Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell | Marimba Arrangement

Here's an arrangement of Joni Mitchell's iconic 1970 song "Big Yellow Taxi", for marimba! Played/arranged by Leah Dunbar on a Mode 5 from Mode Marimba.

[@garaughty]

Such an awesome track... really well done Leah !

[@DrummerChristianHoffe]

Really cool, Leah! Greetings, Chris!😊

[@Youmeandyume]

Beautiful!

[@tanner1548]

The Mode sounds SO COOL! :D And it looks like...maybe that's a wave wrap in 1 and van Sice in 2, 3, 4? I'd guess you wrote down the music somewhere; any chance I could get ahold of it for later? Gah that slide around 1:50 was fantastic! :D It looks like you're using the rosewood emulator there. (I like that the name is so much cooler than "foam strip under the accidentals" lol.) Have you played without the emulator much yet? Adam Tan's review suggested chorales might be real interesting, but I'm also curious about what "Pure Imagination" or maaaaybe Rob Oetomo's "Somewhere over the Rainbow" (both of which are on my solo to-do list) might be like without the emulator. Or maybe some custom tuning to have the bass resonate more but less for the mid and high registers for "Pure Imagination." So many possibilities! :D Crisp and clean as per usual. No surprise there. Solid octaves. All smooooth. It's great! I'm wondering how the Mode might sound with multi-tone mallets (I'm aware of the LS Multi-tone ones but can't remember any others off-hand) to have the option for a little less articulation (and maybe less overtone? still learning the terminology here) in some parts. Do you have any multi-tones already? (I maaaay have spent like $200 on the Steve Weiss buy 2 get 1 pair free IP mallets sale... Also finally got a copy of MOM!) Your 2+4 run at 1:35-1:40 sounds SO together! Perfectly in sync! Looking forward to seeing what you post next! :D

[@leahdunbar4656]

Thanks! The mallets are WWXB3s, with 3 VF114s. I am editing the sheet music as it's mostly just sketches but can eventually share them. I do really like the rosewood emulator but have some pieces where the resonance is best.

[@tanner1548]

@@leahdunbar4656 Aha! So one for four! :P yeah that makes sense. Well I'd be happy to pay for a copy whenever! Yeah that makes sense! Looking forward to hearing more of your recordings! ...and all the more excited about my own Mode 5 arriving soon! This is such a neat pick for a rendition, though! I sent it to several of my relatives to check it out! :) (I also saw the other recording from Vienna that you posted. Is it just me, or is the recording quality kinda wonky? I mean, obviously your playing still looks and sounds great, but it seems like the kind of thing I wish I could have heard in person :/ )

[@burningstarship]

Where can I buy this?

[@tanner1548]

Hey just watching this again after recommending it to a friend (so they can see what the Mode 5 sounds like--John said he's planning to ship mine by next week!!!) Anyway, I was curious. I think you and I have about the same reach, and you seem to move laterally plenty and comfortably in this piece. I've read the MoM stuff about movement, but I'm curious if you use any particular exercises to work on that kind of fluency? (I sometimes play 3-octave C scales carefully as well as playing every note of C major going up and down the length of the marimba, making conscious effort to move smoothly up and down as I'm moving mallets into position. But I'm always curious to get new tech. exercises!)

[@leahdunbar4656]

I want to make sure I know what you mean - do you mean laterally like lateral strokes or like side-to-side?

[@tanner1548]

@@leahdunbar4656 side to side across the marimba to reach higher and lower ranges. (I actually feel pretty comfy with lateral strokes using Kevin Bobo's book.) An important clarification for a marimba question ha!

[@leahdunbar4656]

@@tanner1548 I don't really have any specific exercises, most of that is probably from my drum corps background. not sure how familiar you are with the marching arts, but it's a side of percussion where the visual performance is incredibly important. Technique wise we used a lot of Moeller stroke tactics, especially floating the wrist between strokes and aiming for fluidity. We practiced a lot of "choreographing" feet placement/movement and how our hands look during/between strokes so that the musical and visual result is the same every single time for each person. So extended scales/arpeggios with focus placed on keeping our body centered between the mallets is definitely helpful. A lot of that is just engrained into me at this point, but something I still use consciously is paying attention to how my hands move during the notes-learning/practicing stages, especially between phrases. I try to always have a fluid motion when I connect to new sections or physical parts of the board. So in this piece around 1:11-1:52 there's a lot of that where I practiced lifting my wrists up and making a smooth visual connection to the notes or next phrase. If any of that needs more clarification let me know!

[@tanner1548]

@@leahdunbar4656 thanks for pointing out the times where that happens. Seeing it was super helpful for understanding what you meant! And I totally see that! Interesting! And yes I'm aware of drum corps and... basically understand that it's chop busting madness simultaneous with pristine performance in every other regard. It sounds like fun for other people but not so much my thing. Super impressive playing, though! I actually maaaay have linked one of your videos (just because they're great!) to r/marimba where someone said they recognized you from drum corps--it's a small world ha. But yeah that makes a lot of sense! Perhaps I'll try to incorporate that into my playing as I move up and down a proper 5 octave. The idea of keeping centered will likely be helpful, too. Thanks!!! (As a side note, I'm also curious what you're doing now with regard to your playing. It seems as though you're intent on making a career out of your performance/music, but I'm wondering what your next steps are!)