Marimba Tables
Marimba Tables
Since I was a kid, I have been mesmerized by the sounds of the African xylophones I used to hear around me in Johannesburg. I thought of the concept of marimba tables and musical furniture several years ago. I wanted to make music “part of the furniture”. The tables are individually designed and finely handcrafted in recycled timber. They serve both as musical instruments and unique art pieces. The keys are made from a variety of hard woods. The built-in marimba has a rich, deep and mellow tone. It is tuned to a Pentatonic Scale. The two tables I have at present are made of recycled Birch, from Europe, and the keys are Ipea, from Brazil.A poem which I once read in the introduction to a book on guitar-making very much inspires me and expresses the spirit of “Woodsong”- the feeling of making old wood “sing”. This poem was found inscribed on the face frets of an Elizabethan lute:
I was alive in the forest I was cut by the cruel axe In life I was silent In death I sweetly sing |
Viva fui in silvis Sum dura occisa Securi dum vixi tacui Morta dulce cano |