Duke of York Islands, the xylophone is played for dancing; only on Tami Island have women been known to play the xylophone. Its sound draws the attention of males undergoing initiation to the women’s presence, and thus keeps them apart.

Xylophone

Latin America.

The xylophone in Latin America, known as the ‘marimba’, is found in Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil; in Suriname (as gambang) it is used in gamelan ensembles by musicians of Javanese descent. In Brazil, however, it has lost its former importance as a solo instrument, and is now used only to accompany such dramatic dances as the congada. The two types of marimba still in use are portable and have six and eleven keys respectively, struck with wooden sticks.

In Guatemala, the marimba is the most popular folk instrument, and has come to be a symbol of the independence of the Guatemalan Republic (see Guatemala, §II, 1). It is believed to be of African origin, introduced during the early colonial period by African slaves. This argument, which is not undisputed, rests mainly on the similarity of the marimba de tecomates (the original form of the Guatemalan instrument) to African xylophones, the African derivation of the word ‘marimba’ and the lack of archaeological evidence for the existence of marimbas in pre-Columbian America.

The earliest account of the marimba in Guatemala is found in the work of Domingo Juarros, a 17th-century historian, who lists it among instruments played by Amerindians in 1680. During the 18th century it became widely dispersed among Amerindians, and its presence is noted at public events, both civil and religious. The growing popularity of the marimba among Ladinos in the 19th century led to the expansion of the keyboard to five and, later, six and seven octaves, allowing the addition of a fourth player to the normal practice of two or three players. During the celebration of national independence in 1821, the marimba took its place as the national instrument.

In the highlands of Chiapas in Mexico, in Guatemala, in north-west Costa Rica and south-west Nicaragua near Masay, marimbas show resemblance to African xylophones. The marimba de tecomates is a xylophone consisting of a keyboard of parallel tuned wooden bars or percussion plates suspended above a trapezoidal framework by cords which pass through threading pins and the nodal points of each key (fig.10). Beneath each key hangs a tuned calabash resonator, near the base of which a vibrating membrane of pig intestine is fixed to a ring of wax surrounding an aperture. This functions as a mirliton or sound modifier that produces a characteristic buzzing called charleo when the keys are struck. The older form of this marimba, the marimba de arco, is portable, and is carried by means of a strap attached to the ends of the frame and passing across the player’s shoulders. The keyboard is kept from touching the player’s body by an arched branch (arco) which is fixed to the framework on the plane of the keyboard. A later type has four legs and lacks the arco. The nearly diatonic keyboard contains 19 to 26 keys. A key’s pitch may be raised during performance by applying a lump of wax, sometimes mixed with bits of lead, to its underside. For this reason such marimbas are called marimba de ceras (‘of wax’). The keys are struck with mallets (baquetas) made of flexible wooden sticks with strips of raw rubber wrapped round the ends to form a ball. The tips of the mallets intended for bass keys are soft; those for treble keys are harder and smaller. From one to three players hold a mallet in each hand, or two in one hand, and one in the other, the pair of mallets held in one hand often striking different keys at the same time. Other pitches may be produced by striking the extreme ends of the keys with the wooden end of the mallet. While the marimba de tecomates is now seldom played by Guatemalan Ladino musicians, who prefer the more Westernized forms of the instrument, in Amerindian highland Guatemala the surviving repertory is different from that of the rest of Mexico and Central America, some of it distinct from European tradition. It serves in both public and ritual contexts.

During the last quarter of the 19th century, the marimba sencilla was developed, in which cajones harmonicos, wooden boxes constructed to resemble gourds, were substituted for the gourd resonators. In other particulars of construction and tuning, the marimba sencilla is identical to the marimba de tecomates. During this period, the marimba de cinchos (also called marimba de acero, marimba de hierro) with metal keys and box resonators, became popular, and was played with guitar accompaniment. Types with glass keys, and others with bamboo-tube resonators, were also developed.

The addition of chromatic keys to the diatonic keyboard was a late 19th-century development, usually attributed to Sebastian Hurtado in 1894. The name of this type, marimba doble, refers to the double row of keys for diatonic and chromatic pitches. Unlike the arrangement of a piano keyboard, in which sharp keys fall to the right of their corresponding naturals, in many Guatemalan instruments the sharps are placed directly behind the naturals.

The marimba doble is often played in pairs: the larger, the marimba grande, has a range of six and a half octaves (about 78 keys) and uses four players; the smaller, the marimba cuache (also called marimba picolo, marimba requinta, marimba tenor), has a range of five octaves (about 50 keys) and uses three players. To these two instruments are often added a three-string bass, snare or bass drums, cymbals, accordion and wind instruments such as saxophones, trumpets or clarinets. While the folkloric character of contemporary marimba doble ensembles is somewhat obscured by the influences of popular Latin American and North American styles on its instruments and repertory, highland village marimba sencilla ensembles still maintain traditional style and repertory.

The marimba in Colombia may have as many as 25 keys or as few as 21, though 24 is usual. The keys are made of various palm woods, but most frequently of chontaduro. Each key has a resonator consisting of a section of guadua bamboo. The keys are placed on the frame in a single row in groups of four, each group being separated from the other by a pasador (crosspiece) of chonta. The pasadores are part of the framework that supports the keys and resonators and also function as points of visual reference for the players. Beginning at the top of the keyboard with the smallest key and moving downwards, the groups of four keys are known alternately as tablas duras and tablas blandas (i.e. hard and soft). In a group of eight the highest dura and the lowest blanda form an octave. A keyboard of 24 keys is thus composed of three disjunct octave segments: 8765 4321, 7654 3217, 6543 2176. The seven highest keys are tuned to produce approximate neutral 3rds between keys 8, 6, 4, 2 and keys 7, 5, 3. The remaining keys are tuned in octaves with the keys above them. On the marimba itself the keys are of course arranged in reverse order from that indicated above. The highest octave segment is to the right and the lowest to the left. Each of the two players uses two sticks tipped with small balls of raw rubber; one plays the bordón (an ostinato lower part), the other the requinta or tiple (upper part).

The marimba-orquesta, an ensemble incorporating a marimba, is widespread; such groups are widely popularized in Mexican tourist centres. The instruments are frequently municipal property, and musicians may be exempt from certain other civic responsibilities by virtue of their service in these groups. The ensemble plays music from the son repertory, and makes constant use of Corrido accompaniments. The tradition is strongest in the state of Chiapas and, until recently, in the southern half of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec where it is being replaced by ensembles playing música tropical. The term marimba refers both to the instrument and collectively to the musicians of the ensemble, while the musicians individually are called marimbistas.

In the urban centres of Mexico and Guatemala, the marimba ensemble is principally an interpretative medium rather than a primary source of original music. In its repertory, the marimba is greatly influenced by popular styles but itself exerts little influence on other styles. It is a regional ensemble, but unlike others, it has an unlimited eclectic non-regional repertory, as well as a small, limited core repertory of sones exclusively typical of marimba ensembles. Marimba ensembles commonly play mainstream popular music including rock, tropical and other styles. The ensemble is flexible and may include electric guitars, electronic keyboards, etc. National popularity and prestige are won by those who are recorded commercially, most of whom are recruited in Chiapas, Mexico, where marimba ensembles develop markets through public performances. The majority of marimba ensembles are financially marginal. The marimba players wear no traditional costume, and seldom have accompanying singers, although the combination of mariachi ensemble and marimba is gaining popularity.

In Colombia and Ecuador, the marimba tradition is found exclusively among peoples of coastal African cultures.

Xylophone

BIBLIOGRAPHY

General and european

BladesI

MersenneHU

PraetoriusSM, ii

PraetoriusTI

SachsH

C. Sachs: Handbuch der Musikinstrumentenkunde (Leipzig, 1920, 2/1930/R)

C. Sachs: Geist und Werden der Musikinstrumente (Berlin, 1929/R)

G. Jacob: Orchestral Technique (London, 1931, 3/1982)

A. Schaeffner: Origine des instruments de musique (Paris, 1936/R, enlarged 3/1994)

A. Schaeffner: ‘L’orgue de barbarie de Rameau’, Mélanges d’histoire et d’esthétique musicales offerts à Paul-Marie Masson (Paris, 1955), ii, 135–52; repr. in Essais de musicologie et autres fantasies (Paris, 1980)

B. Sárosi: Die Volksmusikinstrumente Ungarns (Leipzig, 1967)

E. Richards: World of Percussion (Sherman Oaks, CA, 1972)

L. Kunz: Die Volksmusikinstrumente der Tschechoslowakei (Leipzig, 1974)

J.A. Strain: ‘Published Literature for Xylophone (c1880–c1930)’, Percussive Notes, xxxi/2 (1992), 65–98

Africa

E.M. von Hornbostel: ‘The Ethnology of African Sound-Instruments’, Africa, vi (1933), 129–57, 277–311

P.R. Kirby: The Musical Instruments of the Native Races of South Africa (London, 1934, 2/1965)

O. Boone: Les xylophones du Congo Belge (Tervuren, 1936)

S. de Ganay: ‘Le xylophone chez les Sara du Moyen Chari’, Journal de la Société des africanistes, xii (1942), 203–39, pl.8

B. Costermans: ‘Muziekinstrumenten van Watsa-Gombari’, Zaire, i (1947), 515–42, 629–63

H. Tracey: Chopi Musicians: their Music, Poetry and Instruments (London, 1948/R)

W. Fagg: ‘A Yoruba Xylophone of Unusual Type’, Man, l (1950), 145 only

F.-J. Nicolas: ‘Origine et valeur du vocabulaire designant les xylophones africains’, Zaire, xi/i (1957), 69

F.J. de Hen: Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Musikinstrumente aus Belgisch Kongo und Ruanda-Urundi (Tervuren, 1960)

D.T. Niane: Soundjata: ou l’épopée mandigue (Paris, 1960; Eng. trans., 1965/R)

L. Bouquiaux: ‘Les instruments de musique Birom (Nigeria Septentrional)’, Africa-Tervuren, viii/4 (1962), 105–11

A.M. Jones: Africa and Indonesia: the Evidence of the Xylophone and Other Musical and Cultural Factors (Leiden, 1964, enlarged 2/1971)

P.R. Kirby: ‘The Indonesian Origin of Certain African Musical Instruments’, African Studies, xxv (1966), 3

Folclore musical de Angola/Angola Folk-Music, ii: Povo Quico area do Camissombo, Lunda/Chokwe People, Camissombo Area, Lunda District (Lisbon, 1967) [incl. recordings]

L.A. Anderson: ‘A Reassessment of the Distribution, Origin, Tunings and Stylistic Criteria in African Xylophone Traditions’, African Studies Association XI: Los Angeles 1968 [unpubd paper]

L. Anderson: The Miko Modal System of Kiganda Xylophone Music (diss., UCLA, 1968)

P.R. Kirby: ‘Two Curious Resonated Xylophones from Nigeria’, African Studies, xxvii/3 (1968), 141–4

F. Bebey: Musique de l’Afrique (Paris, 1969; Eng. trans., 1975 as African Music: a People’s Art)

G. Rouget: ‘Sur les xylophones équiheptaphoniques des Malinké’, RdM, lv (1969), 47–77

H. Zemp: Musique Dan: la musique dans la pensée et la vie sociale d’une société africaine (Paris, 1971)

G. Innes: Sunjata: Three Mandinka Versions (London, 1974)

P.-C. Ngumu: Les mendzang: des chanteurs de Yaoundé: histoire, organologie, fabrication, système de transcription (Vienna, 1976)

N. McLeod: ‘Musical Instruments and History in Madagascar’,Essays for a Humanist: an Offering to Klaus Wachsmann, ed. C. Seeger and B. Wade (New York, 1977), 189–215

M. Omibiyi: ‘Nigerian Musical Instruments’, Nigeria Magazine, cxxii–cxxiii (1977), 14–34

J. Gansemans: Les instruments de musique Luba (Shaba, Zaire) (Tervuren, 1980)

J. Meel: ‘Verspreiding en verscheidenheid van de xylofoon in Afrika’, Africa-Tervuren, xxvi/3 (1980), 79

A.A. Mensah: ‘Gyil: the Dagara-Lobi Xylophone’, Journal of African Studies, ix/3 (1982), 139–54

⇐ Предыдущая123456Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: