Jamaican marumba - is the marumba a Jamaican marimbula?

[bongosnotbombs]

Joseph,
those tnuts are a good idea...you must have a pretty good shop for countersinking those tnuts into the ply and for drilling into the steal...I'm envious for sure.
Would love to see a close up of your bridge, I think thats really the most complicated and crucial part.
On this last pic, what do you use for the yellow metal on the bridge? A clothes hanger like the directions say?



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1200800946

[Joseph]

10. Tuning: a trial and error process. Both of my sons play guitar (one very accomplished, one a sluff) I tried using their electronic tuner, but frequency too low, so we used my younger son’s electric bass. Loosen clamp mechanism enough to move key (I tapped with a rubber hammer) until sounds match, then reclamp. A bit tedious.
11. My manounbas are tuned in a circle of fifths as described in illustration, but I added an extra key F# on the last key. There are many different arrangements for keys other than shown. Some pentatonic, some chromatic. It’s really not a melodic instrument, but a simple bass instrument, so I liked the circle of fifths arrangement. Don’t expect perfection in your tuning arrangement. There is lots of metal hanging out there to vibrate harmonically/ sympathetically. It will never have a pure clean tone. Think congotronics. It’s an afro-campesino instrument…not a violin.

Bridge detail...the bridge doesn't resonate..the box and keys do.

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[Joseph]

you must have a pretty good shop for countersinking those tnuts into the ply and for drilling into the steel.

Not really ...all you need is a "paddle bit" onn slightly larger diameter than width of T-nut. Do it with a electric drill. Same for steel

Another bridge detail..



Edited By Joseph on 1200847247

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[Joseph]

what do you use for the yellow metal on the bridge? A clothes hanger like the directions say?

No
Home Depot supplied 1/8" Steel rod...or round stock.

Spray painted it yellow with leftover paint

I used 1/4" "Para-ply"...Home Depot's finest ...of some unknown tropical wood species, but very uniform grain, no voids...and most certainly contributing to the deforestation of the South American forests



Edited By Joseph on 1200847341

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[bongosnotbombs]

Hey Joseph,
where have I seen that piece of wood for the bridge before, it looks familiar, did you make it or buy it?

[Joseph]

To assuage my guilt for the use of the plywood....
my bridges are made of carefully selected, seasoned hardwood / driftwood recycled from the beach 4 blocks from my house.

When the tropics heat up in summer distant ( and not so distant!) storms chase in hardwood dunnage used in shipping.
There are some occasional good finds, if one combs the beaches after a blow. I plane them down to clean them up

Whew...I'm done

[Joseph]

While I’m thinking of it, that pic of the fancy marimbula you posted a photo of above…whomever built it, did a wonderful job on the box, but there are several things about the bridge/ keys construction/arrangement that make me wonder.

Those bolts that clamp it all together are absolutely huge…large orders of magnitude beyond what is more than adequate….for what?....certainly not for looks…it’s like an armored tank

Look at the keys. The only part that vibrates tonally (in regard to tuning) is ABOVE the bridge. Look how much of the keys are BELOW the bridge. That’s a recipe for major overtones or sound muddying harmonics. Maybe they just have it tuned exceptionally high in that photo.
Sure is a lotta extra metal hangin' of the bottom of that bridge.

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[bongosnotbombs]

I agree on that one, the box is well done, and I have a feeling the curved soundboard and back help the sound somehow, basses and congas and some guitars all have curved backs..

I think all that metal is a style thing? Kind of like you wanted to make a funky marimba...maybe that was a way of giving it a certain style? who knows.

Anyways huge thanks for that excellent post, it gave me a lot of good ideas, I'll be sure to post when I make mine.

I especially liked the salvaged driftwood bridge.

So the steel straps are too thin eh? I had some guys cut a bunch too, oh well it didn't cost anything.

I will be sure to post mine when I make it, probably not too long from now.

Too bad the rating function is disabled, I would have given you a five.

p.s. where is that beautiful painting from?



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1200804629

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[Joseph]

where is that beautiful painting from?

Here...but they no longer display it.

Your last photo was a true classic...lovely Spanish artisan style of the box...from Puerto Rico...

Reminds me that RaRa initially wanted me to make a couple of unfinished manoumbas that he would then paint in Haitian styling.
It never happened, but I would have liked to have seen the finished product.

I agree on that one, the box is well done, and I have a feeling the curved soundboard and back help the sound somehow, basses and congas and some guitars all have curved backs..

While that may be true, as I said, with all those metal keys hanging out, there is still lots of possibilities for overtones.
In construction don't get hung up on the possibility of pure tonal sounds from your creation, and you won't be disappointed.

One last item....
The marimbula is an acoustic folk instrument. As such it has a tough time keeping up with louder instruments or drums.

In changui it accompanies bongos, maracas, and tres guitar.

There are instances of marumbas with electric pickups installed, so that they can be heard with other instruments, but pickups will probably amplify all the overtones as well....now that would be true congotronics sound!

In a nutshell
Box is easy...be fanciful
Keys are tedious...get them right
Bridge assembly most critical...make one that can handle repeated retuning, and clamps tight to eliminate buzziness.

Good luck...and mostly have fun making it.
I'll be looking for pic's

P.S. My next project...if i ever have the courage to start it...is a Bass Marimba. I have some big planks of purpleheart I bought back from Guyana on the deck of a boat 15 years ago. They are probably hard as rocks now. But are ideal wood for the keys....All I have to do is start.
My big hesitation is that a bass marimba is a BIG item, and would be tough to store...maybe a folding one/

Joseph

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[bongosnotbombs]

I said it before, I'll say it again, thanks for the excellent post, I think
the new discussion to the older more academic thread really made a complete
discussion of the instrument.
Reading the thread someone now learn a complete history, learn techniques how to play and also how to make their own.
I'm going to print this thread as a valuable resource, made more valuable from your contribution..Thanks again.

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[Joseph]

Guaguanco!

[guarachon63]

Some great shots of these beautiful instruments.

I was into building these a few years ago (back when I had more space - and a friend with a wood shop ) and one solution for mounting the keys we hit on involved tee nuts - but put into the *back* of the soundboard.

Next we put the bolts in (maybe used washers too?) through the back, with the threads sticking out - I think there is a picture of one like that on here. But then we used fairly large wing-nuts to clamp the keys into place. The wing nuts were easily loosened to allow for quick adjustments when tuning - worked great.

Also regarding the bridge, I didn't get too fancy, just two smaller-diameter metal rods as saddles above and below the larger diameter clamping rod, never had a problem.

I didn't build one for the longest time because I couldn't figure out how to come up with the keys. Then one day in an antique shop I stumbled on an old victrola. The owner gave me the number of a local guy who restored them. I called him up, told him I was looking for spring steel, he said "Come on over, I got a garage full of it!"

Regarding tuning, and number of keys, I am sort of a minimalist on that score. I always liked the line of a marimbula maker quoted in Donald Thompson's article cited earlier:

"What you need is a low note, a high note, and one not so high. The rest is rhythm!"

The marimbula is not going to replace a six-string bass in any ensemble, what counts most is the groove. A little dissonance also gives it more funk, in my opinion.

Good luck on the project, looking forward to seeing the results.

[Joseph]

I called him up, told him I was looking for spring steel, he said "Come on over, I got a garage full of it

Yeah man...spring steel..I like it!

"What you need is a low note, a high note, and one not so high. The rest is rhythm!"

Right on!

[guarachon63]

Just found this on

flickr.com, using the wingnuts...

[Dangler]

wow,this thread is incredible I have been a fan of this instrument since I went to Cuba a couple of years ago.And now have the knowledge to build one.
Thanks