CCBANTA
The Romance of Instrument Design and Bar Percussion Specialties
Research & Development in Bass Marimba and Bass Tone Bar Designs

IN GENERAL...

 

Powerful - Powerful bass tones fill the room.  Large wide-scale bars and cavity resonators, result in substantially louder tones than thin narrow-scaled bars and column resonators used in commercially-designed standard and bass marimbas. 

Deep - Extended low end frequency covers the range from Tenor C (C3) = 130.8Hz down to Contra Bass C (C1) = 32.7Hz.

Note: If interested in pitches below these ranges (e.g. Sub-Contra Bass [C0 – 16.35Hz]), please contact Chris to discuss.

Accurate - Pitches are tuned to the A-440 (Hz) pitch standard and are accurate to within +2 / -0 cents at 70-degrees F.  True strobe tuners (having mechanical rotating-discs) are used, along with a CCBANTA specifically-designed test equipment and testing procedure, to measure the tuning accuracy of the bar, the resonator, and the coupling of both components for maximum resonance.

Durable - Robust bars are made of hard maple and protected with a multi-coat water base finish, which makes them practically indestructible from heavy-handed playing.  Bars are suspended with a heavy duty cord and spring tensioning system.  Resonators are made of ¾-inch void-free Baltic Birch plywood and are structurally braced so there are no functional losses while being played.

Amplifiable - In addition to the acoustic resonance of the pitch, each bar contains a piezo-electric transducer and 1/4-inch jack.  This allows for each tone bar to be plugged into a mixer/amplifier system so the bar's vibration can be amplified electronically.  To feel the full power of these low pitches, sound reinforcement systems containing sub-woofers are recommended.