Hi,

My name is rio. I belong to an orgaization that is starting a drum corp and I have been pulling my hair out trying to figur out what to with for mallet percussion. I then decided the easiest route would be to go with one name and since we are purchasing pearl drums, adams was the logical choice. As I have been doing research I wanted to purchase the Adams 4.3 zelon synthetic. Pretty sure we should get one of those and we are looking into 1 or 2 more marimbas. I would love to purchase a rosewood marimba but I feel it maybe too much maintenance. I have read many threads on this site but I really havent been able to get a clear picture on what to do. Does any one have any advice our 2nd and possibly third marimba. This would probably revert back to the discussion of Musser Kelon vs Yamaha Acoustalon vs Paduk. Customer service for adams would not be an issue because we are purchasing our equipment through a pearl dealer and repairer but customer service for eveyone else would be a factor. We are also looking into whether or not we would need to purchase a 5.0 octave or a 4.0 octave for contrast. Thank you for reading this and hope to her some replys.

Just a suggestion: You can also buy used marimbas in great conditions from other drum corps because they sell them after every season... I remember seeing instruments for sale recently on the santa clara vanguard website, i think. Usually high schools get their hands on them, because they are cheaper and come with the field endurance frames. The Adams 4.3 Zelon sounds like a good choice... and you should definitely NOT invest in rosewood for outdoor use, and padouk is worse for it warps quickly. I don't think a 5.0 octave is necessary (but if you have the money and want to drag that huge instrument everywhere, by all means go ahead), but I think 2 4.3 octave marimbas would be fine, in addition to a pit with xylophone and vibes as well. I also recommend the Yamaha 4.3 Acoustalon.

I agree with the above poster: stay away from wood marimbas for use in a drum corps setting. The hard playing, and the prolonged exposure to the sun will absolutely destroy the instrument. I believe some division I corps use rosewood, but they invest in seperate sets of keys for practice and performance, and, IMHO, the difference in sound quality on the marching field is not different enough to make it worth your while to do even that. Do not even cosider padouk wood; then not only do you have the issues that go with Rosewood such as maintaining the moisture of the keys, but they are so thin that they would undoubtedly crack with the level of intensity and sound production needed to perform an effective drum corps show.

I also agree that a five octave would not be worth it. The percussion music arranger can do without those added notes for thwe extra cost it would involve, especially since they are of a low frequency and would not project well enough to be heard anyway, unless you are considering using amplification.

On the other hand I would not go with the four octave unless you could not afford the 4.3. The standard range for marimbas is 4.3, and once you get smaller than that, IMO you lose out on the musical potential for the instrument as far as the different notes and tambors that can be drawn from it. I do not understand what you mean by contrast - with a 4 octave you are getting the exact same notes as a 4.3, except less on the bottom. Aurally there is no difference in the rest of the notes in the range of rhe instrument so there would be no contrast in that regard. If you are talking about visually, I would not even give that a thought either when chosing the range of the instruments your are buying; your only concern hould be cost and musical potential.

Is there a reason you are not considering purchasing 3 Adams marimbas? Most front ensembles, if they can, use matching instruments as far as brands; that way it is easier to maintain and care for them, it is easier for the members to adjust going from one instrument to another, it is more visually appealing, and it opens up opportunity for sponsorships from companies; you're far more likely to have a chance getting a sponsorship from Pearl/Adams using all Pearl Drums and Adams marimbas than you would be using Pearl Drums, one Adams marimba, one Yamaha marimba, and one Musser Marimba, and in that case you would not get a sponsorship from Musser or Yamaha either.

Personally I have not played on an Adams field instrument during my time in drum corps so I cannot say whether they are better or worse than tbe other brands listed. (I can say that I do like their concert instruments initially, however the frames on them seem unsturdy, and the wood instruments seem to go out of tune more quickly than some others). I can share my experience with other brands however, whatever it may be worth.

Stay away from Dynasty marimbas if you can. The past two seasons the front ensemble I was in used two of those suckers. The frames were large and took up too much space in the equipment truck, and made the instruments unweildy to move, and fell apart rather easily. Second of all, the bars were thin and black, and so baked through in the sun, so while they had a nice sound in the fall and winter, by the time we hit finals in Denver, we had resorted into icing the keys for about half an hour before a show performance in order to be able to extract any sort of sound out of them. These were bran newq instruments when we got them.

I am also not a fan of Premier instruments, having used them in two seperate corps. The frames are heavy and difficult to move, especially if they have to be lifted onto a truck, or up a curb, or onto an equipment trailer, or anything like that. The ones I have played on have also had dead keys, offering no sound projection. And they and Musser have the only synthetic keys I have witnessed crack. These were all 10 or so year old instruments however, so the issues with the keys may be due to age/mistreatment.

I have a Musser practice instrument and love it. However, I do not notice many Mussers outside anymore. I am not sure whether it is because of sponsorships agreements (Pearl Drums means Adams marimbas, Yamaha Drums mean Yamaha Marimbas, Dynasty Brass means Dynasty marimbas, while Musser seems to be left out of that mix) or because of instrument quality. The one Musser instrument I played outdoors was one I played extensively on for a year and a half, and I liked it. I cannot make a full assessment on it because, again, it was about a decade old or so The keys seemed to maintain their sound well, however there were a few cracked keys in the lower octave. I did not get to experience the original frame, as they built a completely new one for it, so I can't make much comment there.

That brings me to the Yamaha Acoustalons, which I love. I played on them for both marching band and drum corps, and had few problems with them in either arena. The keys are constructed differently from other synthetic keys, and seem to me to be a lot better. First of all, they are brown, so they do not absorb as much of the sunlight as the black keys which seem to be prevalent for some reason. More importantly, however, they are not solid all they way through. They are visually much thicker than traditional keys, but have holes down the middle so they do not bake through. I have never seen one of these keys crack, and they maintain their sound beautifully, even in the heat and sun of Orlando. The frame is a bit flimsy however; I have had wheels come off, wing nuts become stripped, and support bars bend or come loose. I believe, but am not positive, that they have begun to make sturdier frames than the instruments manufactured around 2000 that I have experience with. I also know that the Yamaha concert instruments seem to stay in tune longer than other brands, but I am unsure of how true that is with their field instruments.

So basically, a 4.3 octave Adams or Yamaha is, in my opinion , the best bet. Personally, I would stick with all Adams for consistancy, and I enjoy the way they sound from being an audience member, but if you are set on getting two different brands, the Yamaha is a very good option also.

Just remember, you will not be judged on the instruments, but the sound your staff and members can draw from them, so your responsibility is just to provide them with as much oppertunity for musical expression as you can without breaking the bank, which seems to be more and more of a hazard for small and young corps lately.

If you feel my experiences with front ensemble playing in corps can be of any more use to you, feel free to email me at yourwhiterose@gmail.com. Best of luck to you.