Re: Vibraphone/xylophone/marimba in Klezmer music

[allen watsky <awatsky...>]

 My belated reply, using the "dumb guy" approach. I think they may have been
used for the simple reason that they were in the studio at the time the
recording was made. There are quite a few stories about drummers being asked
to try the xylophone or vibes at a session out of simple curiosity. It was
common for any recording studio you went into to have an organ, set of vibes
a trap set and even a celesta, up till the seventies. In the 20s mallet
percussion was high tech. I would suppose that any big city studio would
have had one set up and ready to go.  Still, that's no reason to encourage
the use of these instruments in the present. :')  If it were possible it
would be interesting to see if the folks playing the mallet instruments on
the recordings were former tsimblists, if they were, your hypothesis might
be correct.AW
----- Original Message -----
From: <mashke (at) comcast(dot)net>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 11:47 AM
Subject: Vibraphone/xylophone/marimba in Klezmer music


> I've noticed that, especially when I listen to vintage Klezmer recordings,
that there is a malleted instrument that is a Vibraphone/xylophone/marimba,
probably a marimba.
>
> I don't recall a discussion of the use of the marimba in Klezmer band
around the turn of the last century. The sound makes it seems like it is an
attempt to recreate the sound of the tsimbl with contemporary instruments.
>
> Thoughts on this hypothesis?
>
> Dick Rosenberg
>
>
>


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