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Description

If you have any technical questions about bars and tunings etc. post them hear and our resident vibe geek Nico vanderPlas will answer them!

Forum Topic: mallet recommendations

Does anybody have a recommendation for a mallet (4 mallet playing ) that would be a grade softer than the Malletech Dave Samuels soft DS11
or the Malletech Dave Friedman DF12 which I currently use but I think are no longer made. I tried the Malletech eMotion Series Soft Vibe Rattan
but it was too soft (and heavy). Ordering and trying them out from Steve Weiss is too expensive when you have to pay return shipping ($18!!!!)
I'm open to any make or model. Thanks for your suggestions!

Forum Topic: C to C

I have been playing for 6 years, but still consider myself a beginner.  Besides other advantages (cost, portability) I chose to go electronic (first Malletkat, then Xylosyth) because I just could not figure out how to do 4-mallet voicings on tunes without utilizing bars below F. Both MK and XS provide C to C models, and that solves my issue. My question is: Why do most all acoustic vibes go F to F? How can everybody else be fine with this, see no problem, and yet I seem to require C to C in order to achieve the melody/chord voicings I want?

Forum Topic: Small diaphragm vs. large for condenser mics

Trying to decide which provides the most "natural" sound for recording vibes; Small diaphragm vs. large for condenser mics. I've attached two WAV files here in which I recorded myself with each of the two types (not actual tunes, just me improvising some lines and chords to try to capture the range and timbre of the instrument). File C-2 Mic test is a pair of Behringer C-2 pencil condenser mics. File CM2400 Mic test is a pair of Stellar Labs CM2400 large diaphragm condenser mics set for cardoid pickup pattern (I think Stellar Labs was a house brand of MCM Electronics).

Forum Topic: Dig this new travel vibe with custom pickups :-)

Hey friends,

Finally sharing these two videos that I had promised to post... One is about the new Yamaha YV3030MS vibe that I recently started using for gigs, the other details how I built a custom pickup system for this instrument. Hope some of you will find it interesting & helpful!

https://youtu.be/1fWO_9DXfX4

https://youtu.be/PUiXP4Xz-3s

 

Cheers,

Steve