Bars

All Marimba One keyboards are made from hand selected Honduras Rosewood. Rosewood often has defects such as knots, cracks, and odd grain patterns created by its "wandering heart." We carefully evaluate every board in determining where to cut each blank, and we utilize only the sections that we feel can yield excellent bars.

We typically cut 50 to 70 blanks of a given key at a time. Then we listen to each blank to evaluate its potential for becoming a concert grade marimba bar.

We can assess potential bar quality from the inherent resonance of the blank, and also from how the blank feels in our hand as we hold it and tap on it. If a blank does not resonate well, it is unlikely it will sound good when tuned! We only use those blanks that have concert quality potential.

MAKING A BAR FROM A BLANK

First, we drill the holes through which we will suspend the keyboard. We precisely place these holes in the nodes to maximize resonance across the bar.

Next, we hand tune every bar. Each bar behaves uniquely, holding the secret of its own character, that can be unlocked only with careful listening and observation.

We use strobe tuners to allow us to quantify the bar's harmonics. However, a strobe tuner cannot judge the tonal quality and behavior of a bar. Our Master Tuners work with every bar to determine which bars qualify to become part of a Marimba One Keyboard, and to bring each of those bars to its highest potential.

MASTER TUNING

We look for sonic balance in each bar. From a player's perspective, this means a large "sweet spot" in the bar. The bigger the sweet spot, the better its structural harmonics. We have found that if we tune the bar to have a large sweet spot, the ring time of the bar increases because it is allowed to vibrate in a more relaxed way.

Tuning bars is a little like wine making. Even if a wine maker uses the highest quality grapes, this does not guarantee that they will make the best wine. In fact, it is not uncommon to make vinegar from the best grapes! The same is true for rosewood. To create excellent sound requires a marriage between high quality rosewood and tuning mastery.