Thanks. I just started to watch the movie Night Moves from 1975 and could not believe what I was hearing. Thank you for demonstrating. Back to the movie.
I remember discovering this back in high school. Seemed to work better with a brass mallet with a flexible shaft, heavy mass with little to absorb vibrations. Might even be able to get the bend ups to sound clearly.
This was extremely helpful! I’ve never done a pitch bend myself but I’ve seen it done, and I also had no idea you could do it on bowed vibraphone! I’m definitely going to have to try this in the piece I’m composing at the moment, especially since the idea for it is a phobia. Thank you!
Hi Pablo, thanks for watching! I wrote a blog post about the topic with some suggestions, you can check it out here! -> adamholmesmusic.com/blog-pitch-bending-part-1-using-a-mallet/
Hi there! I find that a plastic xylophone mallet works best. the one in the video is a Becker Blue by Malletech. The head of it is very light (which I think helps to sustain the tone during the bend) and the shaft is a very thin rattan, which makes it easier to press into the bar. If you’re writing this into a piece, though, I don’t think you’d need to specify type of mallet, or at least nothing beyond “xylophone mallet”. Hope that helps!
@@adamholmes6404 Hello, again Adam! Thank you very much for your response, I appreciate that and if it is possible, I would like to ask you one more question :) Do you think this bending technique will be effective with a superball mallet and a bow?
@@SayarEge Hi Ege, Unfortunately I don't think that would work. Superball mallets don't make much sound in general on a vibraphone bar as they need to be activating a bigger resonating body, like a large drum head, to have a decent effect. I also don't think it would be able to apply the needed pressure to alter the pitch of the bar. Hope that helps!
Well, technically the bending mallet is dampening the whole time, since it's suppressing vibrations. The bending mallet needs to move somewhat quickly between nodal points so that the sound doesn't disappear completely. It's much easier to bend while bowing since the bow will be reactivating the bar throughout the process. To avoid the mallet vibrating on the bar, it just needs to be pressed down firmly; it helps to have a mallet with a flexible rattan shaft; the mallet in this video is a malletech Becker Blue.
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Thanks. I just started to watch the movie Night Moves from 1975 and could not believe what I was hearing.
Thank you for demonstrating.
Back to the movie.
I remember discovering this back in high school. Seemed to work better with a brass mallet with a flexible shaft, heavy mass with little to absorb vibrations. Might even be able to get the bend ups to sound clearly.
Cool! Thank you for sharing!
This was extremely helpful! I’ve never done a pitch bend myself but I’ve seen it done, and I also had no idea you could do it on bowed vibraphone! I’m definitely going to have to try this in the piece I’m composing at the moment, especially since the idea for it is a phobia. Thank you!
This is excelent! thank you very much for this demo. How would you go about notating this?
Hi Pablo, thanks for watching! I wrote a blog post about the topic with some suggestions, you can check it out here! -> adamholmesmusic.com/blog-pitch-bending-part-1-using-a-mallet/
@@adamholmes6404 Thanks! i'll check it out :)
Hello Adam, thank you for this amazing video! I was wondering, what kind of mallet would be the best for this technique?
Hi there! I find that a plastic xylophone mallet works best. the one in the video is a Becker Blue by Malletech. The head of it is very light (which I think helps to sustain the tone during the bend) and the shaft is a very thin rattan, which makes it easier to press into the bar.
If you’re writing this into a piece, though, I don’t think you’d need to specify type of mallet, or at least nothing beyond “xylophone mallet”. Hope that helps!
@@adamholmes6404 Hello, again Adam! Thank you very much for your response, I appreciate that and if it is possible, I would like to ask you one more question :) Do you think this bending technique will be effective with a superball mallet and a bow?
@@SayarEge Hi Ege, Unfortunately I don't think that would work. Superball mallets don't make much sound in general on a vibraphone bar as they need to be activating a bigger resonating body, like a large drum head, to have a decent effect. I also don't think it would be able to apply the needed pressure to alter the pitch of the bar. Hope that helps!
how do you do this without the bending mallet dampening the tone or vibrating on the bar?
Well, technically the bending mallet is dampening the whole time, since it's suppressing vibrations. The bending mallet needs to move somewhat quickly between nodal points so that the sound doesn't disappear completely. It's much easier to bend while bowing since the bow will be reactivating the bar throughout the process. To avoid the mallet vibrating on the bar, it just needs to be pressed down firmly; it helps to have a mallet with a flexible rattan shaft; the mallet in this video is a malletech Becker Blue.
@adamholmes6404 alright, thanks for responding!