Hello fellow marimbists, I created a new YouTube channel for posting marimba videos. Two clips are up there now. We'll be posting some more clips soon. I'm planning on shooting some more solo marimba clips as well as some clips that feature the marimba along with drums (Mark Walker) and congas/percussion (Ernesto Diaz). Subscribers to the channel will be notified of newly uploaded clips. Hope you enjoy the clips. Best, Ed

 

Here's a clip of me playing solo marimba on Jobim's O Grande Amor. I'm a huge fan of Jobim and Brazilian music. Jobim bossas sound great on marimba. I've been trying to incorporate more deadstrokes and dampening on the marimba. The marimba is such a beautiful instrument and has so much potential in terms of depth of sound. The dead strokes and dampening can be effective in terms of playing with more nuance, increasing clarity of parts and expanding the range of articulation. The technique that I'm using in this clip is basically playing consecutive 8th notes that are divided between the melody and various accompaniment techniques such as left hand double stops, counterpuntal lines under the melody, chord arpeggiation, etc. The key is to make it flow and try to distribute the 8th notes between all of the four mallets. In addition, try to be careful with the layering of the dynamics and bring out the melody versus the accompaniment. Playing the various parts with nuance via the use of dampening techniques and deadstrokes is also important. I worked on this 8th note consecutive technique on other Jobim bossas such at Chega De Saudade when I studied with Gary Burton as a student at Berklee