malletjazz.com FAQ pages

“What’s the difference between a xylophone, a vibraphone, and a marimba?”

The main differences are range, and the material used to craft the bars. Of those three mallet instruments, the xylophone has the highest range (covering 2-1/2 to four octaves), and the bars are either made of rosewood or some sort of synthetic material. The marimba’s bars are also made of rosewood or synthetic materials, or sometimes a less expensive wood like Paduk.

Marimbas range from three octaves to five (or even a few notes beyond that!); 4-1/3 octave instruments are probably the most commonly-found range today, as this was the standard “concert range” for the instrument for many years - but in the past decade or so, five octaves has become the standard range for concert marimba repertoire, and five-octave instruments have become much more commonly used by professionals and college music programs.

UPDATE, JUNE 2022: In the time since this FAQ page was originally published, marimbas with a five-octave range have become much more common. Colleges and universities consistently have at least one five-octave marimba available, and an ever-increasing number of compositions have been created utilizing this extended range. 4-1/3 octave (also known as "4.3 octave") marimbas are still in use, but it is fairly safe to say that it is no longer the standard range, at least in concert, solo, and university settings.

Vibraphones have bars made of metal rather than wood,and thus the bars on a vibraphone sustain far longer than those on a marimba or xylophone; this is why vibraphones have a damper pedal (similar in function to the damper pedal on a piano). The standard range of the vibraphone has been three octaves (F-F) for many decades, but recently manufacturers have started to offer extended range vibraphones, extending down to C for a 3-1/2 octave range, or sometimes adding notes to the upper range to create a four-octave vibraphone.

Xylophones, vibraphones, and marimbas all (essentially) sound at concert pitch. The vibraphone and marimba sound exactly where written, but the xylophone sounds one octave higher than written (and orchestra bells, a/k/a glockenspiel, sound two octaves higher than written.)

- JW