97-469: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis . The orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center , a performing arts organization in New York City. In 1988, the orchestra was formed as an outgrowth of its concert series, Classical Jazz, with David Berger conducting. When Wynton Marsalis became artistic director in 1991, he emphasized
194-532: A front ensemble have the motor removed entirely. In those cases having the motor off is the norm and is not used unless specifically called for. The early vibraphones used motors that were intended to power record-player turntables and had limited to no speed-adjustment capabilities. Whatever speed adjustments were possible were made by moving the drive belt among a small number of pulleys (usually three) of varying diameters. Later, variable-speed AC motors became available at reasonable prices. These motors allow
291-425: A bar is flat, its overall pitch structure can be raised by removing material from the ends of the bar. Once this slightly sharp bar is created, the secondary and tertiary tones can be lowered by removing material from specific locations of the bar. Vibraphones are tuned to a standard of A = 442 Hz or A = 440 Hz, depending on the manufacturer or the customer's preference. While concert pitch
388-660: A century as a result of their broadcasts on the NBC and CBS networks of the annual New Year's Eve celebrations from the Roosevelt Grill at New York's Roosevelt Hotel (1929-1959) and the Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (1959-1976) . Gloria Parker had a radio program on which she conducted the largest all-girl orchestra led by a female. She led her Swingphony while playing marimba. Phil Spitalny ,
485-400: A greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, drums and sometimes vibraphone. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxophones, and
582-431: A menace. After 1935, big bands rose to prominence playing swing music and held a major role in defining swing as a distinctive style. Western swing musicians also formed popular big bands during the same period. A considerable range of styles evolved among the hundreds of popular bands. Many of the better known bands reflected the individuality of the bandleader, the lead arranger, and the personnel. Count Basie played
679-420: A native of Ukraine, led a 22-piece female orchestra known as Phil Spitalny and His Hour of Charm Orchestra , named for his radio show, The Hour of Charm , during the 1930s and 1940s. Other female bands were led by trumpeter B. A. Rolfe , Anna Mae Winburn , and Ina Ray Hutton . Big Bands began to appear in movies in the 1930s through the 1960s, though cameos by bandleaders were often stiff and incidental to
776-501: A note on the lower bars while striking a nearby upper bar. As the player strikes the upper bar with a mallet, they simultaneously press the heel of their hand or the side of their finger into the ringing lower bar, using the same hand to strike the upper bar and damp the lower one. Using both hands, it's possible to damp and strike two bars at once. To achieve a denser sound and richer chord voicings , some vibraphonists have experimented with three mallets per hand, either in both hands for
873-444: A reinforcement of the main melodic line, similar to the use of double stops in solo violin music. In jazz groups, two-mallet vibraphonists are usually considered part of the "front line" with the horn players, contributing solos of their own but contributing very little in the way of accompaniment to other soloists. Two-mallet players use several different grips, the most common being a matched grip called German grip , in which
970-413: A relaxed, propulsive swing, Bob Crosby (brother of Bing ), more of a dixieland style, Benny Goodman a hard driving swing, and Duke Ellington's compositions were varied and sophisticated. Many bands featured strong instrumentalists whose sounds dominated, such as the clarinets of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw , the trombone of Jack Teagarden , the trumpet of Harry James , the drums of Gene Krupa , and
1067-419: A rhythm section of four instruments. In the 1940s, Stan Kenton 's band used up to five trumpets, five trombones (three tenor and two bass trombones ), five saxophones (two alto saxophones , two tenor saxophones , one baritone saxophone ), and a rhythm section. Duke Ellington at one time used six trumpets. While most big bands dropped the previously common jazz clarinet from their arrangements (other than
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#17327944745581164-428: A silver or gold color) and may have a glossy or matte finish. These are cosmetic features with a negligible effect on the sound. The bed for the bars is made by laying down four wooden rails onto each end of the frame. Each rail has a series of pins with rubber spacers. As the cord passes through the holes of the bar, they rest on the pins to suspend the bars. On each outer side, the ends of the cord attach together with
1261-462: A slight vibrato . Oftentimes, vibraphones, and other mallet instruments, will include non-functional, decorative resonator tubes with no corresponding bar above to make the instrument look more complete. In 1970, Deagan introduced the ElectraVibe, which dispensed with resonator tubes entirely and took a signal directly from the bars, adding a tremolo in a preamplifier. This sought to improve
1358-404: A spring to provide tension and flex. Resonators are thin-walled tubes, typically made of aluminum, but any suitably strong material can be used. They are open at one end and closed at the other. Each bar is paired with a resonator whose diameter is slightly wider than the width of the bar and whose length to the closure is one-quarter of the wavelength of the fundamental frequency of the bar. When
1455-442: A third pitch an octave and a major third above the second. For the F 3 bar that usually forms the lowest note on a vibraphone, there would be F 3 as the fundamental, F 5 as the first overtone , and A 6 as the second overtone. As a side effect, the arch causes the nodal points of the fundamental vibration to shift closer towards the ends of the bar. After beveling or rounding the edges, fine-tuning adjustments are made. If
1552-413: A total of six mallets or in just the left hand for a total of five. Like many other metallophones , percussionists can use an orchestral bow on the vibraphone to achieve sustained tones that will not decay, nor have a percussive attack. This is done by bowing the bars perpendicular to their outer edges. Due to the different mode of vibration, this also changes the sound of the vibraphone by emphasizing
1649-548: A young Bob Hope as the announcer. Big band remotes on the major radio networks spread the music from ballrooms and clubs across the country during the 1930s and 1940s, with remote broadcasts from jazz clubs continuing into the 1950s on NBC's Monitor . Radio increased the fame of Benny Goodman , the "Pied Piper of Swing". Others challenged him, and battle of the bands became a regular feature of theater performances. Similarly, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians Orchestra also achieved widespread notoriety for nearly half
1746-447: Is generally A = 440 Hz, the sharper tuning of A = 442 Hz is used to give the vibraphone a slightly brighter sound to cut through the ensemble. Like marimbas, professional vibraphones have bars of graduated width. Lower bars are made from wider stock, and higher notes from narrower stock, to help balance volume and tone across the range of the instrument. The bars are anodized after fine-tuning (typically in
1843-415: Is generally configured so lead parts are seated in the middle of their sections and solo parts are seated closest to the rhythm section. The fourth trombone part is generally played by a bass trombone. In some pieces the trumpets may double on flugelhorn or cornet , and saxophone players frequently double on other woodwinds such as flute , piccolo , clarinet , bass clarinet , or soprano saxophone . It
1940-484: Is held between the index and middle fingers. The shafts cross in the middle of the palm and extend past the heel of the hand. For wide intervals, the thumb often moves in between the two mallets, and the inside mallet is held in the crook of the fingers. Unlike many other grips, the outer right mallet is the leading mallet rather than the inside two. Although some early vibes players made use of four mallets, notably Red Norvo , Adrian Rollini , and sometimes Lionel Hampton ,
2037-404: Is not an issue with marimbas and xylophones, where the natural sustain time of the wooden bars is short, but vibraphone bars can ring for many seconds after being struck, and this effect is highly desirable in many circumstances. Therefore, the resonators in a vibraphone are usually tuned slightly off-pitch to create a balance between loudness and sustain. A unique feature of vibraphone resonators
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#17327944745582134-462: Is the second most popular solo keyboard percussion instrument , after the marimba. Solos may be jazz standards specifically arranged for the instrument or newly composed pieces that are either jazz-oriented or classical in nature. Some of the most performed solo literature includes Mirror from Another by David Friedman , "Mourning Dove Sonnet" by Christopher Deane, Trilogy by Tim Huesgen, and "Blues for Gilbert" by Mark Glentworth. Throughout
2231-405: Is the shaft of rotating discs, commonly called fans, across the top. When the fans are open, the resonators have full function. When the fans are closed, the resonators are partially occluded, reducing the resonance of the fundamental pitch. A drive belt connects the shafts to an electric motor beneath the playing surface and rotates the fans. This rotation of the fans creates a tremolo effect and
2328-524: Is useful to distinguish between the roles of composer, arranger and leader. The composer writes original music that will be performed by individuals or groups of various sizes, while the arranger adapts the work of composers in a creative way for a performance or recording. Arrangers frequently notate all or most of the score of a given number, usually referred to as a "chart". Bandleaders are typically performers who assemble musicians to form an ensemble of various sizes, select or create material for them, shape
2425-625: The Cotton Club in Harlem. Fletcher Henderson 's career started when he was persuaded to audition for a job at Club Alabam in New York City, which eventually turned into a job as bandleader at the Roseland Ballroom . At these venues, which themselves gained notoriety, bandleaders and arrangers played a greater role than they had before. Hickman relied on Ferde Grofé, Whiteman on Bill Challis . Henderson and arranger Don Redman followed
2522-495: The Library of Congress film collection. Vibes (percussion) The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp ) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist, vibraharpist, or vibist . The vibraphone resembles the steel marimba , which it superseded. One of
2619-604: The marimba , and is part of the standard college-level percussion performance education. It is a standard instrument in the modern percussion section for orchestras , concert bands , and in the marching arts (typically as part of the front ensemble ). Around 1916, instrument maker Herman Winterhoff of the Leedy Manufacturing Company began experimenting with vox humana effects on a three-octave (F 3 to F 6 ) steel marimba . His original design attempted to produce this effect by raising and lowering
2716-527: The 1930s and 1940s, each manufacturer attracted its own following in various specialties, but the Deagan vibraphones were the models preferred by many of the specialist jazz players. Deagan struck endorsement deals with many of the leading players, including Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson . However, the Deagan company went out of business in the 1980s, and its trademark and patents were purchased by Yamaha . Yamaha continues to make percussion instruments based on
2813-627: The 1930s, Earl Hines and his band broadcast from the Grand Terrace in Chicago every night across America. In Kansas City and across the Southwest, an earthier, bluesier style was developed by such bandleaders as Bennie Moten and, later, by Jay McShann and Jesse Stone . By 1937, the "sweet jazz band" saxophonist Shep Fields was also featured over the airways on the NBC radio network in his Rippling Rhythm Revue, which also showcased
2910-671: The 1960s and '70s, Sun Ra and his Arketstra took big bands further out. Ra's eclectic music was played by a roster of musicians from ten to thirty and was presented as theater, with costumes, dancers, and special effects. As jazz was expanded during the 1950s through the 1970s, the Basie and Ellington bands were still around, as were bands led by Buddy Rich , Gene Krupa , Lionel Hampton , Earl Hines , Les Brown , Clark Terry , and Doc Severinsen . Progressive bands were led by Dizzy Gillespie , Gil Evans , Carla Bley , Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin , Don Ellis , and Anthony Braxton . In
3007-401: The 1960s and 1970s, big band rock became popular by integrating such musical ingredients as progressive rock experimentation , jazz fusion , and the horn choirs often used in blues and soul music , with some of the most prominent groups including Chicago ; Blood, Sweat and Tears ; Tower of Power ; and, from Canada, Lighthouse . The genre was gradually absorbed into mainstream pop rock and
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3104-420: The C below middle C are also becoming more common (C 3 to F 6 or C 7 ). Unlike its cousin, the glockenspiel , the vibraphone is generally a non- transposing instrument , written at concert pitch . Vibraphone mallets usually consist of a rubber ball core wrapped in yarn or cord and attached to a narrow dowel, most commonly made of rattan or birch and sometimes of fiberglass or nylon. Mallets suitable for
3201-519: The Fields , which won the Pulitzer Prize. Since 2015, the orchestra's albums have been issued on its own label, Blue Engine Records. Jazz orchestra A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones , trumpets , trombones , and a rhythm section . Big bands originated during
3298-497: The Leedy design, and introduced a foot-controlled damper bar. Schluter's design became more popular than the Leedy design and has become the template for all instruments now called a "vibraphone". Both the terms "vibraphone" and "vibraharp" were trademarked by Leedy and Deagan, respectively. Other manufacturers were forced to use the generic name "vibes" or devise new trade names such as "vibraceleste" for their instruments incorporating
3395-519: The Second Herd emphasized the saxophone section of three tenors and one baritone. In the 1950s, Stan Kenton referred to his band's music as "progressive jazz", "modern", and "new music". He created his band as a vehicle for his compositions. Kenton pushed the boundaries of big bands by combining clashing elements and by hiring arrangers whose ideas about music conflicted. This expansive eclecticism characterized much of jazz after World War II. During
3492-558: The United States, and the personnel often had to perform having had little sleep and food. Apart from the star soloists, many musicians received low wages and would abandon the tour if bookings disappeared. Sometimes bandstands were too small, public address systems inadequate, pianos out of tune. Bandleaders dealt with these obstacles through rigid discipline (Glenn Miller) and canny psychology ( Duke Ellington ). Big bands raised morale during World War II . Many musicians served in
3589-488: The absence of their original leaders. Although big bands are identified with the swing era, they continued to exist after those decades, though the music they played was often different from swing. Bandleader Charlie Barnet 's recording of " Cherokee " in 1942 and "The Moose" in 1943 have been called the beginning of the bop era. Woody Herman 's first band, nicknamed the First Herd, borrowed from progressive jazz, while
3686-506: The adjustment of the rotating speed by a potentiometer mounted on a control panel near the motor. They typically support rotation rates in the range of 1–12 Hz. The two-mallet approach to vibes is traditionally linear , playing like a horn rather than comping like a guitar or piano. Two-mallet players usually concentrate on playing a single melodic line and rely on other musicians to provide accompaniment. Double stops (two notes played simultaneously) are sometimes used, but mostly as
3783-631: The bands of Guy Lombardo and Paul Whiteman. A distinction is often made between so-called "hard bands", such as those of Count Basie and Tommy Dorsey, which emphasized quick hard-driving jump tunes, and "sweet bands", such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Shep Fields Rippling Rhythm Orchestra who specialized in less improvised tunes with more emphasis on sentimentality, featuring somewhat slower-paced, often heart-felt songs. By this time
3880-436: The bar and resonator are properly in tune with each other, the vibrating air beneath the bar travels down the resonator and is reflected from the closure at the bottom, then returns to the top and is reflected back by the bar, over and over, creating a much stronger standing wave and increasing the amplitude of the fundamental frequency. The resonators, besides raising the upper end of the vibraphone's dynamic range, also affect
3977-439: The bars ring slightly longer than with the pad fully up and can make a medium-fast passage sound more legato without pedaling every note. The four-mallet vibraphone style is multi-linear, like a piano. In jazz groups, four-mallet vibraphonists are often considered part of the rhythm section , typically substituting for piano or guitar and providing accompaniment for other soloists in addition to soloing themselves. Furthermore,
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4074-406: The bars, the holes are placed at approximately the nodal points of the bar (i.e., the points of minimum amplitude around which the bar vibrates). For a uniform bar, the nodal points are located 22.4% from each end of the bar. Material is ground away from the underside of the bars in an arch shape to lower the pitch. This allows the lower-pitched bars to be a manageable length. It is also the key to
4171-403: The big band was such a dominant force in jazz that the older generation found they either had to adapt to it or simply retire. With no market for small-group recordings (made worse by a Depression-era industry reluctant to take risks), musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines led their own bands, while others, like Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver, lapsed into obscurity. Even so, many of
4268-402: The changing demands of composers who are looking for particular sounds. Jazz players, on the other hand, often make use of multi-purpose mallets to allow for improvisation. Vibraphone bars are made from aluminum bar stock, cut into blanks of predetermined length. Holes are drilled through the width of the bars, so they can be suspended by a cord (typically paracord ). To maximize the sustain of
4365-413: The clarinet-led orchestras of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman), many Duke Ellington songs had clarinet parts, often replacing or doubling one of the tenor saxophone parts; more rarely, Ellington would substitute baritone sax for bass clarinet, such as in "Ase's Death" from Swinging Suites . Boyd Raeburn drew from symphony orchestras by adding flute , French horn , strings, and timpani to his band. In
4462-594: The distinction between these roles can become blurred. Billy Strayhorn , for example, was a prolific composer and arranger, frequently collaborating with Duke Ellington , but rarely took on the role of bandleader, which was assumed by Ellington, who himself was a composer and arranger. Typical big band arrangements from the swing era were written in strophic form with the same phrase and chord structure repeated several times. Each iteration, or chorus, commonly follows twelve bar blues form or thirty-two-bar (AABA) song form . The first chorus of an arrangement introduces
4559-466: The early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing the Lindy Hop . In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave
4656-508: The entire band then memorizing the way they are going to perform the piece, without writing it on sheet music. During the 1930s, Count Basie 's band often used head arrangements, as Basie said, "we just sort of start it off and the others fall in." Head arrangements were more common during the period of the 1930s because there was less turnover in personnel, giving the band members more time to rehearse. Before 1910, social dance in America
4753-474: The first bands to accompany the new rhythms was led by a drummer, Art Hickman , in San Francisco in 1916. Hickman's arranger, Ferde Grofé , wrote arrangements in which he divided the jazz orchestra into sections that combined in various ways. This intermingling of sections became a defining characteristic of big bands. In 1919, Paul Whiteman hired Grofé to use similar techniques for his band. Whiteman
4850-455: The form include modulations and cadential extensions. Some big ensembles, like King Oliver 's, played music that was half-arranged, half-improvised, often relying on head arrangements. A head arrangement is a piece of music that is formed by band members during rehearsal. They experiment, often with one player coming up with a simple musical figure leading to development within the same section and then further expansion by other sections, with
4947-468: The form of the "rhythm sextet ". These ensembles typically featured three or more accordions accompanied by piano, guitar, bass, cello, percussion, and marimba with vibes and were popularized by recording artists such as Charles Magnante , Joe Biviano and John Serry . Twenty-first century big bands can be considerably larger than their predecessors, exceeding 20 players, with some European bands using 29 instruments and some reaching 50. In
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#17327944745585044-454: The four-mallet style has led to a significant body of unaccompanied solo vibes playing. One notable example is Gary Burton ’s performance of " Chega de Saudade (No More Blues) " from his Grammy-winning 1971 album, Alone at Last . The most popular four-mallet grip for vibraphone is the Burton grip , named for Gary Burton. One mallet is held between the thumb and index finger and the other
5141-416: The four-mallet vibraphonist as for two-mallet players, but the all-or-nothing damping system of the sustain pedal presents many obstacles to multi-linear playing, since each line normally has its own damping requirements independent of the other lines. To overcome this, four-mallet players also use "mallet damping" and "hand damping". There are many benefits of being proficient in these techniques, as it allows
5238-412: The fully pianistic four-mallet approach to jazz on the vibraphone is almost entirely the creation of Burton. Practitioners of Burton grip tend to make more use of double strokes as compared to two-mallet players. This is done not only to avoid crossing the hands, but also to help minimize the motions between the two bar rows. For example, an ascending E ♭ major scale could be played by keeping
5335-427: The higher harmonics and giving it a more "glassy" tone. Because changing notes requires large and precise movements, fast passages are not often written for bowed vibraphone. Bent notes can be achieved on the vibraphone by sliding a rubber or plastic mallet from the nodal point to the center of the bar. This technique is able to lower the pitch by about a half step . As part of the standard percussion section ,
5432-736: The history of jazz, particularly Duke Ellington . The first album was Portraits by Ellington (1992), and seven years later the Ellington centennial was honored with the album Live in Swing City: Swingin' with the Duke (1999). Under the leadership of Marsalis, the band performs at its home in Lincoln Center, tours throughout the U.S. and abroad, visits schools, appears on television, and performs with symphony orchestras. The orchestra backed Wynton Marsalis on his album Blood on
5529-403: The instrument is pressed upward by an adjustable spring and engages a long felt pad against the sharps and the naturals. A foot pedal lowers the bar and allows notes to ring freely; releasing the pedal engages the damper and stops any vibrating notes. One common flaw of this damping mechanism is that the bar is often supported at one point in the middle, causing it to damp the instrument unevenly in
5626-645: The instrumentation of the big bands. Examples include the Vienna Art Orchestra , founded in 1977, and the Italian Instabile Orchestra , active in the 1990s. In the late 1990s, there was a swing revival in the U.S. The Lindy Hop became popular again and young people took an interest in big band styles again. Big bands maintained a presence on American television, particularly through the late-night talk show, which has historically used big bands as house accompaniment . Typically
5723-418: The inventor of the original steel marimba on which Leedy's design was based, to ask its chief tuner, Henry Schluter, to develop a similar instrument in 1927. Instead of just copying the Leedy design, Schluter introduced several significant improvements. He made the bars from aluminum instead of steel for a mellower tone, adjusted the dimensions and tuning of the bars to eliminate the dissonant harmonics present in
5820-497: The jazz rock sector. Other bandleaders used Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music with big band instrumentation, and big bands led by arranger Gil Evans, saxophonist John Coltrane (on the album Ascension from 1965) and bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius introduced cool jazz , free jazz and jazz fusion, respectively, to the big band domain. Modern big bands can be found playing all styles of jazz music. Some large contemporary European jazz ensembles play mostly avant-garde jazz using
5917-419: The late 1930s, Shep Fields incorporated a solo accordion, temple blocks , piccolo , violins and a viola into his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra. Paul Whiteman also featured a solo accordion in his ensemble. Jazz ensembles numbering eight ( octet ), nine ( nonet ) or ten ( tentet ) voices are sometimes called "little big bands". During the 1940s, somewhat smaller configurations of the big band emerged in
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#17327944745586014-516: The left hand on the upper bars and the right hand on the lower. For linear passages with leaps, all four mallets are often used sequentially. Also popular is the Stevens grip , named for marimbist Leigh Howard Stevens . Many other grips are in use, some variations on the Burton or Stevens, others idiosyncratic creations of individual vibes players. Pedaling techniques are at least as important for
6111-405: The main differences between the vibraphone and other keyboard percussion instruments is that each bar suspends over a resonator tube containing a flat metal disc. These discs are attached together by a common axle and spin when the motor is turned on. This causes the instrument to produce its namesake tremolo or vibrato effect. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to a piano . When
6208-432: The mallets are played palms down, with the thumbs facing each other. In this grip, the mallets are held between the thumb and index finger of each hand, with the remaining three fingers of each hand supporting the shafts. This grip uses a combination of wrist movement and fingertip control to manipulate the mallet. Another popular grip is French grip , a grip also commonly used on timpani . The mallets are again held between
6305-407: The mellow sound of the vibraphone (and marimba, which uses the same deep arch) compared with the brighter xylophone , which uses a shallower arch, and the glockenspiel, which has no arch at all. These rectangular bars have three primary modes of vibration. The deep arch causes these modes to align and create a consonant arrangement of intervals: a fundamental pitch, a pitch two octaves above that, and
6402-466: The melody and is followed by choruses of development. This development may take the form of improvised solos, written solo sections, and " shout choruses ". An arrangement's first chorus is sometimes preceded by an introduction, which may be as short as a few measures or may extend to a chorus of its own. Many arrangements contain an interlude, often similar in content to the introduction, inserted between some or all choruses. Other methods of embellishing
6499-541: The middle of the decade. Bridging the gap to white audiences in the mid-1930s was the Casa Loma Orchestra and Benny Goodman's early band. The contrast in commercial popularity between "black" and "white" bands was striking: between 1935 and 1945 the top four "white" bands had 292 top ten records, of which 65 were number one hits, while the top four "black" bands had only 32 top ten hits, with only three reaching number one. White teenagers and young adults were
6596-402: The military and toured with USO troupes at the front, with Glenn Miller losing his life while traveling between shows. Many bands suffered from loss of personnel during the war years, and, as a result, women replaced men who had been inducted, while all-female bands began to appear. The 1942–44 musicians' strike worsened the situation. Vocalists began to strike out on their own. By the end of
6693-419: The more literal 4 of early jazz. Walter Page is often credited with developing the walking bass , although earlier examples exist, such as Wellman Braud on Ellington's Washington Wabble (1927). This type of music flourished through the early 1930s, although there was little mass audience for it until around 1936. Up until that time, it was viewed with ridicule and sometimes looked upon as
6790-411: The most common seating for a 17-piece big band, each section is carefully set-up in a way to optimize the bands sound. For the wind players, there are 3 different types of parts: lead parts (including first trumpet, first trombone, and first alto sax), solo parts (including second or fourth trumpet, second trombone, and the first tenor sax), and section members (which include the rest of the band). The band
6887-776: The most popular big bands of the swing era cultivated small groups within the larger ensemble: e.g. Benny Goodman developed both a trio and a quartet, Artie Shaw formed the Gramercy Five, Count Basie developed the Kansas City Six and Tommy Dorsey the Clambake Seven. The major "black" bands of the 1930s included, apart from Ellington's, Hines's, and Calloway's, those of Jimmie Lunceford , Chick Webb , and Count Basie. The "white" bands of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Shep Fields and, later, Glenn Miller were more popular than their "black" counterparts from
6984-402: The most prominent shows with the earliest time slots and largest audiences have bigger bands with horn sections while those in later time slots go with smaller, leaner ensembles. Many college and university music departments offer jazz programs and feature big band courses in improvisation, composition, arranging, and studio recording, featuring performances by 18 to 20 piece big bands. During
7081-719: The music's dynamics, phrasing, and expression in rehearsals, and lead the group in performance often while playing alongside them. One of the first prominent big band arrangers was Ferde Grofé , who was hired by Paul Whiteman to write for his “symphonic jazz orchestra”. A number of bandleaders established long-term relationships with certain arrangers, such as the collaboration between leader Count Basie and arranger Neil Hefti . Some bandleaders, such as Guy Lombardo , performed works composed by others (in Lombardo's case, often by his brother Carmen ), while others, such as Maria Schneider , take on all three roles. In many cases, however,
7178-434: The newer design. While the initial purpose of the vibraphone was as a novelty instrument for vaudeville orchestras, that use was quickly overwhelmed in the 1930s by its development in jazz music. The use of the vibraphone in jazz was popularized by Lionel Hampton , a jazz drummer from California. At one recording session with bandleader Louis Armstrong , Hampton was asked to play a vibraphone that had been left behind in
7275-401: The novelty recordings of " Aloha ʻOe " and "Gypsy Love Song" in 1924 by vaudeville performer Louis Frank Chiha. However, this instrument differed significantly from the instrument now called the "vibraphone". The Leedy vibraphone did not have a pedal mechanism, and it had bars made of steel rather than aluminum. The growing popularity of Leedy's instrument led competitor J. C. Deagan, Inc. ,
7372-420: The overall tone of the vibraphone, since they amplify the fundamental frequency, but not the upper partials. There is a trade-off between the amplifying effect of the resonators and the length of sustain of a ringing bar. The energy in a ringing bar comes from the initial mallet strike, and that energy can either be used to make the bar ring louder initially, or not as loudly but for a longer period of time. This
7469-456: The pedal is up, the bars produce a muted sound; when the pedal is down, the bars sustain for several seconds or until again muted with the pedal. The vibraphone is commonly used in jazz music, in which it often plays a featured role, and was a defining element of the sound of mid-20th-century " Tiki lounge " exotica , as popularized by Arthur Lyman . It is the second most popular solo keyboard percussion instrument in classical music , after
7566-413: The piece was lost and did not premiere until 1983, Ferde Grofé 's Grand Canyon Suite , completed in 1931, is sometimes considered to be the first piece to use a vibraphone instead. Other early classical composers to use the vibraphone were Alban Berg , who used it prominently in his opera Lulu in 1935, and William Grant Still , who used it in his Afro-American Symphony that same year. While
7663-402: The player presses the damper pedal slightly after striking the bar—shortly enough after so the recently struck note continues to ring, but long enough after so that the previous note stops ringing. In another damper technique—"half pedaling"—the player depresses the pedal just enough to remove the spring pressure from the bars, but not enough to make the pad lose contact with the bars. This lets
7760-475: The player to transition between chords much more smoothly and play new notes without having them affect the quality of the chord when the pedal is down. The most common form of mallet damping occurs when the vibraphonist plays a note with one mallet before pressing another mallet into the ringing bar to stop it from sounding. Usually the damping mallet and the original striking mallet are held in different hands, but advanced players can, in some circumstances, use
7857-509: The plot. Shep Fields appeared with his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra in a playful and integrated animated performance of "This Little Ripple Had Rhythm" in the musical extravaganza The Big Broadcast of 1938 . Fictionalized biographical films of Glenn Miller , Gene Krupa , and Benny Goodman were made in the 1950s. The bands led by Helen Lewis, Ben Bernie , and Roger Wolfe Kahn's band were filmed by Lee de Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process in 1925, in three short films which are in
7954-409: The portability of the instrument and solve the problem inherent in all tuned mallet instruments: miking the bars evenly. For the first few years of production, the original Leedy vibraphone did not include a mechanism for damping , or stopping, the sustaining tones. In 1927, the J.C. Deagan company introduced a pedal mechanism that has not changed substantially since. A rigid bar beneath the center of
8051-431: The principal fans of the big bands in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They danced to recordings and the radio and attended live concerts. They were knowledgeable and often biased toward their favorite bands and songs, and sometimes worshipful of famous soloists and vocalists. Many bands toured the country in grueling one-night stands. Traveling conditions and lodging were difficult, in part due to segregation in most parts of
8148-407: The resonators, which caused a noticeable vibrato . In 1921, Winterhoff perfected the design by instead attaching a motor that rotated small discs underneath the bars to achieve the same effect. After sales manager George H. Way termed this instrument the "vibraphone", it was marketed by Leedy starting in 1924. The Leedy vibraphone managed to achieve a decent degree of popularity after it was used in
8245-439: The same hand) are used when convenient to minimize crossing the hands. The player must pay close attention to the damper pedal to avoid multiple notes ringing unintentionally at the same time. Because the notes ring for a considerable fraction of a second when struck with the damper pad up, and ringing bars do not stop ringing immediately when contacted by the pad, players use a technique called "after pedaling". In this technique,
8342-449: The same hand. Mallet damping also includes "dead strokes", where a player strikes a bar and then, instead of drawing the mallet back, directly presses the head of the mallet onto the bar, causing the ringing to stop immediately. This produces a fairly distinctive "choked" sound, and dead strokes are often used just for that particular sound in addition to the damping aspects. Hand damping (also known as "finger damping") can be used to damp
8439-442: The studio. This resulted in the recording of the song " Memories of You " in 1930, containing what is often considered to be the first instance of an improvised vibraphone solo. In its early history, the vibraphone was often used in classical music to give compositions a jazz influence. The first known composer to use the vibraphone was Havergal Brian in his 1917 opera, The Tigers , which called for two of them. However, since
8536-475: The template of King Oliver , but as the 1920s progressed they moved away from the New Orleans format and transformed jazz. They were assisted by a band full of talent: Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, Louis Armstrong on cornet, and multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter , whose career lasted into the 1990s. Swing music began appearing in the early 1930s and was distinguished by a more supple feel than
8633-459: The thumb and index fingers and controlled with the remaining three fingers, but the palms are held vertically, with the thumbs pointed upward. Most of the stroke action comes from the fingertip control of the shafts, with the wrists contributing slightly less than they do with the German grip. Passages are usually played with alternating sticking, but double strokes (playing two notes in a row with
8730-435: The upper and lower registers. To combat this, some manufacturers have made silicone- or liquid-filled damper pads whose fluid shape can conform evenly around the bars. Vibraphones usually have an electric motor and pulley assembly mounted on one side or the other to drive the disks in the resonators. Often, especially within classical music, the vibraphone is played with the motor off. Certain models for outdoor use as part of
8827-524: The use of the vibraphone in classical music has increased over the past fifty years, especially within the collegiate percussion ensemble . Several concertos have been written for the vibraphone, the first of these being Darius Milhaud 's Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra written in 1947. Other prominent concertos for the vibraphone include Ney Rosauro 's Concerto No. 1 for Vibraphone written in 1996 and Emmanuel Séjourné 's Concerto for Vibraphone and Strings written in 1999. The vibraphone
8924-699: The vibes of Lionel Hampton . The popularity of many of the major bands was amplified by star vocalists, such as Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines with Tommy Dorsey , Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly with Jimmy Dorsey , Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb , Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing with Count Basie , Kay Starr with Charlie Barnet , Bea Wain with Larry Clinton , Dick Haymes , Kitty Kallen and Helen Forrest with Harry James , Fran Warren with Claude Thornhill , Doris Day with Les Brown , and Peggy Lee and Martha Tilton with Benny Goodman . Some bands were "society bands" which relied on strong ensembles but little on soloists or vocalists, such as
9021-411: The vibraphone are also generally suitable for the marimba. The mallets can have a great effect on the timbre , ranging from a bright metallic clang to a mellow ring with no obvious initial attack. Consequently, a wide array of mallets is available, offering variations in hardness, head size, weight, shaft length and flexibility. Classical players must carry a wide range of mallet types to accommodate
9118-477: The vibraphone has not been used quite as extensively in the realm of classical music as it has with jazz, it can often be heard in theatre or film music, such as in Leonard Bernstein 's West Side Story . The standard modern instrument has a range of 3 octaves , starting from the F below middle C (F 3 to F 6 in scientific pitch notation ). Larger 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 or 4 octave models from
9215-421: The war, swing was giving way to less danceable music, such as bebop . Many of the great swing bands broke up, as the times and tastes changed. Many bands from the swing era continued for decades after the death or departure of their founders and namesakes, and some are still active in the 21st century, often referred to as " ghost bands ", a term attributed to Woody Herman, referring to orchestras that persist in
9312-509: Was dominated by steps such as the waltz and polka . As jazz migrated from its New Orleans origin to Chicago and New York City , energetic, suggestive dances traveled with it. During the next decades, ballrooms filled with people doing the jitterbug and Lindy Hop . The dance duo Vernon and Irene Castle popularized the foxtrot while accompanied by the Europe Society Orchestra led by James Reese Europe . One of
9409-515: Was educated in classical music, and he called his new band's music symphonic jazz. The methods of dance bands marked a step away from New Orleans jazz. With the exception of Jelly Roll Morton , who continued playing in the New Orleans style, bandleaders paid attention to the demand for dance music and created their own big bands. They incorporated elements of Broadway , Tin Pan Alley , ragtime , and vaudeville . Duke Ellington led his band at
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