What is "vibraphone"

1926, a hybrid from vibrato + -phone.

n. A percussion musical instrument with a double row of tuned metal bars, each above the tubular resonator containing a motor-driven rotating vane, giving a vibrato effect.

n. a percussion instrument similar to a xylophone but having metal bars and rotating disks in the resonators that produce a vibrato sound [syn: vibraharp, vibes]

The vibraphone (also known as the vibraharp or simply the vibes) is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family.

The vibraphone resembles the xylophone, marimba, and glockenspiel. Each bar is paired with a resonator tube that has a motor-driven butterfly valve at its upper end. The valves are mounted on a common shaft, which produces a tremolo or vibrato effect while spinning. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal similar to that on a piano. With the pedal up, the bars are all damped and produce a shortened sound. With the pedal down, they sound for several seconds.

The vibraphone is commonly used in jazz music, in which it often plays a featured role and was a defining element of the sound of mid-20th-century " Tiki lounge" exotica, as popularized by Arthur Lyman. It is the second most popular solo keyboard percussion instrument in classical music, after the marimba, and is part of the standard college-level percussion performance education. It is a standard instrument in the modern percussion section for orchestras and concert bands.