TigerBill's DrumBeat Community Forums for Free Expert Advice on Drums and Percussion.

3 octaves is enough. That extra range is nice if you're doing solo vibes work, but it's not necessary.

Mallet synths (the MalletKAT, or the Xylosynth) are great, but a couple of things to keep in mind:

- you'll need an amplifier when/if you perform with the instrument, every time.

- There are idiomatic vibe techniques which either don't translate to the synth instruments at all (i.e., harmonics, or bowing notes), or which while similar aren't quite the same (mallet damping, hand damping, pedalling).

- Vibe and marimba samples are getting better and better in sound quality, but accessing those really good sounds will be an additional expense - the cost of the samples, a method to store/play them (a sampler, or a laptop computer, for instance), etc. Lots of guys use laptops as their sound source, but - and maybe this is just my age speaking - I don't trust computers enough to rely on them as my one and only sound source on stage.

Personally, I love my synth (I use the Xylosynth, and I used to use the Kat - both are fine instruments). However, my strong preference is to use the synth to access sounds that I can't get from a vibraphone or marimba - pads, e-piano sounds...you know, "synthy" stuff. Sometimes I'll use vibe or marimba sounds or samples, but that's more of a compromise than a preference - finding myself in situations where it makes more sense to bring the synth than the acoustic vibes and/or marimba.

In terms of a home practice instrument, I remember when I was in college, the school would allow a limited number of mallet instruments to be lent/rented to percussion majors. I suspect that's an uncommon practice, but I'd ask your teacher if that might be an option.

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