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How does a vibraphone create its pulsating sound?
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percussion instrument
Flemish rommelpot friction drum; in the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels.
The vibraphone creates its signature pulsating sound through a mechanism involving its resonators. Suspended vertically beneath each of the instrument's aluminum bars is a tubular, tuned resonator that sustains the tone when the bar is struck.1
The instrument features a set of small, electrically operated fans positioned above these resonators and below the bars. As these fans rotate, they rapidly open and close the tops of the resonators, which creates a characteristic vibrato effect. This modulation of the air column within the resonators is what produces the instrument's distinct pulsating quality. Players can further alter this effect by adjusting the speed of the fans or by turning them off entirely.1