What is the Difference Between the Marimba and the Xylophone?

A xylophone is a percussion musical instrument, consisting
of a system of different tuned wooden plates that vibrate and emit sounds when
they are hit with wooden, glass or metal hammers. It is a tool popular even among
poorly developed civilization. The sounds obtained by hitting the wooden plates
with the hammers, acted directly or through a keypad, have the dry, biting,
piercing sound, easy to be noticed in the orchestra’s tumult.

Marimba is also a percussion instrument, of African origin,
very similar to the xylophone and vibraphone, which is currently experiencing
an increased popularity in Latin American countries. It is made of rosewood
boards, arranged in order of height, endowed with resonant tubes, which
reinforce and prolong the sounds. Marimba is operated with wooden rods, for
loud sounds, or with rubber rods, for softer sounds.

This instrument has evolved from the African
“balafon”. The words “rim” and “ba” come from the Bantu language,
spoken in Mozambique and Malawi. Marimba can have up to 5 octaves. The wooden
plates, placed on two rows, are chromatically tuned, as in keyboards. For the
amplification of the sound, gutters were used. Currently metal tubes are
mounted perpendicularly under the wooden plates. Because the wood plates are
thinner and softer, the marimba has a fuller sound than the xylophone.

You can find quality percussion instruments at local drum store My Music Supply.

Article source here: What is the Difference Between the Marimba and the Xylophone?