To figure it out, I enlisted the help of a fellow named Paul Aucoin. Aucoin decided to give the instrument its time to shine in his film-score inspired pop music, when he started a band called the Hylozoists. He joined me at a small cafe in the West Queen West district in Toronto to discuss the basics of the vibraphone over a late brunch.

Aucoin is not the eccentric, Bernard-Herrmann type musician I was expecting. He has a mop of brown curls and the air of an affable Maritimer (and not only in the way he rolls his R's like a pirate), more like the guy you went to high school with that everyone liked. He speaks easily about the world junior hockey championships, touring and producing, and learning percussion alongside members of Thrush Hermit while growing up in Halifax.

Just what is this thing?
The vibraphone, or vibraharp, is part of the wider percussion family. According to Musical Instruments: A comprehensive dictionary, the vibraphone is a metallophone, a descendant of the European xylophone. But how is it related to the xylophone, glockenspiel, or marimba?

"Those instruments are similar in the sense that they have bars and you hit them with a mallet. However, they differ in range - for example, a grand marimba has 6 octaves, while a xylophone, or what I sometimes call the ‘soprano marimba', has between 2 1/2 to 4 octaves. Both of these are made of wood. On the other hand, a glockenspiel has a higher range than all the others, is made of metal like a vibraphone, and contains between 2 1/2 to 3 octaves."

The vibraphone in particular contains three octaves, starting from the F below middle C, but a lower range than the glockenspiel. The structure of its bars is much like the keys of a piano - sharps and flats in the top row, and natural notes on the bottom row. Similar to a piano, it has a dampening pedal to mute sound, and also a sustaining pedal that accentuates the vibrato sound of the vibraphone.

According to the book Musical Instruments Described, the vibraphone was invented by an American in the early 1920s to popularize dance music. It subsequently made an appearance in jazz music, with Lionel Hampton in the 1930s, and then continued on with smaller appearances in avant garde music (i.e. Steve Reich), other jazz music (i.e. Milt Jackson, Cal Tjader, Gary Burton), funk records (i.e. at the Hit Factory with the Funk Brothers, Roy Ayers), film scores (i.e. Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone), and 1960s and 1970s pop music (i.e. The Beach Boys). Over the last decade, it has made a resurgence in pop releases.

"There has definitely been a bit of a revival in interest for the vibraphone - I think many musicians realized the potential of the instrument. But also, I think there was a camp of people who realized that ‘oooh, it sounds pretty!' and they wanted to include it on their recordings," Aucoin laughs.

Techniques
The vibraphone is typically played with cord wrapped mallets, and to a lesser extent, yarn wrapped mallets, depending on the timbre of the sound you are looking for. The former produces a firmer, harder sound, while the latter has a more subdued sound. In terms of how you play, in the older days, people played the vibraphone with one mallet in each hand. As of the ‘70's, however, modern vibraphonists used two mallets in each hand (called the Burton Grip, Musser grip, or Stevens technique). This requires a lot more dexterity in the fingers, but allows for multi-tone chords to be played.

Where can you hear the vibraphone?
Perhaps the best way to learn about the vibraphone is through hearing it.

"Figuring out ‘classic' pop songs for the vibraphone is not easy, because it's typically a very behind the scenes instrument. It's not like, say…." Aucoin is stumped for an example.

"The theremin?" I offer (whilst thanking my lucky stars that I had read that article in Grand Royal magazine years before).

"Right! There were songs dedicated to just showcasing the theremin, like "Good Vibrations" for example. But it isn't so clear cut with the vibraphone," explains Aucoin.

"But you know, I guess that is what I'm trying to do with the Hylozoists!" he laughs.

Over the course of the brunch, a visit to Aucoin's studio, a trail of email correspondence, as well as a slew of postings on message boards and consultation with music aficionados, a list of these vibraphone songs came up as essential songs to hear the vibraphone:

"Flying Home" - Lionel Hampton
Off of Flying Home, on LRC (1954)
HKM: Hampton was perhaps the first ever jazz vibraphonist, and definitely the first ever recorded vibraphonist (on a Louis Armstrong record). This song illustrates perfectly the swing style that Lionel Hampton was famous for. Flying Home is allegedly based on a tune that Hampton nervously whistled while waiting for an airplane to whisk him off to a show he was playing. It has since become a jazz standard.

Vertigo (film score) - Bernard Herrmann
On Varese Sarabande (1958/1996)
HKM: Watching Vertigo is already a life changing experience, with Alfred Hitchcock's filmmaking talents. However, listening to this film score I realized the power that Bernard Herrmann's music commanded, with his use of an entire orchestra (including a vibraphone). The first evening I listened to this without Hitchcock's visuals, I couldn't sleep because the music was so intense it seemed to have affected me in some kind of profound way - I literally felt uneasy from it. There is also a very visual aspect to the music. Scottie's feeling of vertigo is perfectly matched to Bernard Herrmann's swirling strings, and fuzzy sounding vibraphone to recreate that dizzy, hazy feeling.

"Bags & Trane" - Milt Jackson and John Coltrane
Off of Bags & Trane, on Atlantic/WEA (1959)
HKM: The title track and the album were named after Milt Jackson and John Coltrane's nicknames (Bags for Milt Jackson's droopy eyes from staying up late, and Coltrane's from a truncation of his last name), and it was the only time the two had recorded an album together. This song in particular, has a tipetoeing, Pink Panther-esque quality to it, starting and ending with the mysterious sound of Jackson's vibes.

"Soul Sauce" - Cal Tjader
Off of Soul Sauce, on Verve (1964)
HKM: Cal Tjader was a huge contributor to the Latin Jazz scene and got his jazz chops working with Dave Brubeck in the Bay Area in the late 1940s/early 1950s. "Soul Sauce", which is a cover of Dizzy Gillespie/Chano Pozo's "Guachi Guara", had a brief stint in the top 40 and illustrates the versatility of the vibraphone in this subgenre of jazz music.

"Let's Go Away for Awhile" - Beach Boys
Off of Pet Sounds on Capitol Records (1966)
HKM: It is truly amazing how layered Pet Sounds is, and how all the instruments combine into one cohesive pop masterpiece. The vibraphonists on these songs were session musicians by the names of Frank Capp and Julius Wechter. On "Let's Go Away for Awhile", the vibraphone gives an incredibly faraway, almost tropical vibe (no pun intended) to the song.
PA: On "Let's Go Away for Awhile", the vibraphone is rather subtle and the rest of the instruments kind of trump its presence. However, I would say that Brian Wilson's subtle inclusion of the vibraphone and the way it blends in with the other instruments is testament to his taste in music and a reason why Pet Sounds is one of the most significant albums in musical history.

"Monkey Man" - Rolling Stones
Off of Let it bleed, on Abkco Records (1969)
HKM: Bill Wyman was widely known as the bassist for the Rolling Stones, but he taught himself to play many other instruments, including the vibraphone. The vibraphone is most prominent at the intro of this song, when combined with Keith Richards' strutting guitar, the song makes you feel like the coolest person in the world. (Never mind the person looking at you funnily on the subway because you're tapping your feet and mouthing the lyrics.)

"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" - Jimmy Ruffin
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye & Tammy Terrell
"What's Going On?" - Marvin Gaye
All Singles, on Tamla/Motown Records (1966-1971)
PA: Jack Ashford, who was known as the "Tambourine Man" amongst the Funk Brothers, also played the vibes on many of the label's biggest hits. He was fairly behind the scenes on these tracks, but you can see him playing the vibes in the documentary about the Funk Brothers, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.

"Mystic Voyage" - Roy Ayers
on Polydor/Ubiquity (1975)
HKM: One would be remiss not to mention Roy Ayers in a vibraphone article. As the story goes, Roy Ayers got his first pair of mallets at the age of 5 from Lionel Hampton, after one of the latter's concerts. Throughout the half century (and beyond) that he has made music, he's changed music genres like underwear, and his songs have been sampled extensively on a number of hip hop tracks (particularly those from Everybody Loves the Sunshine) In his music career, the only constant has been the inclusion of his virtuosic performances on the vibraphone. "Mystic Voyage" was an example of one of his songs that became a hit on the Quiet Storm radio circuit.

"To the End" - Blur
Off of Parklife, on Food Records/Parlophone (1994)
HKM: Damon Albarn plays the vibraphone in the intro and transitions of the song, giving it a spacious, ballroom-esque sound. Combined with the strings and the sweet nothings whispered by Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab, this makes for a glorious track.

"Glass Museum" - Tortoise
Off of Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Thrill Jockey (1996)
PA: Glass Museum is an instrumental vibes song from Millions Now Living Will Never Die - this is probably the first time I had heard a vibraphone coming from the indie rock canon and realized that I could use it in this context.

Old Calexico albums (late 1990s)
PA: Calexico has some great vibraphone here and there on their older albums. I heard the story of how they got a hold of it- John and Joey in Calexico frequented a music store in Tucson that had an old vibraphone upstairs - because they had very limited funds at that time, they kept pestering the owner to sell them the vibraphone for $500, which was unheard of for such an instrument, but that was what they could afford. Finally, after many months of them persistently coming in and asking, the owner finally agreed.

"Playground Love" (Vibraphone version) - Air
Off of a download, or found on the Playground Love single, Emperor Norton/Astralwerks (2000)
HKM: The original version of this song off of Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides score had a very heavy feeling of melancholy. You could practically feel that sadness of unrequited love in Gordon Tracks' voice - however, the remake with just the vibraphone resonates in an equally profound way with its sleepy vibrato sound.

"Music for Large Ensemble" - Steve Reich
Off of Triple Quartet, Nonesuch Records (2002)
PA: This song actually has minimal vibraphone on it and is more mallet heavy - typically, Steve Reich is more well known for his marimba playing than anything else. However, I include it because the vibraphone and marimba are in the same family, and not including it would be like....not having a classical guitar song included in a list of guitar songs because it's classical guitar.
HKM: Not including a cousin during a family reunion?
PA: Something like that.

"Let it Die" - Feist
Off of Let it Die, on Arts & Crafts (2004)
HKM: This is a sad song made sadder with the addition of the vibraphone by Gonzales. Even though the main lyric isn't anything mindblowing (The saddest part/of a broken heart/isn't the ending/so much as the start) the juxtaposition of her nearly cracking voice and the vibraphone make it all the more poignant, and I'm certain that many indie rock kids added it to their IM names as soon as they heard it (guilty as charged).

"Chicago" - Sufjan Stevens
Off of Illinoise, on Asthmatic Kitty records (2005)
PA: Very often, I have to explain to people what the Hylozoists is, and that usually involves explaining what a vibraphone is. Chicago is usually the song that I reference for when people don't know what it is - Sufjan Stevens lavishes all the attention on the vibraphone in the opening part of the song, and then plays it intermittently throughout the song, but it's a very obvious use of the instrument.

La Fin du Monde - The Hylozoists
On Boompa Recordings (2006)
HKM: I am always amazed that this album wasn't a score to an art house film. It envelops you in sound - dramatic, haunting, with just a smattering of songs in major keys to add that glimmer of hope. On top of that, Paul Aucoin produced the whole thing himself. I know I sound like a middle school principal when I say this, but what an achievement.