What Are the Different Types of Keyboard Percussion?

A few years ago, our city gave the playground in the park a major makeover. Volunteers helped build swing sets, slides, and mazes, and someone even donated marimbas and xylophones made of synthetic materials.

Wooden instruments would have warped in the weather, but the synthetic ones resist damage. We have two marimbas and two xylophones in the playground. The mallets are attached by wires to the sides of the instruments so that no one walks off with them.

All of the instruments have resonators, and you can hear them throughout the whole park. I love to hear someone who can actually play a melody using them, but it gets kind of annoying when a kid bangs the same two keys over and over. When used correctly, the instruments can be very soothing.

I have always loved the sound of the marimba. It is so reggae, and I envision an island paradise when I hear it. I got the chance to play a real one once.

The keys were made of wood, and they were arranged like piano keys. The accidentals were on the top row, and they overlapped the other keys. It can produce a much broader range of tones than the xylophone.

My keyboard that can produce over one hundred sounds has a marimba setting on it, and I use it when composing beach songs. I don’t own an actual marimba, but the sound is very close to the real thing.

I got a xylophone for Christmas one year after incessant begging on my part. I absolutely love the sound of it. It reminds me of doorbells.

My first xylophone mallet was made of hard rubber. This let me achieve a louder sound. My mother started getting headaches, so she bought me a yarn mallet that would produce softer sounds while I learned how to play it.

I discovered that I could produce lighter tones by using a rosewood mallet. The keys themselves were made of rosewood, so that helped tone things down.

When I was alone, I always played with the rubber mallet. I loved getting the maximum sound out of my instrument.

Even when I was young, I was interested in percussion instruments. My mother told me the best thing I could do was become good at playing the piano. This would help me learn how to read music and become familiar with a keyboard.

Today I know how to play several different percussion instruments, and I must say that she was right. If you didn't know how to read music or know how to count the notes and rests, it would be much harder to be good at playing any kind of percussion instrument.

Now I can switch between playing a piano or keyboard instrument without any problems at all.

My father plays the marimba in a local orchestra. He can play a lot of different percussion instruments, but for some reason, the marimba is one of his favorites.

He is very particular about the type of mallets he uses when playing the marimba and has purchased several Leigh Howard Stevens mallets over the years.

I wouldn't have any idea about what makes one mallet better than the others, but he says these are the best, and that is all he will consider buying anymore.

The percussion keyboard instrument that I am most familiar with is the xylophone. I remember having a colorful xylophone as a kid, and though it was much smaller than what an authentic xylophone is, it was still a lot of fun.

Anytime I have worked with the toddlers at church there is one of these toy xylophones. Even though they are colorful, it doesn't seem like it holds their attention for very long. Maybe there aren't enough sound effects and flashing lights to keep them very interested.

When a toy xylophone is played gently and follows a familiar tune, you can see how they could add the right touch to an orchestra.