WHERE DOES THE WORD XYLOPHONE COME FROM? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The word xylophone comes from the Greek words xylon which means wood and phone which means sound. It literally means "sounding wood" and refers to a percussion musical instrument made up of a series of bars or wooden slats of different sizes arranged gradually. The sound is produced by striking the bars with toothpicks with rounded or hammer-shaped tips.

Although technically the word xylophone encompasses all wooden bar instruments (including marimbas, xilomarinbas, etc.), in reality it is used to refer specifically to the standard Euro-American instrument or the Japanese two-row instrument, whose bars can be made of wood. pink or synthetic material.

In the case of xylophones made of rosewood, bark taken from older trees is preferred. Since the bark of older trees is denser and therefore more resonant and durable bars can be achieved.

However, due to the indiscriminate felling of older rosewood trees, current wood xylophones made in North America and Japan are made from younger trees whose bark is less dense.

This causes newer instruments to lack the resonance and durability that older instruments possess.

Etymology and meaning

The word xylophone, comes from the Greek xylon and phonē, "wood" and "sound", which explains it as a percussion instrument made up of a set of graduated and tuned wooden bars, supported on nodal points (not vibrating), and struck with sticks or padded mallets.

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of wooden bars that are sounded struck by mallets.

Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch on a musical scale, either pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African and Asian instruments, diatonic in many Western children's instruments, or chromatic for orchestral use.

The term xylophone can be used in general, to include all instruments such as the marimba, the balafon, and even the sementron.

However, in the orchestra, the term xylophone specifically refers to a chromatic instrument of a higher pitch and drier timbre than the marimba, and these two instruments should not be confused.

The term is also popularly used to refer to similar instruments of the lithophone and metallophone types.

For example, the Pixiphone and many similar toys described by manufacturers as xylophones have metal bars rather than wood, and are therefore considered glockenspiels rather than xylophones in organology. Metal bars sound higher than wooden bars.

History of the Xylophone and origin of the word

The xylophone in its simplest form originated among primitive man, being one of the oldest melodic instruments. The oldest historical references suggest that its use spread throughout Asia and Africa.

The original instrument, a leg xylophone, is believed to have consisted of one, two or three wooden blocks, disconnected and of different pitch. The blocks were placed on the legs of the person who played the instrument and who was sitting on the floor.

This primitive xylophone had a structure very similar to that of the lithophone, another primitive instrument that is still used in some Indochinese cultures.

Some musicologists locate the place of origin of the xylophone in the Asian continent, especially since there have been several types of this instrument both in the continental area and in the archipelagos. In addition, evidence has been found of the existence in China (about 2000 BC) of a similar instrument made up of sixteen wooden bars suspended in two rows.

It is not known exactly when the migration of the xylophone to Africa occurred; but it is known that it was before the arrival of the Portuguese to the African continent, since in their historical references (mid-14th century) the existence of xylophones with resonators in the area of ​​the Niger River is mentioned.

It is on this continent where the primitive instrument develops into forms very similar to those of the modern xylophone.

The arrival of the xylophone in America probably occurred at the hands of slaves brought from the African continent. As for its presence in Europe, this is mainly due to the European explorers who imported it from Africa.

General characteristics

The sound of each xylophone bar is determined by several factors.

Doorbell

The timbre (and resonance) of the xylophone bars is determined by the type of wood (for example, hardwood or softwood) or by the composition of synthetic materials from which they are made.

Hardwood bars tend to generate higher partial sounds (brighter sounds) in harmonic series and their timbre is slightly longer compared to softwood bars.

Synthetic wood bars produce even "brighter" sounds and longer sounds than hardwood bars.

Tone

The tone of each bar is determined by the length, thickness and density of the bar. The longer, thinner, or dense the bar, the lower the tone it will produce. Conversely, shorter, thicker, or less dense bars will produce higher tones.

Hammers and Mallets

The tone of any xylophone can also be affected by the hammers, mallets, sticks, or drumsticks used to sound the bars.

In general, softer drumsticks tend to muffle harmonics and produce softer or softer tones, while harder drumsticks accentuate harmonics and produce more strident tones.

Types of Xylophone

Taking into account their construction, xylophones can be classified into two groups: free keyboard xylophones and fixed keyboard xylophones. In the first, the keys or bars are removable and can be changed position. In the second, the keys are fixed inside the xylophone.

The free keyboard xylophones, among which are the most primitive models, are subdivided into three classes: Pit xylophones, Trunk xylophones and Leg xylophones.

• The xilófonos pit are characterized by using a hollow, usually rectangular, dug in the ground which serves as a resonator for the keys. At the edges of the hole sticks are placed on which the ends of the keys rest. These are arranged on the hole side by side.
• The xilófonos trunk, in turn, consist of two trunks, which are placed in parallel on the floor. The keys are placed on them, arranged next to each other and through the trunks.
• The xylophones leg using the human body as part of the instrument. A person sits on the floor with his legs extended and the keys are placed side by side on them. A second person is in charge of playing the keys.

As for fixed keyboard xylophones, they are generally classified by the type of material from which they are made (wood, stone, metal, synthetic materials, etc.), number of keys and type of resonator.

The xylophone today

The various types of xylophone with hardwood or bamboo bars are still an integral part of the various African orchestras today. A single African orchestra can include up to three gambangs (xylophones through bars made of bamboo or hardwood).

Today they exist in forms as simple as two or three logs placed across a player's legs or as slabs of wood laid across two supports, such as logs; a pit dug in the ground can act as a resonating chamber.

Many African xylophones show similarities to those of Southeast Asia in setting and construction, but issues of trade and migration influences are controversial.

References

1. Murray, J, (2012). Reading Explorers Year 4: A Guided Skills-Based Journey. London, UK: Andrews UK Limited.
2. Beck, J. (1995).Encyclopedia of Percussion. New York, EU: Garland Publishing Inc.
3. Blades, J. (2005). Percussion Instruments and Their History. Connecticut, EU: The Bold Atrummer, Ltd.
4. Jones, AM (1964). Africa and Indonesia the Evidence of the Xylophone and Other Musical and other musical and cultural factors. Leiden, The Netherlands: EJ Brill.