Choosing The Right Mallets
Xylophone – a variety of unwrapped mallets, primarily rubber or acrylic cores, or occasionally with cores made of wood.
If wood cores are used, make sure that they are designed specifically for use on rosewood bars, as there are some wood cores are designed to be less dense than rosewood, so as to avoid splitting the bars.
Avoid using mallets that are too hard, such as hard acrylic bell mallets, when performing on a rosewood xylophone; synthetic bars such as the Yamaha Acoustalon bars are much more forgiving of hard mallets.
Xylophone mallets
Hard rubber cores provide excellent fundamentals on both synthetic and rosewood bars, but will not project when one ends up playing on the higher register of the instrument.
I normally recommend urethane, acetal, PVC, Teflon, Lexan or nylon headed mallets for xylophone, and they each have their own unique sounds produced. And of course, rattan handles are the way to go for xylophone mallets.
The smaller the head, the brighter the sound produced (that’s the general case) so it would be wise to have an idea as to what sort of sound you are seeking before purchasing xylophone mallets.
Glockenspiel (Orchestral Bells) – hard plastic or acrylic mallets are suggested. Personally, I think brass mallets should be avoided if at all possible, as the metal alloys used in orchestra bell bars are softer than the brass mallet heads, and denting will result. However, there are some composers who specifically request using brass mallets.
If that is mandatory, I highly recommend using less strength than one would normally would when striking the bars and to be gentle! Its not about volume, but its about the tone produced by the brass mallets that is unique.
Glockenspiel Mallets
I normally recommend mallets that are made of hard phenolic, acetal or Lexan as they tend to ring a little more and the latter really gives a nice, rounded sound on the glockenspiel.
Of course, it would depend on what sort of glockenspiel you are using, so again, do experiment with different models first before purchasing them.
Final Thoughts
As players become more familiar with different mallets, they will become better skilled at selecting mallets.
It should be remembered that as a player develops as a musician, his or her preferences and needs in terms of mallet design may change, to reflect his or her evolving skills.
University students have a great opportunity to examine different brands and designs of mallets, due to the variety of mallets likely to be owned by the members of the percussion studio and their teacher(s).
And of course, when shafts warp or the cord / yarn gets completely unwounded or ripped, its time to replace the mallet, as using solid cores on some instruments like the marimba may end up damaging the bars!
To me, as well as to many others, mallet choice is about personal taste and choosing your sound. What to choose for any given piece or segment of a piece is usually a matter of prioritizing how you want specific musical voices to shine on through and with what sound color you hope to represent.
It’s not about brand loyalty, advertising, or the fact that certain famous players may use that particular mallet, nor is it a popularity contest.
It’s about choosing what is comfortable for you, and what will fit in the situation you are playing in. Its almost similar to buying a pair of shoes: you would want to buy a pair of shoes that is comfortable to you and fits you and works for you when you need it most.
Mallet choice is a highly subjective issue, and the mallets which may be the “perfect” choice for one player, may be quite inappropriate for another.
Mallets must be chosen to suit not only the player, but also the particular instrument, the musical context, the ensemble, the acoustics of the hall (or recording studio, as the case may be), the preferences of the conductor or musical director, etc.
It is rare that a player will have one set of mallets that is ideal for all situations. Instead, players should understand the factors which could cause one type of mallet to be better suited than another mallet for a given circumstance, so that they may continue to find the appropriate mallet for their needs.
With this in mind, I hope that this article will help you in your next mallet purchase decision! Do note that all mallets featured in this article can be purchased and tested out at our friendly local music stores, Music Gear and Swee Lee who are both Vic Firth dealers.
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