Marimba MalletsAll You Need to Know About:

Mike GrosekMusic Products Seminar

Spring 2012

Introduction

Every marimba player has a variety of mallets.

The basic mallet is made of a wood or rattan shaft, a hard core, and yarn wrapping around the core.

There are many different hardness and sizes to choose from.

The Mallet

Shaft

Hard rubber core

Soft yarn/cord wrap

Types of mallets

2 mallet sets/4 mallet sets

Concert/Ensemble – Generally offer a full rich sound to be heard throughout the ensemble

Solo/Signature – Specified to fit needs of an individual performer or piece of music.

Types cont.

Outdoor - designed to withstand the demanding playing and environmental requirements of outdoor performance.

Latex covered – the core is wrapped in a latex to produce a perfectly blended sound.

Universal – A general mallet that can be used for many basic needs on various instruments.

Wood Shafts

Birch – tonewood. Used for mallets, guitars, speaker cabinets, and drum shells.

Maple – tonewood. Used for string instruments, bassoons, guitars, and drums. Brighter/Harder than Mahogany.

Rattan Shafts

Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.

A flexible vine-like structure that winds through other vegetation.

Plants have slender stems usually 2-5 cm diameter.

Fiberglass

Two-Stage Fiberglass Handles (C) are extremely durable and characteristically indestructible. It makes a perfect mallet for outdoor performance. (mikebalter.com)

Cores

Usually a rubber ball with variations in size and hardness.

The latex covered mallets have the core wrapped in a layer of latex.

Yarn/Cord Wrap

Variations in the outer wrap will determine the hardness/volume of the mallet.

Yarn covered will have a more rounded sound, as the cord wrapped will have more attack and articulation.

Different colors are used to distinguish the hardness, but are not uniform among manufacturers.

Sizes

There are varying sizes in the diameter of the core, and the length of the shafts.

A larger core will create a more rounded sound, as a smaller core will cut through and have more attack.

The length of the shafts can make it easier to play some compositions, comfort of player.

Sizes cont.

4 mallet sets typically have longer shafts to accommodate the 4 mallet technique.

ManufacturingSelecting the shafts..

Using a digital caliper, and sort the shafts by diameter. Mallets are made in batches, and any given batch is made of shafts of like diameter to help ensure that each pair of mallets has equally flexible, equal diameter handles for a balanced feel.

ManufacturingSelecting the Shafts

Mallet smiths test the durability of the dowels by carefully bending the dowels by hand. They determine if a dowel is too weak or flexile to be used. After checking for straightness by rolling the dowels on a flat surface, they discard any bent dowels. This process helps ensure that consumers receive strong and straight handles for long, reliable use.

ManufacturingGrinding and Coating the Handles

After handles pass the initial quality check, they are ground at the head end to allow for the easy combination of the cores and shafts. Rattan shafts are also ground at the hand end to allow for extra comfort in the hands.

ManufacturingGrinding and Coating the Handles

Some shafts are given a thin coat of Sure Grip spray to protect the mallet from moisture damage often incurred by sweat and humid environments. Other shafts remain raw to maintain the feel of naked birch.

ManufacturingGluing handles to Inner Cores

Inner cores and shafts are combined through the process of glue. Mallet smiths use different glues fro different cores to ensure a strong bond between the cores and handles.

ManufacturingLatex Wrapping the Inner Core & The Creation of the Outer Core

The inner cores are hand wrapped with strips of latex. Through this process, mallet smiths are able to directly control the weight, density, and hardness of each mallet. It is through this skilled application of latex that Encore Mallets, Inc. is able to create mallet series with fine gradations of hardness and an almost endless array of sound color.

ManufacturingYarn Wrapping the Core

Encore Mallets are wrapped with fine acrylic, wool, cotton, or nylon yarn. Yarn composition and color are important considerations in mallet design. Encore chooses yarns in cooperation with its artists to achieve their specific sound desires and to ensure easy mallet identification.

ManufacturingStitching the Mallethead

A team of stitchers finish each mallet by hand by hand sewing the top and bottom of each mallet. This final stitching prevents the yarn from unraveling.

ManufacturingPainting the Handle Ends

After the stitchers bring in a batch of mallets, the ends of rattan are hand painted. The seal created by the paint protects the mallet from moisture damage which can cause rattan to warp.

ManufacturingSetting/Pairing Finished Mallets

Experienced percussionists assemble mallets of the same model into pairs or sets of four. Each pair or set is checked for uniform diameter, and rattan mallets are additionally checked for uniform shaft diameter and flexibility.

Encore Mallets, Inc. Quality Construction(encoremallets.com)

Brands – Vic Firth

Series: Multi-Application Virtuoso Pesante Ney Rosauro Signature Van Sice Signature Giff Howarth Signature Ensemble Corpsmaster Corpsmaster Andrew Markworth Signature American Custom

Brands – Innovative Percussion

Series: Soloist Ludwig Albert James Ancona Anders Astrand Jim Casella Robin Engelman Ensemble New Ensemble Field Mark Ford

David Friedman Fundamental William Moersch Dan Moore Ochestral Janis Potter Tom Rarick James Ross Jerry Tachoir She-e Wu Nebojsa Zivkovic

Brands –

Series: Latex Covered Chorale Universal Ensemble Ultimate Performing Artist Contemporary Tradition Plus Shadow

Brands - Abts

Hand-sewn with wool/acrylic blended yarn over a latex covered rubber core. Shafts are 16 ¼” long birch or 15 ½” rattan.

Brands – Encore Mallets, Inc.

Series: Nanae Mimura Naoka Takada Nancy Zeltsman Yarn Wound Latex Wrapped Two Mallet

Brands -

Finest grade synthetic, rubber, cord or yarn are used for each Musser mallet and are carefully balanced fro flex, weight, size and tonal response.

Good Vibes are recognized as the world’s finest professional mallets.

Two Step mallets are Musser’s exclusive fiberglass handle design that is thicker near the end for well-balanced handling and thinner near the head for strong striking force.

Birch handle mallets are ideal for the mallet player who prefers a straight, but firmer wood handle.

Brands – Pro Mark

Series: Blake Tyson Dame Evelyn Glennie Dan Fyffe Diversity Doug DeMorrow Ensemble Jeff Moore Enhanced Sound Jim Wunderlich Kai Stensgaard Performer

Founded in 1957Pro Mark has always been a family business.

Brands – Marimba One

Series: Double Helix Wave Wrap Ivana Bilic Katarzyna Mycka Colin Currie

Brands –

Series: Bass Mallets Concert

Ensemble Hemp

Brands – Silver Fox

Field Series Marimba MalletsFor use outdoors.