Vibraphone

Vibraphone

A Musser vibraphone
Percussion instrument
Other names	Vibes vibraharp vibraceleste vibratone
Classification	Keyboard percussion
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	111.222 (Sets of percussion plaques)
Inventor(s)	Herman E. Winterhoff
Developed	1916
Playing range
Related instruments
Steel marimba song bells glockenspiel
Musicians
See list of vibraphonists
Builders
Musser Yamaha Adams Musical Instruments Saito Marimba One Premier Percussion Majestic Percussion Bergerault Dynasty

Vibraphone sound sample

An F major scale played on a vibraphone with the motors on

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The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist, vibraharpist, or vibist.

The vibraphone resembles the steel marimba, which it superseded. One of the main differences between the vibraphone and other keyboard percussion instruments is that each bar suspends over a resonator tube containing a flat metal disc. These discs are attached together by a common axle and spin when the motor is turned on. This causes the instrument to produce its namesake tremolo or vibrato effect. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to a piano. When the pedal is up, the bars produce a muted sound; when the pedal is down, the bars sustain for several seconds or until again muted with the pedal.

The vibraphone is commonly used in jazz music, in which it often plays a featured role, and was a defining element of the sound of mid-20th-century "Tiki lounge" exotica, as popularized by Arthur Lyman.^[1] It is the second most popular solo keyboard percussion instrument in classical music, after the marimba, and is part of the standard college-level percussion performance education. It is a standard instrument in the modern percussion section for orchestras, concert bands, and in the marching arts (typically as part of the front ensemble).