Mallets, Amplification and MIDI

Dave Samuels recalls the ongoing history of

mallet-keyboard electronics

BY RICK MATTINGLY

I
N A WORLD WHERE AMPLIFICATION OF ment that I would be able to use effects but it never went into production.
musical instruments has become so with, because at that time, everyone Musser did eventually come out with
commonplace that it is typical for an was using ring modulators, wah-wah electronic pickups that could be
“acoustic” band to include an electric gui- pedals, echoplexes and phase shifters. mounted on acoustic vibes, which was
tar and/or electric bass, vibraphonists I was disappointed in the sound also marketed by Deagan.
and marimbists who wish to be heard of- quality of that instrument. The Samuels: Right. After I got rid of the
ten continue to rely on hard, brittle mal- ElectraVibe had no resonators, and the ElectraVibe, I got an endorsement with
lets that produce more attack than tone, bars—which were thin and not gradu- Musser and got this system they had
and on microphones that only pick up ated—never came off. My understand- called the AmpliVibe Pickup. It was a
some of the notes, some of the time. ing of the ElectraVibe was that it used magnetic pickup bar that attached to
Through his work in clubs, concert Barcus-Berry pickups that were drilled the outside of the rails. It was inexpen-
halls and recording studios with bands into the bar. This was the system that sively made, and you mostly got a
and artists such as Double Image, Frank was also used by a guy in Chicago thumping sound—not much pitch. I
Zappa, Spyro Gyra and the Caribbean named Gilberto, who was retrofitting never really liked the sound, but it was
Jazz Project, Dave Samuels has had the people’s instruments with pickups. You the only thing on the market.
opportunity to try a variety of approaches drilled a hole in the bar, put the pickup Essentially, the story of electronics
to amplifying and MIDIing his instru- in there, and put a glob of epoxy on it. for mallet instruments is one of lack of
ments. As a result, he knows what works It wasn’t until years later that Ray interest on the part of manufacturers,
and what doesn’t. Here, he shares his Ayotte came out with a system in and also lack of competition. Without
memories of various amplification and which a piezo transducer was glued on interest, you don’t have a lot of money
electronics systems he has used, and of- the bottom of the bar and there was no being spent on research and develop-
fers advice to mallet players who wish to drilling. It not only saved the bar, it ment. Without competition, you don’t
amplify or enhance their acoustic sound. also allowed you to fix pickups more have alternatives. My sitting in a base-
easily if anything broke. With the ment winding coils sounds absurd, but
Rick Mattingly: When you first became a pickup that was inserted in the bar, there weren’t any alternatives. Mike
vibraphonist, the only way to amplify you had to re-tap that bar to get all of Mainieri spending thousands of his
the sound of the instrument was with the old pickup out in order to put a own dollars and ending up with an in-
microphones. When did you first en- new pickup in. strument that kind of worked, but then
counter an alternative? Then I got involved with a drummer didn’t work, represented the frustra-
Dave Samuels: When I was in school at who lived in Boston at that time tion that mallet players had trying to
Boston University in 1970, I bought a named Cleve Pozar. He was the origi- amplify themselves. It’s a commentary
Deagan ElectraVibe. I not only wanted nal drummer in the Bob James Trio. on the position of mallet instruments
to be heard, I also wanted an instru- He was very inventive, and I talked to within the industry.
him about wanting a pickup system
that would work well. He said, “Let’s Mattingly: During this time, were you
Dave Samuels make one,” which was not something I also looking into amplifying marimba?
had ever thought of. I spent two or Samuels: I really didn’t start playing
three weeks down in his basement marimba until ’72 or ’73 after I met
winding coils for a pickup system. We David Friedman and we started
bought shimstock, which are little bits Double Image. By that time, I wasn’t
of metal that we glued to the bottoms using amplification with vibes any-
of the bars so we could use a magnetic more. I used microphones.
pickup. After spending hours and The next time I was involved with
hours doing that, we had a system that pickups was in 1976 when I did a
was fair at best. So I lived with the record with Frank Zappa. Ruth
frustration of playing the ElectraVibe. Underwood and I were playing ma-
rimba and vibes that were set up with
Mattingly: Gary Burton told me that state-of-the-art Barcus-Berry pickups.
Musser made a few prototypes of an in- The electronics were of better quality
strument similar to the ElectraVibe, than what Deagan and Musser were

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 66 JUNE 1997

 using. Zappa had tech guys out on the amplification of the acoustic
road who were able to shape the sound sound only. It had nothing to do
so that the instruments sounded really with MIDI. Bill Katoski was the
good live—and that band was loud. first person to develop a MIDI
mallet controller, the
Mattingly: Outside of the Zappa gig, malletKAT.
though, were you still using micro- Another instrument I ex-
phones? perimented with briefly in
Samuels: Yes. I should mention one ex- the early ’80s was made by
periment I tried for a while. In the J.L Cooper. He came up to
early ’80s when the first PZM micro- me at a NAMM show and
phones came out, I bought a lavaliere told me that he had made
PZM. A PZM was a flat-surface micro- an electronic vibe that
phone, not a tube microphone. It was could be MIDIed, and he
pressure-sensitive and you could put it asked if I would like to
on the floor or the wall or the try it. It was a 3-octave
soundboard of a piano. instrument with plastic
I made a little harness out of bars. They were non-
Plexiglass and put the PZM on that, graduated, but they
and then made a belt so I actually were fairly wide. There
wore the microphone over my stomach, was no acoustic sound
and my body acted as a baffle to what- and no resonators.
ever was behind me. I could move back This was before digi-
and forth between vibes and marimba, tal technology, but it
and wherever I was playing, the micro- could control all the
phone was right there. It wasn’t great, synths. It worked re-
but it worked okay. ally well and the
When I started going out with Spyro bars felt comfort-
Gyra in ’82, I used regular micro- able, but all of a
phones. I had mic’s under both instru- sudden he just
ments and it was a real struggle. At dropped it.
that point I started to look around to At the same
find out if somebody could make a time Bill Katoski
pickup system. That’s when I ran into came up with his
Ray Ayotte in Vancouver. I told him malletKAT,

71
how frustrated I was at not being which had rub-

92, 19
heard, and he decided to take on the ber bars. Bill’s
task. He came up with a really good instrument

Catalog
system that used a piezo transducer had capabili-
that was glued onto each bar, with a ties that were
bus bar on each rail so that each very sophisti-

eagan
pickup was plugged into its own jack cated and
with its own pot (potentiometer) so you thorough,
fr om D
could control the volume. It worked way beyond
well and I used that for years. But he the use of most
Listing

ultimately got out of that business; he people. His instrument did every-
was more interested in making drums. thing but make coffee. I’ve used every It didn’t
Ray also customized my first ma- version of the malletKAT that Bill even have three full oc-
rimba from 4 1/3-octave to 3 1/3. I made. They are always reliable and taves; it went from C to B, which
was very concerned about going out sound great. There were some at- was completely mindless. The play-
on the road and having an instru- tempts by other companies to make in- ing surface was very hard and hurt
ment that was practical. I wanted an struments like the malletKAT, but your hands. Simmons had taken
instrument that was smaller, but I nothing every saw the light of day. their drum technology and assumed
wanted to keep the lower register, so that mallet players used the same
I chopped off the top octave. Yamaha Mattingly: Around the same time the kinds of sticks that drummers used.
made the one I’m using now. malletKAT came out, Simmons intro- It was silly; no wonder they put
duced the Silicon Mallet. themselves out of business.
Mattingly: Were you able to use the Ayotte Samuels: That was such a sham in-
system when MIDI came along? strument that I don’t consider it in Mattingly: Still, that and the
Samuels: No, Ray’s system was the same league as the malletKAT. malletKAT allowed mallet players to

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 67 JUNE 1997

 get involved with MIDI. Did any type in other situations. I did a record date system so that you can create a consis-
of MIDI interface come along that you for Art Garfunkel recently where they tent sound. That is a relatively expen-
could use with the Ayotte system so wanted a bass marimba, so I used the sive process, and is also contingent on
that you could MIDI your acoustic malletKAT’s internal marimba sound, what type of group you are playing in
vibes and marimba? tuned it down, and it sounded abso- because that will determine the power
Samuels: There wasn’t an interface. lutely fantastic. I also use the of the amplifier and what kind of mi-
Mainieri had an interface built for malletKAT when I play with a group crophones you need. Are you playing in
him, but that was a serious piece of called the Fantasy Band with Chuck an amplified band where you are the
change. Loeb, Marion Meadows and John Lee. only acoustic instrument? Where do
you set up on stage? Are you in front of
Mattingly: So there was no way for the Mattingly: What is gained and what is the drums or somewhere that you can
average vibes player to MIDI an acous- lost when one MIDIs an acoustic mallet minimize the amount of leakage going
tic vibraphone? instrument? into those microphones, because micro-
Samuels: Absolutely not. The K&K sys- Samuels: Obviously what is gained is phones never discriminate.
tem, which came out of Germany, was that you have the whole electronic pal-
the first that allowed you to play an ette of sounds to choose from, which Mattingly: Singers can use a mic’ that
acoustic instrument and also send out you can combine with the amplified won’t pick up anything further than an
MIDI information. K&K is very reli- acoustic sound of a vibe or marimba. inch away, but if you are going to cover
able and they make a good product. It’s What you can lose is your musical three octaves with two mic’s, it has to
the only product of its kind, both in identity. If you’re using the vibe and cover a wider range, which means it’s
terms of an electronic pickup system marimba strictly as a triggering de- going to pick up all kinds of stuff.
and a MIDI system. Nothing else is vice, there’s a possibility of sounding Samuels: That will absolutely happen.
commercially available now. So your like a generic synth player. If you do end up using microphones
choice is K&K or microphones. Depending on the type of sound that only cover a small distance, you
you’re using, you may very well have have to use several of them. Then you
Mattingly: Is the K&K pickup system and to alter your technique and the way have to be concerned about phase can-
MIDI system the same thing? you phrase. Part of being able to suc- cellation, and you have to have a mi-
Samuels: The pickups themselves don’t cessfully use another sound is to be crophone mixer that can handle all
change, whether it’s for the MIDI sys- able to assume the playing posture of those inputs.
tem or the amplified system. With the that particular sound. When playing You also have to decide whether to
MIDI system, you need some different marimba, we are used to playing mic from above or below. Depending
cables and a “MIDI Master” box that sounds with relatively short durations, on whether you’re playing in a con-
attaches to the side of the instrument. so if you are using a sound with a long cert or a club, does the person who is
K&K has never designed a system sustain, you have to adjust the way doing the sound have any idea what
that will allow you to MIDI anything you play. On vibes, it can be a little it’s supposed to sound like? So it’s
over three octaves. The pickup system easier because you have more control kind of a multi-layered problem and
can be any size, but in terms of send- over the sustain. solution. The nicest thing is if you
ing and receiving MIDI information, it But you have to be able to tailor can create a consistent sound no mat-
only goes up to three octaves. That’s your technique to fit whatever sound it ter where you are—something that
fine for vibes, and for marimba you can is. If you’re combining the MIDIed can go to the audience directly or to
have a pickup system for the whole in- sound with an amplified vibe or ma- go to a house engineer so that the
strument, but the MIDI portion of that rimba sound, you’ve got to either ad- sound quality he’s getting is the
would only be good for three octaves. just the sound so that both decays are sound quality you want.
similar or get used to the fact that the I generally recommend that anyone
Mattingly: What are you using now with acoustic sound may die out while the who is performing on a consistent ba-
the Caribbean Jazz Project? MIDI sound continues on. It can also sis buy a pickup system. It’s really
Samuels: I’ve got a K&K pickup system be problematic if you want to play going to be your first line of defense
for both the vibes and marimba. I take something very staccato and fast. You in terms of being able to get a consis-
out a 3 1/3-octave Yamaha Acoustalon have to make sure that the re-trigger tent sound.
marimba with no resonators. I play a function is working properly and the Of course, that’s making the as-
normal 3-octave vibe, and in addition setup is exactly right so that it does, in sumption that you’re playing in a
to the pickup system, we put two mi- fact, retrigger consistently. group where there are other
crophones underneath to warm up the amplified instruments. If that’s not
sound. Our sound tech seems to think Mattingly: What advice can you offer the case, then you may not need a
that it makes a huge difference. It’s mallet players regarding the use of mi- pickup system. I do some work in
hard for me to tell from the stage. crophones with mallet instruments? small clubs with a trio with electric
Samuels: If you are going to buy a couple guitar, bass and vibes, and I don’t use
Mattingly: Are you using MIDI with your of microphones to use for live playing, a thing—not even a microphone. It’s
Caribbean Jazz Project setup? you are also going to have to get some fantastic to be totally unencumbered,
Samuels: Not with that group, but I do kind of power amplifier and speaker and it sounds fine. PN

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 68 JUNE 1997

PERCUSSIVE NOTES 69 JUNE 1997