It's interesting to note how the physical attributes of players influence how they approach the instrument.
I'm 5'7" when I get up in the morning and probably 5'6" by the time I get home from work to practice. I'm also overweight which puts a bulge in front of me with my belt line right at, or just above, the bars.
The tyrannosaurus rex and I also have something in common. My short arms.
My hands are also relatively small as well. So as you can imagine I'm not exactly a chick magnet. But I have spent the night at a Holiday Inn Express.
Choking up fairly high on the mallets makes playing four mallets much easier. I can still reach a major 10th, so I figure until I'm asked to play some outrageous classical piece, I'm in good shape.
Why choke up on the mallets?
Because if I don't, playing closed voicings directly in front of me, without stabbing myself in the stomach with the back of the mallets, is almost impossible. Choking up allows me to move my arms forward. I stand really close to the vibes (pedal).
Other players(taller) play with elbows and hands higher up but mine are much closer and more parallel to the vibes. I try to avoid the flying chicken elbows in the air thing. It seems like one of those things you just should not need to do. If a sandwich is so big you can't get your mouth around it, it's not a sandwich. It's a piece of friggen architecture.
I digress again....
So what are your thoughts on position to the vibes, moving around the instrument, and how it impacts how you hold the mallets?
Comments
omg
Marie-Noëlle Thu, 07/08/2010 - 17:33
I have no precise idea on all this due the little times I found myself in front of a vibraphone, but what I know Todd, is that you are damn funny!!! I'm still cracking up!!
Your go guys!!
- M
PS:...Tyrannosaurus rex omg... you're too funny! :o)
My preference
John Keene Fri, 07/09/2010 - 07:33
For four mallet playing (and sometimes two-mallet), I saw the stems to twelve inches and place model airplane tubing on the tip cut even to the end. So I tend to hold the tip of the stem close to my hand's edge and I think it gives me more "snap" to the bar. I keep my wrists close to the keyboard. Being six feet one inch, I place the instrument on blocks to keep my back straighter.
For two-mallet playing (which I prefer) I like wide-ball mallets, but I cut the stem length based on the weight of the particular mallet. I prefer 3/8 stems on wide-ball mallets rather than the thinner counterparts.
I have to give credit to Terry Gibbs for getting me to cut stems down, although Terry recommends cutting stems to either seven or nine inches. I was afraid prior to cutting the stems the first time, but since then I've never looked back. I've wasted a few mallets in the process, but the end result have more than made up for the mistakes along the way.
velocity?
jimmiew Fri, 07/09/2010 - 03:53
Do you ever feel like choking up like this affects your sound? I know I've been a part in some interesting experiments with how hand placement affects the way you sound. If you play two mallets at the back of the mallet you get a very heavy attack, then you hit the sweet spot about an 1.5 inches or so from the bottom of your palm to the bottom of the stick and as you choke up further you lose a lot of attack and velocity(volume) unless you greatly alter your stroke.
The way you play four mallets can greatly change this, many people who play stevens grip have a tendency to have that same lose of attack because many play very lightly and don't have as much control as the cross/burton players which typically have the same sound affect as two mallets if you choke up or down.
belly's
tonymiceli Fri, 07/09/2010 - 09:40
i have the belly, and it does get in the way. but you can work around it. or at least i have, i think.
no my belly is going down, so that's good. not sure how short your arms are or if they are unusually short but they make lots of mallets of different lengths and mike balter will make custom mallets if you want to play around. especially if you tell him you're a vibesworkshop subscriber!
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I'm barely 6 foot. Alright
DrBobM55 Sun, 07/11/2010 - 16:34
I'm barely 6 foot. Alright I'm 5' 11" and large. I've been lucky that standard mallet length has worked fairly well. I use Burton grip. Actually I invented it independently before anyone ever showed me how to hold 4 mallets. It made sense to me. Anyway mallet #2 (inside right hand) occasionally bangs into my belly. There have been occasions when playing faster passages going down the instrument where mallet #2 gets inside my shirt and then everything gets jammed up. I'm glad to see the you will be attending the workshop in Delaware. I won't be the only physically challenged player.
Bob Wesner