Xylophones

Xylophone or Glockenspiel?

Both the xylophone and the glockenspiel are instruments belonging to the family of percussion musical instruments. However, their origins, bars, and uses are very different. Both are used extensively in many contexts - from symphony orchestras, large concerts by skilled percussionists to music rooms in schools, children's education, etc. because they are easy to approach - but harder to master. There are also quite a few glockenspiels and xylophones in the music we hear on the radio - for example, listen to Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know or Shape of You by Ed Sheeran.

The origin of the xylophone can be traced back to ancient Africa. 'The earliest written documentation of the xylophone is around the 14th century in Mali, Africa.' There were different types of xylophones 'some simple bars in the forest without any resonating box - and some very complex xylophones that are framed and have hollowed-out gourds as resonating boxes.'

The glockenspiel originated in Germany, where churches used a series of mounted bells to play. The bells were later replaced by steel bars around the 1700s. Later, the steel bars became an integral part of the glockenspiel.

The main difference between a xylophone and a glockenspiel is that a xylophone has wooden bars, while the glockenspiel has metal bars. The wooden bars of the xylophone are generally made of rosewood, for example, Lights rosewood, padauk, or Honduran rosewood. Xylophones made of Honduras rosewood are considered to produce the best sound.

Xylophones have a tonally high sound with the characteristic soft, short wooden tone, while glockenspiels have a somewhat brighter tone and much longer sustain.

Xylophones can be found in many sizes, from smaller diatonic versions of one to one and a half octaves to large chromatic ones of up to fire octaves, where they slide into the marimba category - in the same way that large glockenspiels are called metallophones.

Glockenspiels are always written two octaves lower than their actual sound in sheet music, while a xylophone will always sound one octave higher than what is written in the notes.

In terms of size, glockenspiels are much smaller than xylophones.

Both the xylophone and the glockenspiel can be considered to be related to a marimba

Read more about glockenspiels on Wikipedia: click here and Wikipedia Xylophones: click here