How to Make Bass Clef Xylophones
The technical definition of a xylophone is an instrument that makes sound from wood. The Greek word for wood is "xylon" and the word for sound is "phone." Xylophones come in all shapes, sizes and registers. A concert xylophone as used in the Western art music tradition is a transposing instrument that produces pitches one octave higher than they are written on the page. Symphonic xylophones are usually notated using the treble clef. Some xylophones, and also the type of large xylophone known as a marimba, are notated in bass clef. The lowest note of a concert marimba is usually C2, which is notated two ledger lines below the bass clef.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Select the wood you will use to make the bars, or notes, of the xylophone. Rosewood is a common choice for concert xylophones, but padouk and other hard woods can also be used. Kelon is a synthetic material that has less projection than rosewood, and is used as a less expensive alternative for xylophone bars.
-
2
Calculate the number of bars you will need to complete a scale or mode on your xylophone. A chromatic bass xylophone with a lowest note of C2 and a highest note of C3 will have a total of 13 bars. Some xylophones use a mode or scale — such as the mixolydian mode or a major scale — that requires fewer bars per octave.
-
-
3
Measure and cut each bar from the wood. Notes low enough to be written in bass clef will be long and broad, with lower notes having a greater surface area than higher notes. LaFavre.us indicates a bar with the pitch C2 will have a width of 3 inches, a length of 22 inches and a thickness of 1 inch.
-
4
Tune each bar to the correct pitch. This is a very skilled job, and involves cutting and shaping an arch in the center of each bar's underside. Xylophone builders commonly use a tuning machine to measure the pitch of each bar against the desired pitch.
-
5
Arrange your bars in order. Early xylophones consisted of wooden bars placed on straw bundles; modern concert instruments are built on a trolley-like frame that holds the bars above resonator tubes. If you want to suspend your xylophone bars on a frame, you will need to drill holes in each bar and pass bar cord through the bars in sequence.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
