08/03/2025
Contra-Bass Marimba Project update! As Promised, I spent a little of the weekend tweaking the instrument. I fitted that extra wheel and added a carpet strip to the rolling bass for the bottom octave - that seems to have solved the sag issue and all the resonators now sit pretty flat and without extraneous vibration. To this end as well as just safety/structure - I added 3 paracord/spring tie lines. These loop over the resonator box mouths to hold them firmly together - one over the naturals and one each over the two groups of sharps. This make sure they don't wobble at all and keep position - makes sure that even when rolling the cart, you can't have one on the end tip over!
MOST importantly I was experimenting with getting the best sound. One important factor with bars this size is that you simply cannot buy a mallet that really suits them - both in terms of head weight/type and in terms of shaft length. SO it needs custom mallets. I settled on three pairs plus one single to go along with the instrument. The yellow and brown are similar - both with 30" long 1/2" diameter handles and big soft rubber "wheel" cores - difference is just in the amount of winding. Then there's the single softest mallet - same handle but a smaller diameter but longer cork core - this wrapped in a few layers of rubber sleeve = then LOTS of wool winding (2 windings) then 2 separate fluffy fabric coverings. This mallet is not too heavy but is the one you want for minimum contact sound when sustaining a roll on the lowest bars. Then the smaller red mallets have about 22" handles at 3/8" with medium rubber core rounded a little at the top - then with 200 winds of soft wool. These produce a good general "Bass" sound in the top octave and have a bit of a "two-tone" feel.
Despite the amazing generosity of sponsors, I'm still a little in the RED on this project, so any extra donations are still very welcome - https://www.gofundme.com/f/sponsor-a-bass-marimba-bar
