Making Our Marimba

This is a video documenting most of the process we went through when building our homemade marimba! :) We bought the plans from makeamarimba.com. (I am not affiliated with them, just appreciative of a thorough product!) It is 4.5 oct, and just over 7 feet long! We worked for roughly a month on it (nearly every day for a couple of hours.) Total material cost for the marimba was around $850.
Edit December 2016: My homemade marimba ("Simba") is still in great condition after about 2 years of use. We have transported the marimba five or six times to local performances. It fits (barely) in our small car! Despite having some bars whose sound quality bothers me, I am extremely happy with the overall quality of my practice marimba and know that by learning by doing through this process has helped me become a much more knowledgeable percussionist. Not to mention the indispensable practice advantage of having my own instrument at my fingertips when I'm home!
Edit April 2024: I sold my homemade marimba to a friend in 2020 and upgraded to a Mode Marimba 5.0. The homemade marimba is well-loved and I enjoyed my time with the Mode Marimba. Highly reccomend Mode if you want something good for practice and don't mind the ringy sound. In June of 2023 I made my (final) upgrade to a Marimba One after selling the Mode to a friend. Thanks to all who still enjoy this marimba video!
(Music: Spanish Dance comp/played by Kai Stensgaard)
Thanks for watching and please feel free to ask any questions!

[@terencekreft482]

For some reason I have watched three or four "make your own marimba" videos, don't ask me why. This was by far the best sounding one up to now.

[@oluwatobi3809]

Whyyyyyyyyyy

[@EdWeibe]

Made a xylophone from raw east Indian rose wood planks once. It's a great thing for someone to do. Our frame was made from plumbing pipe. Back in the day, late 70's , I wanted to make it an electric xylophone, but some laughed. Well now they exist. Resonator-wise we needed to find thin-walled tin tubes and that's about where we stopped. It worked good as a non resonant piece.

[@FrankBenlin]

Thanks for sharing your labor of love. The passion makes all the difference in the world. It always shows.

[@skatestacker]

Wow, when i get older i really want a marimba, not sure if i'd have the tools to make one, but i dont want to have to go to places to practice. Im currently stuck with a piercingly loud glockenspiel.

[@davidthegood]

Truly a beautiful project - I love it. Thank you for the video.

[@adventureofkyle4390]

When welch told us about your project, I was like wow! And to actually see the steps, Great job Leah!- Kyle G

[@4marimbas968]

Me encanta y me emociona mucho que un ser querido haya construído esa preciosa marimba para esta señorita y más aún que ella haya participado en el interesante, complejo, mágico, ancestral proceso de crear una marimba.

[@DanielBrown-nb9zz]

This instrument is virtually my dream instrument! This was a cool show!

[@BrandonLewisD]

Great work! And great playing at the end!!!

[@1100mrjohnson]

This video was amazing! What a wonderful, and I'm sure extremely fulfilling, project this must have been.

[@bathsaltZ]

Those things sound awesome

[@deanneuburger4542]

Congratulations for your achievement plus producing your own otherwise very expensive instrument! I think you are a great team to so thoughtfully plan and handle all the technical facets. And very generous to share the construction progress. My guess is any detection you have of sub-par sound quality is a nicely acquired talent from directly tuning the bars from scratch. Nice empowerment to improve or replace any bar you wish. Inspiring, thank you!

[@michelehurtado98]

Bravo! I would hope my great grandfather, Sebastian Hurtado would be impressed. If you're not familiar with the surname, Sebastian Hurtado is credited with perfecting what became the marimba. He used Honduran rosewood to make his instruments. His sons, among them my grandfather Celso Hurtado, toured in the Americas and Europe before WW1 introducing this new instrument to the world. My earliest memories are of seeing my grandfather and father playing duets on the marimba.

[@leahdunbar4656]

Wow, I had not heard of him before your comment! What a legacy he helped create! Thanks for sharing.

[@Fraughtful]

Celso Hurtado of the first Marimba Carnegie Hall performance? Legend!

[@feroseamith4140]

here's a few suggestions for making marimbas Attend a school or self-study with online lessons Ensure you are fully committed to it before you begin (I discovered these and why they work from Delfords magic plan website )

[@belloisamuhammad2717]

I have spent months researching into constructing marimbas and found a fantastic resource at Delfords Magic Plan (google it if you're interested)

[@markomarinkovic7634]

There are several factors in creating an amazing design. One plan I found which successfully combines these is the Delfords magic plan (check it out on google) without a doubt the best info i've seen. look at this extraordinary website.

[@jakehewitt8853]

very inspirational! im starting with building a 2 octave right now because anything over is overwhelming haha good job!

[@jwpogue]

This video is so cool!

[@tipiglen]

Excellent!

[@drewartgrzegorzkot2538]

I love it !!!!!!!!!!!! :-) Nice work !

[@chevap86]

Very creative and interesting video.

[@katherinedowling808]

Leah Dunbar, I adore you. This is AMAZING!!

[@leahdunbar4656]

Aww thank you Ms. Dowling! :) Come visit soon!!

[@carlosmante]

admirable work.

[@carlosmante]

Thank You for the information.

[@zubairansari9802]

Its very Useful, Thanks A Lots

[@rajam9899]

Making Marimba is nice and excellent. so cool and wowwwww.

[@Merimcla]

fantastic...my son is in 4th grade and loves the marimbas. Most of the concerts just bring me to tears.

[@galletaaa06]

wow, exelent bro!!!

[@LeonDeVoseII]

I forgot to note that I am looking at your tuning technique, because I want to make it so that it can be used as a practice instrument offline. I do not think I need to be as precise on my prototype (yes, I have big dreams). However; on future, i.e., paid, builds, I will have to be, thus I probably should practice your technique a lot. Thank you so much!!!

[@percussionclinic]

Congratulations Leah on a terrific job! I like your frame mods and the colour contrast piece at the ends. I hope the instrument gives you many years of joy!

[@leahdunbar4656]

Thank you for your very helpful guides! They helped us immeasurably during the building process. I love my marimba and am excited to see what changes we make in the future!

[@dillpickle6843]

percussionclinic is there much of a difference in cost and time required between the marimba and the vibraphone?

[@percussionclinic]

yes is the short answer - cost is largely a matter of which range marimba you build - an idea of the various costs can be found on the website - www.makeamarimba.com - time is also largely a matter of your own experience and the level of finish you want to achieve. A full five octave marimba probably still takes longer than a vibraphone - but the vibes is definitely a more involved project.

[@dillpickle6843]

percussionclinic Thank you! I recently joined my school's 6th grade band (percussion obviously)and can't stand the screeching of my bell set, so I'm trying to save my funds to build the 2 octave one or maybe even the 3 octave one.

[@mohamadazrirazali4263]

percussionclinic i recommend using Corbandy simple instrument crusher.A full five octave marimba probably still takes longer than a vibraphone - but the vibes is definitely a more involved project.

[@Marimbaguy]

Congratulations! My son and i did this two years ago and it was quite the project but it turned out good. Our biggest frustration was trying to assemble and attach the tubes. Just wanted you to know that I respect your work on this and for sticking with it to the end.

[@leahdunbar4656]

Thank you! It was a difficult project for sure but well worth it, I hope you and your son felt the same!

[@Marimbaguy]

@@leahdunbar4656 He sometimes plays it for his Pokemon fans during his live stream. You can see it in the background of where he does the broadcast. Anyway, If interested, his account name on youtube and twitch is fpsticks.

[@Estradarp]

my respect!

[@louiehogaroo7409]

So so so so so coooooooooooool!!!

[@bmthkamel3167]

Amazing

[@ryanmenos35]

6:43 yeah Spartans 2014 opener!

[@leahdunbar4656]

Throwbackkkk

[@abrahammencos2896]

Felicitaciones

[@Guy4UnderDog]

There aren't many temperate zone woods suitable for marimbas. If you can get it locally, Osage Orange would work. If you purchase from a exotic supplier, Padauk is just as cheap. I would cut plugs from pine or plywood to slide into the ends. Save a bunch on caps...looks better too.

[@samer1085]

Well done :)

[@ryanmenos35]

YEAH, LEAH!

[@travis5125]

Very nice. If you decide to wrap your own mallet, perhaps you should consider using hemp. It looks more natural than the dyed yarn and might produce a slightly unique sound.

[@MARIOBROS5700]

I really like the furniture you have done for marimba , that ye used wood ?, I 'm also working on a project to make a 5-octave marimba.

[@huawatuam4965]

Nice build! What rubber tubing did you exactly use? What was the inner diameter of the tube in non-stretched state?

[@Wadosan]

Simply incredible. My only question is what the background music was, I'm fairly certain that one of my upperclassmen had to play that for a final solo or honor band audition.

[@leahdunbar4656]

Spanish Dance by Kai Stensgaard

[@anjelasfa2823]

really helpful

[@kennethsookdeo1028]

anjel asfa o

[@trexquisite6823]

Is there a good free electronic tuner to use online? What the best way to tune the bars? What formula did you use to calculate the bar length and resonator length? I know the resonators are susceptible to end correction, but are the bars? (Also, mine is 19-tone equal temperament, instead of 12.)

[@leahdunbar4656]

+TRex Quisite We used an online strobe tuner, found at iTunes. The best way to tune the bars is using an electric sander and later on, sheets of sandpaper. We did not have a formula, the general process was outlined in the manual we bought at makeamarimba.com. I know that there are some formulas that figure the resonator length as 1/4 of the note's wavelength, but we didn't use these. You can correct the bars at the end, but it becomes more risky/difficult to tune it without going too low.

[@SBrinkler]

Hi Leah, well done on your make it turned out so lovely! I’m currently making a marimba of my own and am struggling to find the nodes for the top 7 notes (F#6-C7). Some other higher ones are also very angled. How did you find these nodes? I’m very concerned as there is no sign for the salt moving anywhere Thank you!

[@dineshjanapati6511]

did you get your problem resolved?

[@bobbypagani3191]

Best Winterline tec

[@lindafitriyani3936]

I have marimba i love marimba

[@audiolibrosargentinos3311]

Amazing work! Congrats!! One question: which material have you used to close the resonator pipes? Thanks!

[@leahdunbar4656]

We used regular PVC pipe caps to close the pipes. We glued them in with PVC glue to make sure they stayed.

[@AiltonIASD]

Could share the measurements of the laminas, ie the Marimba project?

[@zane2148]

Your mango bay was off but I love the marimba

[@CristianoCemin]

great job man. Did you put some oil on the wood of the keys? thank you from Brazil

[@leahdunbar4656]

Yes, we put teak oil twice and a few times since then.

[@Superveloce101]

What did you use for the PVC pipe caps? Where did you buy them? Also, what is the name of the teak oil that you used to polish the bars? Great job with the instrument, it looks and sounds really good! Thanks.

[@leahdunbar4656]

Thank you! We used normal PVC pipe caps that we bought at a retail hardware store (probably Lowes or Home Depot. We also used Watco teak oil and polished the bars three times with it.

[@lollystacey]

you are so cool

[@LeonDeVoseII]

I have begun work on a project to build a digital malletboard, because I cannot afford the acoustic or digital instruments out there - even used are no less than four digits.

[@laszlopeterrethati2131]

Nagyon érthető, látni, hogyan készül a koncert-marimba, a zene műtárgya.

[@yestoprint2932]

Hello, try to search here in google, because the marimba is the original instrument of Guatemala City, put marimba in video of Guatemala and you will see how they get the sounds of a marimba as well as what you did...thanks

[@fabiangersob4805]

Hey! Your video and your marimba are awesome, congratulations!! I need a 5.0 octave marimba for my senior recital and practice (cuz' my university doesn't own one) I'm planning on buying or making one, but then I have to ask you. Which power tools do you think are strictly necessary to buy? I don't own anyone, and I don't know if buying them + the wood and other stuff may be cheaper than buying a new one (I'm planning to buy it to a friend mine who is an emergent percussion luthier, for like $1,000 bucks). Thanks in advance and congratulations again!

[@leahdunbar4656]

Thank you! I think you would definitely need a saw to cut the wood and PVC (power saw is better for accuracy than a hand saw) and tools to bore/router to make the string holes. (we used a drill to router them) You will also need a sander because while you technically could sand them by hand it would be very difficult/time consuming to do so. All those things get pretty pricey and plus labor costs/time it might not be worth it for a one-time project? We spend about $850 on materials but my dad had all the experience and tools already. I would check with your friend and see what tools they have and what they would need. There's also some cheaper percussion companies out there - I actually just bought a Mode marimba which is a 5.0 synthetic, it's cheaper than others and while the sound is different from rosewood, it is still a good instrument. Good luck!!

[@j.fvirginie7432]

hello. very nice marimba! I have bought the same plans too but got no dimensions for the thickness of the bars .could you help?

[@SpencerRaybourne]

Hi Leah and Dad,I have been looking at the Make a Marimba sight for a while now and am seriously thinking about making one myself. I'm guessing you would give a positive review of the manual.Does the manual go over the tuning of the fundamental and the overtones or was that something you did?You said you had a break down of costs. I would really appreciate that especially since the designer seems to be in Australia

[@leahdunbar4656]

+J. McC Yes, the manual goes over ever aspect of tuning in what we considered a great deal of detail. I had no real knowledge of overtones before this so it helped a lot. We spent around $900 in materials. The black part of the frame was made out of wood scraps we had in our basement from previous builds so we didn't have to spend any extra there. We bought four or five planks of paduak, which cost around $300, if I remember correctly. The next expensive thing was the PVC, we had to buy a lot of different sizes and end caps, as well as metal to screw it together. After those big costs, we had to buy the gold and black paint, paracord, the metal string holders, etc etc. Hope this helps!

[@SpencerRaybourne]

Thank you that helps

[@SDdolphinlover]

I will be doing this project for my senior project at school and I was wondering what tuning app you used?

[@leahdunbar4656]

Dana LeVan Good choice on senior project! ;) The app we used was iStroboSoft or iStroboSoft HD. They cost $10, but are worth it if you don't have access to something else.

[@maxwalts9526]

What did you use for resonators? Just PVC? Amazing project.

[@leahdunbar4656]

Thanks! Yes, we just used PVC.

[@r7709y]

A couple of questions. Was this a difficult project to do? What was the hardest thing about building it? How much more would it have cost to build a full 5 octave marimba? Do you have a break down of the pricing for the wood for the bars and the cost of the materials for everything else?

[@leahdunbar4656]

It was fairly hard for us - for my dad because he has no musical background and for me because I have no woodworking skills! But between the two of us we got it done. The hardest part was by far the tuning of the bars. It took longer than anything else and we still have some that need to be retuned a bit! I don't think it would have cost too much more to expand to the 5 octaves as we had lots of padauk left over that we could have used. I do have a break down, I will send it to you ASAP! :)

[@hunterstehlik1887]

I have tried to build my very own marimba but it always goes downhill as soon as I build a frame. And I had a question, did you use a building guide book? If so where could I find one?

[@leahdunbar4656]

Hi! We bought a building guide from makeamarimba.com which was extremely helpful and very worth the money. Best of luck!

[@seanavery73]

I live in Iowa and it gets humid here in the summer. Has your marimba been susceptible to changes in tone due to humidty? If you've experienced this, how have you handled it?

[@leahdunbar4656]

I haven't noticed too much with humidity, but I'm in the northeast and its pretty sensitive to the cold. There's a change in tone and resonance in the winter months for sure and its best sound quality is in the summer months (probably because that's when we tuned it).

[@Shrampp]

how much wood was used?

[@ericsmith1181]

I have been looking into building a marimba myself and have most of it figured out but one thing. How do you know the dimensions of the bars? Also, how did you tune the resonators? Awesome project!

[@leahdunbar4656]

Eric Smith Hi Eric, the dimensions of the bars depend on the different notes, we got our dimensions from the guidebook. We tuned the resonators by using the strobe tuning app we downloaded, as well as comparing them to the bars. To make the resonator higher, we shaved or cut off pipe from the end of it. Hope this helps, and thank you!

​@@leahdunbar4656 hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to uncover try Debuncar Incredible Instrument Aid (just google it ) ? Ive heard some decent things about it and my brother in law got excellent success with it.

[@anthonyakap85]

Where did most of the cost come from? Did you have to buy tools? Or was the wood that expensive?

[@leahdunbar4656]

+Anthony Akap Most of the cost came from the wood. It is african paduak, an exotic wood that is pretty expensive (though not as expensive as rosewood) The four planks of that that we bought were a little over $300 total. The rest of the cost came from PVC. We had all the tools we needed (my dad is a hobby woodworker) so we didn't have to buy any.

[@johnamith645]

if you dont mind me asking including mess ups about how much do you think you spent

[@leahdunbar4656]

We spent about $850 on materials.

[@bishopoldfield1733]

How much of the wood did you end up using for the project?

[@leahdunbar4656]

+Bishop Oldfield we used four or five long planks (maybe 8 feet long?) of padauk and then some scraps of wood from our basement for the frame

[@leahdunbar4656]

+Bishop Oldfield Hi there, sorry for the late reply. We used up the majority of the wood with all of the keys and with the little pieces that we used in the frame. We also had to remake keys so that used up a lot of the wood as well.

[@Gabito04358]

Well she did this year's all valley four mallet

[@sw1tchclipz873]

Did you mean all state? Lol.

[@sw1tchclipz873]

Just curious. I’ve never heard “all valley”

[@tunemakersband6988]

Hi sir can share the exact size of the bar you use¿

[@ulrichessombaofficiel1799]

Cool. How Can i do to have a mine wish is your fabrication ??

[@Martin-sy4zn]

1:50 que app es?¿?

[@auscomvic9900]

Do you have to use iodised salt?

[@leahdunbar4656]

I'm not sure, we just the kitchen salt we had on had. I believe that sand, sugar or other small particles would work just as well. (though not positive)

[@jacksonaculp]

how thick do the boards of padouk need to be?

[@leahdunbar4656]

Ours were ~2 inches thick I think

[@jacksonaculp]

Leah Dunbar Thank you!

[@silviacorona5751]

Where did you get the rail posts from?

[@leahdunbar4656]

I think we bought them from Lone Star Percussion or Yamaha.

[@silviacorona5751]

Thanks so much, you’re inspired me to build my own!

[@g.bomberpercussion2538]

How much did it cost overall?

[@leahdunbar4656]

Around $850-$900 in materials.

[@louisgonzalez9489]

Whats the name of that song is the backround I played it long ago

[@leahdunbar4656]

It's Spanish Dance by Kai Stensgaard.

[@jimmyhofferman9233]

What was the piece played at 6:12?

[@leahdunbar4656]

Etude VIII from the Morris Goldenberg book of keyboard etudes

[@AndyT454]

lift up the mallets more when you hit the keys...as if your trying to pull the sound out of the keys.

[@ivandresvera]

What's the name of the piece is sounding??? Thanks

[@leahdunbar4656]

Ivan Vera Barrera It's Spanish Dance by Kai Stensengaard.

[@pilotof787]

Is that Spartans music I hear at the end?!

[@leahdunbar4656]

Devin FitzGerald Yes it is!! I've been wanting to do Spartans for the past two years and learned the opener for Olympus from camp so I was trying it out. Hopefully next summer I'll be able to do it for real :)

[@j65_95]

I didn't know you could make marimbas

[@shaunakbhangale501]

what would happen if u didn’t cover your marimba?

[@electrosonicnebula]

When D minor comes in handy

[@johnnyjames7139]

I appreciate the effort that goes into the construction but marimbas sound much better with metal tubular resonators which is the way Deagan makes them.

[@okay1001]

Make me a kazoo.

[@rendykediri1479]

I've been studying constructing marimbas and discovered an awesome resource at Delfords Magic Plan (google it if you're interested)

[@Sunny_sillyva]

I’m little I can’t so my dad can

[@davidvasquez3564]

Anyone fir ice cream now?

[@bonyabor]

hi everyone ,if anyone else wants to learn about try Corbandy Simple Instrument Crusher (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my work buddy got great success with it.

[@MinhLe-qo8iz]

Hearing mango bay gives me ptsd