Hi, I'm doing a research paper, and need to find some
answers. Why is it so difficult to find advanced keyboard
percussion sheet music? Where can I buy mallet music? How
come when I tell people I play the marimba they don't
know what I'm talking about, especially when it's so
closely related to the piano? Who are some professional
mallet players? How come you can't walk into a normal
everyday music store and find a marimba, xylophone, or
vibraphone sitting in the store? How come you have tospecial order it?
Well, please email me if you have some answers to my questions. Thanks!
-Heather
Well heather, once you know where to look, it's really not that hard to find advanced music. I like to order from Steve Weiss Music out of PA. They have a vast selection of music and just about everything else percussion related. You can order and get a free catalog (be sure to specify a music catalog) at 215-659-0100. But beware, he's kinda rude sometimes. I've also heard high praises for New England Sheet Music Services out of MA. (I also hear they're a lot nicer to talk to.) 781-891-7502 The instrument isn't very well known because it is so young, the marimba we know of today really didn't appear until about 60 or so years ago. (I'm not a historian) But the instrument is still very young, but is now beginning to hit a stride and is beginning to grow exponentially. As far as performers, Leigh Howard Stevens is the God of marimba, (if you don't have his book "Method of Movement," you need to get it pronto) other renowed artists are Robert Van Sice, Keiko Abe, Micheal Burritt, and Keiko Abe (the mother of the 5 octave) You can't find it in stores because it's so unknown and expensive. You don't have to special order marimbas, EXCEPT the really good ones, then you can special design how you want it to play. If have anymore questions you can email me and I'll try to answer them. You can also go to wpn.org or pas.org and find lots of info.
Hi.
As to the marimba players are concerned,
please refer to the marimba.org's Marimba Players
section. They are presumably all professional
marimba players.
As to the Marimba recording is concerned, please
refer to the "Marimba CD" section. They can be
purchased through amazon.com on the fly.
You can find a lot more information at marimba.org
including the history. Have a look through 🙂
As to the situation in Japan is concerned,
we can find the marimba sheet music at most
major music shops. The marimba itself is
harder to find since it is so bulky, but
you can order it from the catalogue at most
shops. The purcussion focused shop always have
several marimba on display. Naturally, if you
walk into Yamaha at Ginza, Tokyo, you always
find at least a few of them.
Cheers,
Nat
