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I'm a musical instrument in the percussion family, sometimes called the vibraphone, the vibraharp or simply the vibes.
I was invented in the United States in 1921, and although I have been used mostly as a jazz instrument, I've also found my way into many other musical idioms, including popular music and classical and symphonic music.
I am similar in appearance to the xylophone and marimba, although I have metal bars instead of the wooden bars of the xylophone and am, hence, a metallophone.
I'm so cool that most average people haven't even ever heard of me. Use me. Your band won't be the same.
I have a sustain pedal similar to that used on a piano. When the pedal is up, the bars are all damped and the sound of each bar is quite short; with the pedal down, they will sound for several seconds, so frequent rapid pedalling is common when playing a vibraphone.
My manufacturers have included Ludwig-Musser, Premier Percussion, Yamaha, Leedy, Deagan, Boosey and Hawkes and others.
About my range:
I typically have a range of three octaves, from the F below middle C. Larger four octave models from the C below middle C are also becoming more common. It is generally written at concert pitch, but sometimes composers (for example, Olivier Messiaen) write parts to sound an octave higher.
About my construction:
I am played with cord or yarn mallets. Below each bar is a resonator, a resonant metal tube, with a metal disc of a slightly smaller diameter located at the top. The discs in each tube are connected via a rod which can be made to rotate with an electric motor. When the motor is on and a note is struck, the notes acquire a tremolo sound as the resonators are covered and uncovered by the rotating discs. The player can vary the speed of the tremolo. At slower speeds, the effect sounds more like a "wah-wah-wah." At faster speeds, the tremolo is more pronounced. With the motor switched off the vibraphone has a mellow, bell-like sound.
Note: While my name comes from "vibrato", this is actually a misnomer, since the effect is actually tremolo, not vibrato (vibrato being a modulation in pitch, not amplitude).
By the way, you probably can't afford me.
