Editing Xylophone (section)

===Western xylophone===
[[File:Xylophone-Antonko-AXF09-Marimba-Antonko-AMC12.jpg|thumb|left|Orchestral xylophone (left) and marimba (right)]]
The earliest mention of a xylophone in Europe was in [[Arnolt Schlick]]'s ''Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten'' (1511), where it is called ''hültze glechter'' ("wooden clatter").<ref name = VSL>{{cite web|url=https://vsl.co.at/en/Xylophone/History |title= History{{Snd}} The world of wooden mallet instruments |website=Vsl.co.at| publisher= Vienna Symphonic Library |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref><ref name= Grove>{{Cite Grove |last=Anderson |first=Lois Ann |display-authors=etal |title=Xylophone}}</ref> There follow other descriptions of the instrument, though the term "xylophone" is not used until the 1860s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title= xylophone| encyclopedia= [[Oxford English Dictionary]]| edition= Second| year= 1989| publisher= Oxford University Press| quote= 7 April 1866 edition of the ''[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenaeum]]'': 'A prodigy ... who does wonderful things with little drumsticks on a machine of wooden keys, called the 'xylophone'.'}}<br />{{cite journal| year= 1865 |journal= The Ladies' Companion| publisher= Rogerson and Tuxford| page= 152| title= Leaves for the Little Ones| quote= ...and Master Bonnay, on the Xylophone, is always recalled.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7EYFAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA152}} Both citations refer to the performance of a child prodigy, Sunbury.</ref> The instrument was associated largely with the folk music of Central Europe, notably Poland and eastern Germany. An early version appeared in [[Slovakia]]<ref name="Nettl MPC" />{{rp|98}} and the earliest reference to a similar instrument came in the 14th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Xylophone| url= http://www.concertgoersguide.org/onstage/instruments/thexylophone.php|publisher=Oregon Symphony Players Association| website= Concertgoersguide.org|access-date=5 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813000208/http://www.concertgoersguide.org/onstage/instruments/thexylophone.php| archive-date= 13 August 2007}}</ref>

The first use of a European orchestral xylophone was in [[Camille Saint-Saëns]]' ''[[Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns)|Danse Macabre]]'', in 1874.<ref name=made/> By that time, the instrument had already been popularized to some extent by [[Josef Gusikov|Michael Josef Gusikov]],<ref>[http://www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Guzikow/GuzikowArchs.html Michael Joseph Guzikow Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230034331/http://www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Guzikow/GuzikowArchs.html |date=30 December 2006 }}</ref> whose instrument was the five-row xylophone made of 28 crude wooden bars arranged in semitones in the form of a trapezoid and resting on straw supports. There were no resonators and it was played fast with spoon-shaped sticks. According to musicologist [[Curt Sachs]], Gusikov performed in garden concerts, variety shows, and as a novelty act at symphony concerts.

The western xylophone was used by early jazz bands and in [[vaudeville]]. Its bright, lively sound worked well the syncopated dance music of the 1920s and 1930s. [[Red Norvo]], George Cary, [[George Hamilton Green]], [[Teddy Brown]], Harry Breuer and Harry Robbins were among the well-known players. As time passed, the xylophone was exceeded in popularity by the metal-key [[vibraphone]], which was developed in the 1920s. A xylophone with a range extending downwards into the marimba range is called a [[xylorimba]].

In orchestral scores, a xylophone can be indicated by the French ''claquebois'', German ''Holzharmonika'' (literally "wooden harmonica"), or Italian ''silofono''.<ref name= Grove /> [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]] was particularly fond of the instrument; it has prominent roles in much of his work, including most of his [[symphony|symphonies]] and his [[Cello Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich)|Cello Concerto No. 2]]. Modern xylophone players include [[Bob Becker (composer)|Bob Becker]], [[Evelyn Glennie]] and Ian Finkel.

In the United States, there are Zimbabwean marimba bands in particularly high concentration in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and New Mexico, but bands exist from the East Coast through California and even to Hawaii and Alaska. The main event for this community is ZimFest, the annual Zimbabwean Music Festival. The bands are composed of instruments from high sopranos, through to lower soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass. Resonators are usually made with holes covered by thin cellophane (similar to the [[balafon]]) to achieve the characteristic buzzing sound. The repertoires of U.S. bands tends to have a great overlap, due to the common source of the Zimbabwean musician [[Dumisani Maraire]], who was the key person who first brought Zimbabwean music to the West, coming to the University of Washington in 1968.