Frank MacCallum The Book of the Marimba
The Book of the Marimba was written by Frank K. MacCallum and published in 1969. The book has been out of print for many years making it a rare find for percussion enthusiasts and researchers.
Content and Significance
This important text contains information about the history and the construction of the instrument, with chapters on observations and comments made by various musicians and writers, how to write music for the marimba, ensemble playing, and more.
What makes MacCallum's book particularly significant is that it was "one of the very first books about how marimbas are constructed and includes information about the dimensions, tuning, resonator shape and size, of the instruments". This technical focus on construction details was groundbreaking for its time, as few resources existed that combined both historical information and practical construction guidance.
Academic Use
The book has been cited in scholarly work on the marimba. Academic dissertations have referenced MacCallum's work alongside other important marimba texts like Vida Chenoweth's The Marimbas of Guatemala indicating its standing as a credible source in percussion research.
The Book of the Marimba represents an important early contribution to marimba literature, bridging the gap between historical understanding and practical instrument construction at a time when such comprehensive resources were extremely rare. MacCallum's work helped establish a foundation for later, more specialized studies of the instrument.
