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Vibraphone rock

#22
Great topic - the vibraphone is unjustly neglected, a great instrument - all mallet instruments bring a lot into the music. It is always easier to google great vibists and see which bands they played in. Check out people like David Friedman Invalid Link Removed Bill Molenhof or Roy Ayers. They often put out great solo CDs with more energetic music than mellow jazz. And they all played with legendary musicians. I guess this also counts? And yes, Steps Ahead is great, especially the later stuff, but check out Mike Mainieri's Quintet - I have a great live CD by them -it is fusion jazz but it has a lot of rock energy. There's a great jazz CD (but it blows your socks off - it's like a rock show!) by Buddy Rich with Lionel Hampton on vibes. And you're right about the 60s stuff - remember the theme from M*A*S*H* -marimba? BTW, I think the Beach Boys used a vib. in some of their earlier songs. And if you want popular stuff (but not really rock) there's a band that was waaaay popular in Europe a while ago - Safri Duo, they base all their songs on rhythm instruments and use the xylosynth too.
Electric mallet instruments are great too especially for this rock vibe - so google KAT midi controller or Xylosynth players.

BTW ..but my female band Nail Quartet is also fusion jazz with a vibraphone/xylosynth ;) You see why I love the instrument so much. Link Removed
 
#24
Can the vibe player read? Grab them a book of charts for a band they like......it'll have the chords (do them with the left hand) and the melody (use right hand). Put those two together, add a drummer, and go out as a duo! That was only half a joke.....but seriously, using different mallets the vibe player could grab any instruments line. Tell em to brush up on 4 mallet chops

Oh, tell em the vibrato sounds a lot muddier out front than it does right above the instrument. Easyyyyyy on the pedaling...

*disclaimer: Originally I am a percussionist....marimba is my favorite mallet intrument :)
 
#26
lady_bassist said:
Great topic - the vibraphone is unjustly neglected, a great instrument - all mallet instruments bring a lot into the music.
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One thing I've learned in college is that vibe solos are usually my favorite the listen to. The tone of the instrument just sounds more interesting than a piano, and the fact that you can play more than one note at a time really makes for more mood setting, versus solos of just monophonic instruments (horns, violins, etc.)
 
#27
Hoover said:
Bill Bruford played vibes & xylophone on his 1977 solo debut album Feels Good To Me. Most folks would consider that "fusion" ...unless you're a fusion fan, and then for some inexplicable reason you scratch your head and don't know what to call it. I think Bill refers to that material as "instrumental rock".

I get the impression that the OP is looking for stuff that's unabashedly and unquestionably "ROCK'N'ROLL" with big loud distorted power chord guitars and pounding 4/4 drums and screaming hairy lead vocalists and, oh yeah, a vibraphone too. Not sure where to point you for that.
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That made me feel like a simplistic AC/DC moron :hiding:

Nah, the bands mentioned were fine. If you must know, the kind of music I would like to make is Beatles pop mixed with jazz chords, heavy rock (sometimes), funk, psychedelia, surf, and three-part vocal harmonies a la Crosby Stills and Nash and Grizzly Bear... yeah. I don't think it's possible. It's just that I rarely ever hear vibes with any distortion on the guitars so it would be interesting to hear for some inspiration, maybe just a bit closer to the rock spectrum. Not THAT close.

Don't read too much into that last paragraph, it was quite rambling. I looked up Bill Bruford, that was great, and I've heard a little Sigur Ros before, they also release some really good music. I'll look into them.

Lady Bassist, that was a great reply, you are in a great band and are a great player, keep it up.

Yes the vibes player can read, we're at a music university. He has a fantastic knowledge of chords as well. Though I plan to have a much bigger band than that as well.
 
#30
It seems like a lot of people are confusing xylophones and marimbas with vibraphones... There is a superficial visual resemblance, sure, but vibraphones are really very different from the others.

That Violent Femmes song "Gone Daddy Gone" does not have vibraphone, it has xylophone. "Under My Thumb" has marimba, not vibraphone. Marimbas and xylophones have a lot of similarities to one another, but vibes are a different beast!! Vibraphone bars and resonators are made of aluminum rather than wood, and they have built in motors that drive special rotating valves that create vibrato. There are a lot of special playing techniques vibe players use to achieve certain tones and effects that are not employed by marimba and xylophone players.
 
#31
Well, all is still well, because he owns a marimba as well. :D

And I did say that xylophone is also acceptable, unfortunately I can't change the name of the topic. I prefer vibes, however.

And there is a cool technique I'm aware of on the vibes that involves dragging a cello bow down a bar and producing an awesome shimmering sound.

Best use for a cello bow ever!
 
#32
StuntBacon said:
the kind of music I would like to make is Beatles pop mixed with jazz chords, heavy rock (sometimes), funk, psychedelia, surf, and three-part vocal harmonies a la Crosby Stills and Nash and Grizzly Bear...
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then Victor Feldman's vibraphone work with Steely Dan might be up your alley.


StuntBacon said:
And there is a cool technique I'm aware of on the vibes that involves dragging a cello bow down a bar and producing an awesome shimmering sound.

Best use for a cello bow ever!
Click to expand...

then you should check out Greg Bendian's vibraphone work...not because it's rock, but because he's really into using "alternative" playing techniques to make musically substantive contributions.
 
#33
StuntBacon said:
Well, all is still well, because he owns a marimba as well. :D

And I did say that xylophone is also acceptable, unfortunately I can't change the name of the topic. I prefer vibes, however.

And there is a cool technique I'm aware of on the vibes that involves dragging a cello bow down a bar and producing an awesome shimmering sound.

Best use for a cello bow ever!
Click to expand...

Ah I missed that bit...

Kaizers Orchestra's 2008 album Maskineri has a lot of marimba in it.

Yeah, you can bow vibes, it sounds kinda creepy too!
 
#34
Hoover said:
then Victor Feldman's vibraphone work with Steely Dan might be up your alley.




then you should check out Greg Bendian's vibraphone work...not because it's rock, but because he's really into using "alternative" playing techniques to make musically substantive contributions.
Click to expand...

Most of the Steely Dan I've heard is way too smooth for my taste, I prefer... lumpy. Is there a Steely Dan record that isn't as smooth you could recommend me?
 
#35
StuntBacon said:
And there is a cool technique I'm aware of on the vibes that involves dragging a cello bow down a bar and producing an awesome shimmering sound.
Click to expand...

Place a hard rubber mallet directly above the cord. Strike that bar with a yarn mallet, pedal wide open, and slowly slide the rubber mallet toward the center of the bar. The note "bends".
 

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