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A keyboard percussion instrument, also known as a bar or mallet percussion instrument, is a pitched percussion instrument arranged in a similar pattern to a
A keyboard percussion instrument, also known as a bar or mallet percussion instrument, is a pitched percussion instrument arranged in a similar pattern to a piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
keyboard and played with hands or percussion mallets. While most keyboard percussion instruments are fully chromatic, keyboard instruments for children, such as ones used in the Orff Schulwerk, may be diatonic or pentatonic.
Despite the name, keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pian ...
s such as the celesta
The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five- octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ...
and keyboard glockenspiel are not considered ''keyboard percussion'', owing to the different skills required to play them. These instruments are percussion instruments in most senses but are part of the keyboard section rather than the percussion section of an orchestra. Keyboard percussion instruments do not possess keyboards as such, but instead follow the arrangement of the keyboard.
Keyboard percussion instruments include marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
, xylophone
The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...
, vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
, glockenspiel, and tubular bells.http://www.pas.org/Libraries/PASIC_Archives/ChandlerNorton97.sflb.ashx Retrieved 6 March 2012: ''The standard keyboard percussion family of instruments includes the marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, orchestra bells (glockenspiel), and chimes (tubular bells).''
Current Manufacturers
* Yamaha Percussion *Adams Musical Instruments
Adams Musical Instruments is a manufacturer of musical instruments based in the Netherlands. The company produces percussion and brass instruments.
Percussion instruments by Adams include timpani, marimbas, xylophones, vibraphones, glockenspiels, ...
* Majestic Percussion
* Premier Percussion
* Musser Mallet Company
See also
*Classification of percussion instruments There are several overlapping schemes for the classification of percussion instruments.
These schemes are based on four types of criteria:
* The means by which the sound is produced. The most widely used classification system for musical instrumen ...
References
Pitched percussion instruments {{Mallet-stub