Vibraphone volume

[some jive turkey]

So I've decided to sell my Roland drum kit, and I'm seriously thinking about buying a vibraphone. It's been a LONG time since I have messed with one, but it's been something I've always wanted to learn. I think about it every so often, and I feel like one day I'll regret never having studied it (I think I already do) I can play piano, and know my music theory fairly well so I'll hopefully pick it up quickly.

My question is this. How loud are they? Could I play one in an apartment and not get evicted? I know they're not like drumset loud, but how do vibes compare to say, an acoustic guitar in terms of neighbor-annoying-volume issues?

[billdrum]

1) They are not terribly loud, especially if played with soft mallets.

2) You can always remove the resonators for quieter practice if necessary.

[dairyairman]

i tried to learn the vibes once. i gave up. turns out, it's incredibly hard to control four mallets with two hands. maybe you could slap some tape on them to silence them. get em all gooey. maybe some very soft, lightweight mallets would keep them quiet.

[some jive turkey]

yeah, it doesn't look easy. I've been watching some vibes players and looking at the grip.
I suppose it's like anything though, it takes lots of persistence, practice, and patience.

what kind of study materials did you practice? mallet control? Are there some books that everyone should start with?

[moogoogaipan]

If you play vibes... it usually not with four mallets. The vibraphone is traditionally more of a two mallet instrument. You can of course use 4 mallets when comping behind a soloist in jazz. But marimba is the big 4-mallet or even 6-mallet instrument.
I'm learning jazz vibes right now as part of my studio music/jazz major.

The technique isn't hard, but the theory can be brutal.

I've got a test tomorrow that goes throught the cycle of fifths doing
dorian, then Mixolydian, then diminished-wholetone, and then some digital patterns. It takes some time and it feels different than piano, but if you have a visual memory, then the vibes is a perfect switch-over instrument... but you can't find them below $3,000.. I so want one, but I don't have the monry.

[some jive turkey]

yeah, people like lionel hampton never even played with the 4 mallet technique, i don't think. Did Burton invent it?

i've seen a few vibes sets for less than that. I think I've seen them used on
Craigslist everynow and then. And I think even musician's friend has them less than that.
I look at it this way, If I were to go back to college to study music (which I'm considering in a few years, after some private studies and self-edjumacating), a semester's worth of tution and fees would exceed the cost of buying a set.

[moogoogaipan]

yeah, people like lionel hampton never even played with the 4 mallet technique, i don't think. Did Burton invent it?
.
Burton didn't invent it. But he did have a certain grip.

There's Burtons' grip, Stephens grip, and Keiko Abe pioneered 6-mallets

[TTTSNB]

What they said. I was wondering: Could one use four mallet technique on the drumset? I think you can come up with some pretty sweet patterns if you could.

[KillerCrunchie]

what the hell is a vibraphone???

[Trintar_VIII]

^^^

http://pertout.customer.netspace.net.au/vibes1L.jpg

They're quite fun to play, especially with 4 mallets.

[some jive turkey]

what the hell is a vibraphone???

It's an adult novelty tele-communications device. Perfect for your 1-900 calls.

[billdrum]

What they said. I was wondering: Could one use four mallet technique on the drumset? I think you can come up with some pretty sweet patterns if you could.

Steve Gadd used to do it for some solo work. Seen others too.

[billdrum]

Burton didn't invent it. But he did have a certain grip.

There's Burtons' grip, Stephens grip, and Keiko Abe pioneered 6-mallets

The Stephens grip is a variation/development of the Musser grip pioneered by Clair Omar Musser. I hate how Stephens some how gets all the credit for this grip. The 4 mallet grip used by the Japanese and others is actually slightly different than the Burton grip too, enough that its considered a different grip, so they are really 3 fundamentally different grips. And most people that play jazz vibes today use 4 mallets, and use the Burton or the traditional grip (Japanese).

[some jive turkey]

I was looking at those little bell kit xylophones on ebay.
and
*score*
The guy I rent my practice studio from had one sitting around, and let me play it.

I busted out the real book and started reading through a few tunes on it.
It kind of sucks though, because all I can really do is play melodies on it. I can't really play chords on it, and it seems too small to even really try 4 mallet.
It seems like it would be easier on a larger instrument too. Oh well, gotta pay your dues.

[TTTSNB]

Steve Gadd used to do it for some solo work. Seen others too.
Alright, sounds sweet. A guy at the berklee percussion festival showed me how to do it; I'd need alot of practice to even get slightly comfortable with it though.

[steeldrummer11]

Yah ive been working ever so slightly with 4 mallets, its just like anything you need to practice it to be comfortible. But today I skinned my hands skating...so idk what im gonna do about a gig tomorow.

[We_Love_Lime]

Yah ive been working ever so slightly with 4 mallets, its just like anything you need to practice it to be comfortible. But today I skinned my hands skating...so idk what im gonna do about a gig tomorow.

Sucks. Do you really play the Pans like your Name says? If so.. Awesome man.

[some jive turkey]

steel drums are cool

I should add that to my things-i-want-to-own-sometime-before-I-die list

[We_Love_Lime]

steel drums are cool

I should add that to my things-i-want-to-own-sometime-before-I-die list

Bloody Expensive they are though. 3 grand or so. Well good luck with the vibes, it's awesome your getting into them.