marimba can

1234 — elektor december 1980 marimba can marimba can The steel band plays a significant part in the characteristic sound of Caribbean music. The mainstay of this sound is the marimba, a steel drum with different sized indentations in the top. It is played in a manner that is a cross between the drums and the xylophone. The originals were, in fact, constructed out of old 50 gallon steel oil drums. Although beer cans are made in a similar manner to oil drums, they certainly do not produce anything like the same noise. Of course, size might have something to do with it (maybe 50 gallon beer cans would be quite a good idea) and in this article we use electronics to compensate for this deficiency. The playing technique re- mains unchanged, a drum stick can still be used but with the addition of a small magnet fitted to its end. The top of the can hides a reed relay and it is this that controls the electronic sound producing circuit inside the can. Each can produces a single tone, so ...