The xylophone (of the Greek roots xylo: wood and phon: its) is a musical instrument of the family of the Idiophones (class of the lamellophones).
It consists of wood blades various lengths which are struck by means of mailloches finished by a sphere sometimes covered with rubber or felt. The tuning of the blades is done differently according to the times and the places. The provision of the blades is, most frequently, similar to that of the keyboard of piano.
The first certificate of the presence of a xylophone dates from XIIIe century (Mali). Always very present in the traditional or popular musics (Africa, America, Asia), it is very employed in the Western erudite music. One finds it in the orchestras in the carnival of the animals of Camille Saint-Saëns but also in the continuation of Jazz N°2 of D. Chostakovitch.
Among his old denominations, one finds échelettes , claquebois , harmonica of wood .
See too
Be-X-old: Ксыляфон
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