Marimba Making

at Crystal Spring Elementary School

The assigned task was to make one 3 1/2 octave marimba and one bass marimba at Crystal Spring Elementary School with the help music teacher, Gretchen Jensen, and the students from Grades K - 5. The school PTA provided the funding for the project. These marimbas were designed by Jon Madin, author of the books: Marimba Music 1 and 2 .

The older students worked on tuning the tone bars using a mallet and wood chisel, while the younger students did the sanding and smoothing. We worked on the marimbas a total of four days with each marimba taking two days to complete. The frame and resonator pipe modules were made with parent help in a local wood shop. They were assembled and mounted at the school. Ms Jensen decorated the frames and pipe modules with assistance from the school’s art teacher. The goal of the marimba making activity was to let the students help make the marimbas, to observe the assembly process and finally learn to play them!

The Project