Hi, I do not know of a high tech alternative to the salt. Not sure how Yamaha, for example, does node finding but on their web site it says that bar tuning, and matching, are done by human hand. They also mention that wood is a natural product and each bar has its own character detail and thus they need to manually match the set of bars for each individual instrument. They do not mention how they do node finding. I suspect node finding could be "automated" and maybe with an optical approach - sounds like a good student (high school or graduate school) project.

Actually, it did originate from Zimbabwe for this design, but not for the standard marimba with sharps

Hi Luis, No, all the bars are, more or less, different shapes, varies with the note/length of bar and tonal qualities (grain? and other things?) of the individual bar piece. Look at this page, for example summary of bar tuning: www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/marimba/manufacturing/manufacturing002.html hope this helps.

@@davidaadler The fourth harmonic two octaves above the fundamental sounds the strongest a quarter way from the end. The pitch of the fundamental is lowered by removing wood from the thinner center part of the tone plate. How is the pitch of the fourth harmonic lowered or raised in relation to the fundamental? For instance, does the pitch of the fourth harmonic fall relatively more when wood is removed closer to the quarter-from-the-end point (widening the notch) as compared to deepening the notch, or is the trick something else altogether?

For real! He definitely made me cringe!!

Really bad example for kids to learn using saw. Can't believe he hasn't lost a finger or hand yet. Slight distraction & it's over. My woodworking school would be all over him for doing that.

The experienced teach the young.

Hi Aaron, the song is Nyungwe by Dumisani “Dumi” Maraire, the story I heard is that Dumi was inspired by the rhythms he heard arriving at a port in Mozambique, the local musicians playing on the dock.

you might also enjoy another marimba related video I did: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWmof36ejNZgmtk

Mike, thanks for the comments - and there is more to mention, Mark is also a writer, blues scholar, Howlin' Wolf biographer.

Thanks for underscoring Mr. Hoffman's talent. Damn, I wanna hug this guy!

Amen