Marimba: the heartbeat of a forest
The first time I heard marimba music I was headed to the Washington State ferry for a commute back to Orcas Island from Friday Harbor. It had been a long day at the newspaper. Tired, I dragged myself up the steep stairs and plunked down at a table. Off to the port side, there was a flurry of activity on the dock. Within minutes the sound of percussion instruments exploded, circulating a rhythmic sound around the harbor. The marimba music, staccato and upbeat, instantly turned my mood around. By the time the ferry pulled out, I was tapping my feet and bobbing to the beat. In less than a year, I became a student of marimba. After several years of instruction, I wrote a marimba song to accompany my children’s picture book, Calvin Splinter & His Splendid Splinter Ideas.
Calvin Splinter lives in the Great Forest where the forest hums. But that wasn’t always true. After a terrible storm, he pops out of a fallen tree to find all the trees destroyed, the hum of the Great Forest gone. Soon Calvin sets out to rebuild the forest and restore the Great Forest’s hum. He does this through intuitive thinking and with The Humming Song. When he starts to hum a tune, his song floats up and down the valley and into every small crack. When the other splinters hear Calvin’s humming song, they help him rebuild the forest, and the forest is saved.
It took me a while to figure out the song for Calvin Splinter & His Splendid Splinter ideas. I asked myself what kind of song does Calvin hum? What are the lyrics? The sound? It wasn’t until I watched a video about Zimbabwean marimba that the idea came to me. Zimbabweans believe marimba is the heartbeat of nature, that it resonates with the very soul of the earth and all living things. It was then I knew The Humming Song must be a marimba song.
Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnAEbwh-LCk&t=3s There, you’ll hear a catchy tune played by me and six other marimba players. I wrote the melody and lyrics. Margie Smith, my marimba coach, arranged the music for the other marimba instruments. There are seven instruments playing: the lead soprano, two soprano-2, two tenors, one baritone, one bass. Each instrument is layered in and then out, starting and finishing with the lead soprano. Kids love the sound and they love that they can use a device to play the song and watch the slideshow.
If you haven’t already, be sure to purchase a copy of Calvin Splinter & His Splendid Splinter ideas. Your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews will love you for it! www.hmapublishing.com/shop/calvin-splinter-amp-his-splendid-splinter-ideas-1
