Since 2006, I have been building marimbas for the local musical community. Our first set was of locally-salvaged Rainbow Eucalyptus wood. The bass and baritone of that generation are still happily in service. Subsequently, I have shifted to African hardwoods for the notes, building tenors of wenge and sopranos of padauk. All instruments feature all stainless steel and aluminum fittings, local Hawaiian salvage wood frames, natural oil & water-based wood preservatives, and digital tuning. Scroll down to see what options are available!
THE FLOW MARIMBA – A Portable, Travel Instrument
At 90% of full soprano size, weighing in at 25#, and configurable for sitting or standing play, this instrument is truly versatile. Featuring seventeen padauk notes, Rainbow eucalyptus frame, all stainless steel/aluminum fittings, and a 12 minute set-up/break down time, with the Flow marimba you can easily take your music anywhere.
The first Flow marimba was commissioned by Linda Bruce, and built by Diga Kern, two of Michael Breez’s students in Hawaii.The design was inspired by the need for portability and ease-of-travel, partly due to the Kilauea lava flow evacuations of summer 2018.
Here is a video showcasing this instrument:
THE CUSTOMIZED CHROMATIC EXTENSION
First commissioned by Linda Bruce in 2016, this chromatic extension to a traditional Dumisani-tradition marimba (built by Margie) allows all 12 chromatic notes of both octaves to be played, increasing the body of repertoire available to the player. To retro-fit a chromatic extension to your existing soprano or tenor, I would need to have the instrument shipped to me in Hawaii to customize the fit.
