I've been looking for marimba mallets for a while. I think Jeff Lee ones would be good, but I saw people using marimba mallets for suspended cymbal. Can you do that or would you need seperate cymbal mallets?

We have always just used marimba mallets, I dont think you need seperate ones for your cymbals

Okay thanks. That's what I thought.

no problem

Only problem: This will lead to a shorter life for your marimba mallets. You may need to record quicker than you would like if you use your marimba mallets for cymbals.

True. It's definitely reasonable to use the same mallets, but yarns don't last as long on sus. cymbal. Although, I've had worse luck with marimba mallets on xylo. So basically, it all comes down to how much care or abuse is given to the use of the mallets, no matter the application.

There are cymbal mallets out there. In fact, I did see a couple of them being displayed in some of the booths. You could use marimba mallets but if you had some extra money then I would say buy yourself maybe two pairs of cymbal mallets or you could just use some old marimba mallets.

For suspended cymbal I use Encore 33YR Mallets.

I'd also look into your approach to suspended cymbal playing. Most of the the time "Visual dynamics" are a key factor. Also experiment with roll speed. It's the same principle with Timp. and marimba bars when it comes to speed and volume. The cymbals are going to project , it's just a matter of approach.

In our concert band, we've had these old marimba mallets in the cabinet ( our school has never owned a marimba ) and they practically haven't been used for years until now; perfect suspended cymbal mallets. Our instructor was surprised 0.0.

If you have some extra money I would get the mike balters sc 1 or sc 2 for sus. cymbal. They are really confortable, but yarn mallets do fine

As others have said you can use yarn mallets for cymbals to great success, but you will eat the yarn up pretty quickly. I believe Vic Firth has a Beken line of mallets (beken=cymabl in German) you may want to try those, though I have not. I personally recommend the Vaugncraft WM3 woodblock mallets. They are a smaller mallet with a nylon cover. William Moersch (Marimba virtuoso and my instructor at Illinois) recommends these for all of his students. They sound great on sus. and dont wear out fast. The only problem is the thin handle size, you may find them uncomfortable, but I have used them, as have the lines I teach to great success.

we use marimba mallets for suspended cymbal, we usually use the softer mallets, but for marching band we use whatever we have in our hands...lol

Although Im ok with people using marimba mallets and vibe mallets on sus. cymabals, I still cringe to watch people in a high school pit roll a cymbal with clear hard xylo mallets. Never was a big fan of that. If no yarn mallets are available to the person playing, id find someone else to play the cymbal part.

Agreed. There's no substitute for using the right tool for the right job. Depending on what sound you are looking for will dictate what mallet will be used. I am endorsed by Innovative Percussion and they have mallets that fit every situation. Other mallet companies do as well, but its Innovative's product line with which I am most familiar.

If anyone needs specific info, please feel free to contact me.

Hard plastics for suspended cymbal? Ouch!!

We have a pair of worn out yarns that we use for syspended cymbal. I jump on my other pitter all the time because he likes to use our marimba mallets on the cymbal. The yarns we use are a little sturdier handles (suprisingly) and they give a more full sound. The marimbas are more tightly woven and give a higher pitched sound. Overall, the older yarns give a better control dynamically and as far as sound.

Although the topic is what implement to use on a cymbal , I thought I'd chime in with some other thoughts:

1. Remember to use relaxed full "up-strokes" for sus. cym. playing. Playing "into" the cymbal could cause it to crack due to the intensity of the "down-stroke"

2. The size of the cymbal is determining factor for intensity and speed of rolls (16" are a good general cymbal and can be used or light textures while a 19" will project more). On a smaller cym. you'll just have to use fewer strokes to reach the "peak" than you would on a larger cym . Slow, full strokes are ideal while harsh, fast strokes wouldn't allow the cym. to have a full resonate/vibrate sound. The less contact the mallets have with the cymbal, the more freely it can vibrate ...use height to vary the dynamics. This may require some experimenting/practicing by adjusting the velocity of your strokes.

3. Remember, thickness of the cymbal and the type of response needed, to "warm up" the cymbal by lightly tapping it with your hand or mallets just before playing.

4. Also, experiment with different yarn mallets. A soft (or medium-soft) mallet with a large amount of mass (not a timpani mallet, lol) produces a warmer tone than a hard mallet. Hard mallets tend to produce brighter and more articulate tones. "Harder doesn't mean louder". There are implements now that are specifically used for sus. cym playing (http://www.vicfirth.com/products/soundpower.html , the James Campbell and the Zildjian sus. cym. mallets, for examples.) but I think I'm running on a bit of a tangent, lol.

Well , check out some examples of cymbal playing here: http://www.vicfirth.com/emailclub/marching...newsissue2.html

(look at the Cadets Vid. but there aren't any/many close ups on sus.cym rolls (I know one for sure) and http://www.vicfirth.com/features/DCI2005.html


and http://www.innovativepercussion.net

During concert season, we tended to have a vast shortage of any kind of mallets... so we kinda scrounged around for whatever we could find. Good news is: we found some! But they were really old. They broke, and we taped them back up; again, and again, and again...

we have also used mamarba mallets on cymbals but we trynot to.

Usually we uses the softest marimba mallets we have on suspended cymbal. For more less sound quality