Creative Prompt #363: Xylophone

xylophone marimba

Glockenspiel xylophone

The xylophone is a component of the percussion section of an orchestra and many instrumental groups.

Definition: “The xylophone (from the Greek words ?????xylon, “wood”[1] + ????ph?n?, “sound, voice”,[2] meaning “wooden sound”) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African and Asian instruments, diatonic in many western children’s instruments, or chromatic for orchestral use.

The term xylophone may be used generally, to include all such instruments, such as the marimba, balafon and even the semantron. However, in the orchestra, the term xylophone refers specifically to a chromatic instrument of somewhat higher pitch range and drier timbre than the marimba, and these two instruments should not be confused.

The term is also popularly used to refer to similar instruments of the lithophone and metallophone types. For example, the Pixiphone and many similar toys described by the makers as xylophones have bars of metal rather than of wood, and so are in organology regarded as glockenspiels rather than as xylophones.” (Wikipedia)

Super Mario Xylophone

xylophone mallets

Xylophone Master

book by K.Z. Snow

Xylophone Tiki is one of the high-ranked members of the Tiki Tak Tribe in Donkey Kong Country Returns.

The xylophone Nabby is known use when luring in the children of Goldenvale, right before she starts chasing and snapping at them.

Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and get familiar with your blog or website.

The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to  post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.

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