Vibraphone

From DIMA

vibrafono (It.) vibraphone (Fr.) vibraphon (Germ.)

The vibraphone is one of the newest and at the same time one of the most important idiophonic percussion instruments with a definite pitch. It was invented by the American Winterhoff in 1924. The keyboard is composed, as with the xylophone or the marimba, of 37 steel bars of different lengths, chromatically pitched. The width and height of the bars is the same, w=4.5 cm, h=1.2 cm. The bars are disposed on two rows, resembling the piano keyboard, but on the same level. Under each bar is placed an Alumnium resonator tube of different lengths and widths, according to the respective bars. The tubes are endowed with a ventilation system which is connected to an electric engine. The continuous movement of the lamels in the interior prolongues the duration of the sounds, producing an especially ample vibrato which constitutes the specific feature of this instrument, with its own colourful sonority.