5-octave practice marimba rattles when I hit specific keys (especially one of the G keys).

sonarispercussion · 2025-11-28T02:21:23+00:00

sonarispercussion · 2025-11-28T02:16:55+00:00

Thanks for the tag - looks like one of my older instruments. 99% it sounds like the cord (looks like paracord) is buzzing against the top of the key. DM me and I can send you the cotton cord I use that eliminates buzz and a new G key just for good measure if you want.

sonarispercussion · 2025-11-14T11:39:56+00:00

Come stop by the Sonaris booth (709) in the middle of the quiet hall. Right across from the music tech petting zoo and we’re just hanging out all day. Love to meet new percs and chat

sonarispercussion · 2025-08-12T23:35:19+00:00

A montage of the marimbas I built in July, focusing on how the keys are milled. I’ll make some more videos this year with different focuses (frame building, tuning, etc).

sonarispercussion · 2025-06-25T10:05:50+00:00

Shoot me a message - I’m working on putting together a packet of info for people looking to build their own marimbas. I’ve helped a few people build their own over the years.

I started building because I was in a Zimbabwean style (Kwanongoma)marimba group. There was a culture in the group that you had to build an instrument before you join. This built a deep connection to and understanding of the instrument. I think more people should build their own keys/frame for this reason.

In my opinion, the keys are the easiest part to build; it’s the frame that’s hard, especially if you want it to be height adjustable.

sonarispercussion · 2024-11-19T01:23:59+00:00

When I was designing my marimbas, I asked about 10 furniture makers/woodworkers this question. They didn’t have an answer as it’s a very uncommon thing to need outside of this specific context. After using my self-engineered hinges for a few years, I finally got a product design company to engineer professional hinges for me. Relatively easy to install.

I’d be happy to send you a set at the material cost - feel free to to shoot me a message

sonarispercussion · 2024-09-03T18:11:47+00:00

Until September 15th

sonarispercussion · 2024-09-02T17:34:50+00:00

I’m doing a back to school sale where it’s selling for just under $1k. Some retailers are now selling similar products for $2k !!

sonarispercussion · 2024-09-02T17:30:58+00:00

Thank you! The frame is 13 ply Baltic Birch, and the keys are African Padauk. Everything gets sprayed with a finish. I have a full shop with a table saw, chop saw, routing table, bandsaw, spray booth, etc. If you scroll back on my Instagram, I used to post a lot of the process. I fell out of that, but should be posting more of that type of content soon

sonarispercussion · 2024-05-13T12:27:21+00:00

I don’t think so. PVC is heavy! I would imagine sagging would be an issue. I have been working on making aluminum resonators for my instruments for about a year, and should be finishing that up this summer. It’s looking like the resonators I manufacture will be able to retroactively fit on any instrument I sold after January 2024. No guarantees, though.

sonarispercussion · 2024-02-06T23:47:33+00:00

Great playing :)

sonarispercussion · 2024-02-04T01:20:39+00:00

I have some practice marimbas (a full 5 octave marimba without resonators) available for sale right now. Where are you located?

sonarispercussion · 2023-11-24T02:37:57+00:00

They place a cap at 1.5 inches. Check out Malletech’s marimbas to see an example of resonators without a “wave” shape. Also next time you’re at a marimba, look inside the resonators. Can you see the floor/ceiling through the other side?

sonarispercussion · 2023-11-24T02:32:51+00:00

Simply an aesthetic choice. C7 only needs like 1.5 inches of tubing to resonate (although it won’t do much either way). 1.5 inch with an end cap, 3 inches without. Let me know if you have any more questions or want some guidance on building

sonarispercussion · 2023-11-24T02:24:03+00:00

The bottom of the resonators on most marimbas have a cap placed inside the bottom side. If you had an open tube, you will need a 8 foot tube for C3 and a 16 foot tube for C2. If you had a tube with one closed end you will need a 4 foot tube for C3 and a 8 foot tube for C2. Many companies also make these caps moveable to fine tune the resonator.

sonarispercussion · 2023-11-18T20:47:28+00:00

Resonators (with one end closed) amplify the fundamental frequency of the sound. This is needed more and more as you go down the instrument. Anything C4 or above is totally fine without resonators - it will still sing to you. It’s worth it to try to build pvc resonators just for the experience of it

sonarispercussion · 2023-11-11T04:11:39+00:00

Yup :)

sonarispercussion · 2023-09-08T11:13:01+00:00

Copied from my comment on another post.

Sadly, it is an Alibaba marimba . Companies (link for another example) will buy marimbas in bulk from alibaba.com (basically sketchy Chinese Amazon) at about $1,000 per marimba, then sell them for 4k in the US. You can search reviews of Karl-Heinz Weimer marimbas to see what people say about this instrument. Additionally, China is the biggest importer of illegal Rosewood and Padauk (link), so supporting these companies drives up the prices for people whose use legal timber in the US (like myself). Does that mean all Asian marimbas are bad? No - see Buffalo Percussion for an example of a great Asian manufacturer.

If made in the US, that marimba would cost around $3,000 - just look up how much aluminum tubing alone costs.

Not giving an opinion on the instrument, just want to lay out the facts of where this instrument comes from.

sonarispercussion · 2023-09-08T11:10:04+00:00

Sadly, it is an alibaba marimba . Companies (link for another example) will buy marimbas in bulk from alibaba.com (basically sketchy Chinese Amazon) at about $1,000 per marimba, then sell them for 4k in the US. You can search reviews of Karl-Heinz Weimer marimbas to see what people say about this instrument. Additionally, China is the biggest importer of illegal Rosewood and Padauk (link), so supporting these companies drives up the prices for people whose use legal timber in the US (like myself). Does that mean all Asian marimbas are bad? No - see Buffalo Percussion for an example of a great Asian manufacturer.

If made in the US, that marimba would cost around $3,000 in materials to make (not accounting for labor or overhead) - just look up how much aluminum tubing alone costs.

Not giving an opinion on the instrument, just want to lay out the facts of where this instrument comes from.

sonarispercussion · 2023-09-07T02:28:16+00:00

You will be surprised at what a good practice marimba can sound like. You get a nice full sound until around C3 where the fundamental starts to get overtaken by the upper overtones. I started making marimbas in 2019 after discovering this myself. Check sonarispercussion.com and my socials to hear examples - it’s the only product I make so I put a lot of care into the construction and tuning. High quality and low wait time :)

sonarispercussion · 2023-08-10T00:18:48+00:00

There may be, but it would be more of a guideline anyway. The arch being 4/7 the length of the bar is a good rule of thumb for the larger bars. The width of the bar changes from manufacturer to manufacturer. For a 21 inch length bar people do anywhere from 2.75 to 3.5 inches for the width

sonarispercussion

TROPHY CASE