Oh my goodness, Adam!!! This is incredible!! I was at most just hoping for a quick response to my comment, NOT A WHOLE VIDEO. WOWWWW. You are awesome!! I so appreciate your experience and pro-con list, there is just so much to think about. I had originally been set on Marimba One when someone suggested that the Malletech MJB was better. So perhaps the best part of your video was "Don't let anyone tell you what marimba you HAVE to get, it's your decision". Not having a lot of experience playing on different brands, I have been trying to take in everyone's opinion, which of course like you said, no one agrees. haha. Your video has helped me to feel confident in my decision of Marimba One and I will be putting my order in this week! THANK YOU!!

So the story about why Musser bars are so wide at the bottom starts with the man of men Mr. Leigh Howard Stevens. He wanted to create a marimba that could go lower than the 4.3 marimbas common at the time and he felt that after experimenting with bar dimensions wider bars sounded fuller in the lower octaves so the M450 marimba was born then he said "umm we should make it go lower" and then soon after the M500 was born. Then in 1991, he said wait why design boards for someone else when I can do it for myself and how I want it. So thats how we ended up with ridiculously wide Musser and Malletech bars.

Welcome to another Q&A video 😊 As always, if you want to skip ahead to any specific questions the timestamps are in the description above! (hint: the question in the title is at 6:40) P.S. I put in lots of extra effects in this week's video because I want to constantly improve the look of the show, let me know what you think! Thank you so much for watching and I hope you enjoyed this week's episode - next week I promise will be something vibraphone related.... 😅 #TheStudioFamily

My university is in the same town as the Demorrow factory, and we have several of his instruments, including marimbas, vibes, and bells. Can definitely attest to their quality, he definitely takes a lot of care in his work!

Best beginner mallets are the Innovative Percussion IP240 mallets everyone has a 4 mallets set of these (at least where I'm from) *note this is my opinion, but I strongly recommend these

I have one main con with the Yamaha YM-5100, the top end of the board likes to wobble and fall easily.

those switch sound effects are so clean 👀

I think you should've added Majestic in there, but all around awesome vid

I hadn’t played Korogi until I used Dan’s at the Encore booth. That bottom octave...thunderbutter for days! I also really liked the Mode at PASIC. Awesome vid as always!

For the octave grip I slide the base of the inside mallet up away from the center of the palm

So many KZfaqrs these days are full of clickbait and, well, essentially crap. But you, Adam, are just clickbaity enough to earn a sub via patreon because you promote such a good cause. I've always loved marimba and the discussion about marimba (especially from an Asian/Aussie who plays with Steven's...WTF?!? maybe I'm just an American...). Anyway, keep it up with the marimba centric posts and never stop composing! One of these days I'll have a real job, buy my own damn marimba, and be able to learn some of yours and other fantastic pieces!

The octave hold that you talk about is what's called "Ham Fist" (I know that's a weird name, but I swear I'm not making it up). It's useful when staying at the octave interval, but could be problematic if you have to switch back and forth between octave and small intervals. The Method of Movement book talks about this in way more detail... it's definitely worth looking into!

My instructor taught me to use an octave grip from Steven’s where mallet 2/3 pop into the fleshy crevice/ webbing between your ring and middle fingers from the center of the palm. It kinda just sits there comfortably besides the 1/4 mallet. It takes some practice to transition in the middle of a piece but once you get used to it, it is very useful, fast, and accurate for octaves. As for your index and thumb, they will still be at the first knuckle of the index and flat of the thumb for the technique, that doesn’t change. This grip doesn’t really slip but as I said, takes some time to get used to.

I know this is an old video but maybe this will help for the octaves. Stevens Method of Movement book, pg. 13, figure 11. In most octaves, this is how your hands should look from the underside. For people that don’t have the book, the best way I can describe it is this: The inner mallet should be positioned underneath the middle finger where the palm meets the base of your finger. The mallet should be able to stabilize in that crevice rather easily. Adam’s advice is great with the thumb, you should adjust the thumb so that the pad of your thumb is on top of the shaft.

Haha the sword sound when you show the mallets :) Someday I'll get myself a 5 octave marimba.

Aye, my marimba friend is getting a practice marimba from DeMorrow! The name sounded super familiar 😅 Can't wait for that piece and review!!!

I never would think of you talking about Counter Strike 1.6 (no offense) XD

DeMorrow. Hands down.

Can you do the Pius cheung mallets? My indoor percussion group got them and I want to see your thoughts.

You should try naming your new piece with the word(s) that come time mind when hearing it

What about Bergerault? Also could you review some more Vic Firth Mallets?

Hi Adam do you have any comment about Marimba One Wave 9601 in comparison to Izzy?

Bro...Xylosynth Is the real solution...

Would you recommend a trixton 5.0 marimba

I know this is a relatively older video but what about dynasty marimbas I got to play on one of their newer 5 octaves at midwest which you can control the height for from your phone

Regarding your tips for octaves where you put your thumb over the mallet. I usually do that and i'm comfortable with it but when I attended Leigh Howard Stevens summer seminar some years ago he said I shouldn't. If you read in method of movement it also states that you shouldn't. I never really understood why but I just thought it was relevant to mention that your tip is contradicting the founder of the grip.

English captions are messed up… what’s the tape wrap called, please?

Does anyone know the differnce between the different bars on the Marimba ones? I tried looking it up but I couldn't find a good explanation on what is different between the enhanced and the traditional bars

Bergerault is also pretty big, in Europe at least. Have you ever played one?

Hey Adam. What do you think of buying an adams 4.3 octave first, and then buy a set to convert it to a 5.0 octave? p.s Love the videos man, keep doin what you do

How would you wrap the bottom of the mallet and/or do you have a way to make the bottom more comfortable for Four mallet playing?

When are you going to review the other mallets like latex mallets from encore 🤔

You mentioned wide bass bars as a pro for malletech, but they are also a con, getting octaves in the low parts are insanely hard even with steven’s i don’t even know how bad it would be with burton or trad

Can the Robert Van Sice mono-tonal series be used in a concert band setting? And if so what hardnesses?

Have you thought about doing a She-e Wu review?

What about majestic and bergerauldt

Yo how can I get tape like that?

What is a good versitile brand of mallets? Especially for anything under 50$

1:29 Musser Opa. 6 No. 9 any one?

I found this brand of Marimba called Vancore because my uncle has one and they sell a 5.5 and 6 octave Marimba. Is there any other company that makes something that insane?

Hey Adam, do you have any recommendations for alternating independent strokes with smaller intervals, say 2nds or 3rds? My hands seem to throw a huge fit and get all cramped up when doing a bunch of them.

Hi Adam! I've been looking for some new mallets and I was interested in getting a set of birch round sounds from marimba one, but I don't know how long the shafts are. As a cross grip player, my current set of Mike Balter 13BXLs are pretty short. Do you know any way of finding out how long a shaft is before you buy it?

Hi, im in a competitive percussion group at my high school, im a freshman so i was put on vibraphone because im still learning, but next year our marimba player in graduating and of the three other mallet players, i was told i would be the one to take her place next year. Im practicing a lot to be able to get to a point where ill be good enough to play the music that i would get, but i dont think i would be able to do it by next year. And to make matters worse, i dont have a way of practicing with an instrument over summer, do you have any advice to either speed up my learning process, or a way for me to learn over summer. My current method is sight reading long pieces, practicing runs at high tempos. I also practice with my tech to point out technique errors

On a COMPLETELY unrelated topic.... Can you speak spanish/ any other language you know in an Australian accent :)

What are your thoughts on majestic?

Which marimba has the darkest sound and most resonance?

mfw I live in the uk

Can you perform fur Ellis pls I will do anything

First