Vibraphone is a percussion instrument that consists of a number of aluminum bars arranged on a frame like the keys of a piano. Most vibraphones have 37 bars with a range of three octaves. A player strikes the bars with mallets. Variations in tone quality can be produced by using mallets that have heads of soft or hard yarn. A hollow metal tube called a resonator lies beneath each bar of a vibraphone. An electric motor operates a revolving valve inside each resonator. The valve creates a vibrating sound called a vibrato. The vibraphone also has a sustaining pedal that can lengthen or muffle each note. The vibraphone has a harplike sound.
The vibraphone was invented in 1921 by Hermann Winterhoff, an American executive, and engineers of a United States instrument manufacturer. The vibraphone has become an especially popular instrument in jazz.
Loading the player...Vibraphone
