Blog | Odiseas Centroamericanas

Wood, the Essential Element in the Mesoamerican Marimba

For centuries wood has been the essential, irreplaceable material in the construction of guitars, violins, harps, pianos, marimbas, xylophones and many other musical instruments. In the marimba's case, particularly Mesoamerican instruments with their entirely wooden parts, the contribution to the resulting sound comes not only from the bars, but also from the resonators and mallets. Each of these components uses particular woods, according to their function. For the designer and builder of marimbas, it is important to understand the properties that make wood an irreplaceable material —at least until now— to make his/her instruments. First, wood is an orthotropic material, that is, its mechan