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Traditional Marimbas

The project of the traditional marimbas started in the year 2008 and since that time, we have improved on many areas of design and construction and have combined the tuning of the concert marimbas into the traditional instruments, being thus the only marimba makers to utilize that process.

 

We make three models of traditional instruments:

  1. Luxury line - Hand-carved marimba with eagles 

  2. Portable model

  3. Concert frame traditional -  This is an exclusive model of our making, based on the technology and building of our concert marimba.  We maintain the essence of the traditional instruments' wooden resonators and membrane that give this instrument its characteristic sound, while having a frame that is closer to the concert marimba for ease of assemblage and transportation.

 

The traditional Biolley marimbas are built with the best materials.  The keyboards are made with Cristobal wood (Patymiscium pinnatum) and/or Balsamo wood (Myroxylon balsamum), very fine Costa Rican woods of great durability, tolerance, and sonority.  All our woods are selected and utilized in very specific ways to guarantee that their use in our keyboards is of the highest professional quality.

 

All of the woods used in the building of these instruments have been dried naturally before being put through a series of temperature treatments in specially built chambers at the Costa Rican Technological Institute, to guarantee the optimum state for the wood, both for the frames and the keyboards.

 

The frames are made with 100% Costa Rican woods of the following types:

  • Cedro (Cedrela odorata - recommended only for tropical countries)

  • Cristobal (Patymiscium pinnatum)

With these fine woods, we guarantee the best stability and tolerance for climate change in all our instruments.

 

The resonators are made with Cedro (Cedrela odorata), a Costa Rican wood characterized by its sound amplitude, with the button covered with bees wax and pig membrane for the traditional sound.

 

All four casters have independent brakes and are large enough (4 inches) to guarantee fluid movement when rolling the instrument from place to place.

 

The making of these instruments is totally done by hand, thus guaranteeing that each part is meticulously checked and that it goes through our hands a number of times in the process of construction.

Concert Marimbas

The project of the concert marimbas started in the year 2012 and it has moved very carefully, focusing step by step in each detail of design, building, materials, and tuning, culminating now in models of 5, 4.5, and 4.3 octave marimbas.  In the national market of Costa Rica, important cultural institutions such as the Concert Band of Cartago, the University of Costa Rica in both its main campus (San Pedro) and one of its branches (Limón), the National System of Music Education (SINEM, for whom we built 18 marimbas), already own some of our instruments.  At the individual level, distinguished national percussion artists like William Ramos and Víctor Fonseca are also proud owners of instruments of our making, as is Fernando Meza at the University of Minnesota in the USA.

 

In June of this year, we will start to distribute our instruments in the North American market through Professional Percussion Products in Cleveland,  Ohio, through our association with Karl Dustman, recognized member of the percussion industry in the USA.

 

Our concert marimbas are built with the best materials.  The keyboards are made of Cristobal wood (Patymiscium pinnatum), a very fine Costa Rican wood of great durability, tolerance and sonority.  All our woods are selected and utilized in very specific ways to guarantee that its use in our keyboards is of the highest professional quality.

 

All of the woods used in the building of these instruments have been dried naturally before being put through a series of temperature treatments in specially built chambers at the Costa Rican Technological Institute, to guarantee the optimum state for the wood, both for the frames and the keyboards.

 

The frames are made with 100% Costa Rican woods of the following types:

  • Cedro (Cedrela odorata - only recommended for tropical countries)

  • Cristobal (Patymiscium pinnatum)
  • Ron-Ron (Astronium graveolens Jacq. - made to order only)

With these fine woods, we guarantee the best stability and tolerance for climate change in all our instruments.

 

The resonators are made in polished natural aluminum with stainless steel joints and wooden knobs for easy assemblage.  They are adjustable in height for the performer to experiment and adjust the sound to the space or area where the instrument will be used.  All of the resonators are put together with security nuts to avoid unwanted sounds or vibrations.  It is also possible as a custom job, to anodize the resonators to a color of the client’s preference.

 

All four casters have independent brakes and are large enough (4 inches) to guarantee fluid movement when rolling the instrument from place to place.

 

The making of these instruments is entirely done by hand, thus guaranteeing that each part is meticulously checked and that it goes through our hands a number of times in the process of construction.

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