I have been trying to practice mallets at my house since field band is now over. And I was wondering what would be the best thing to practice on since I don't have a Marimba at my house.

I have been using a drum pad but it doesn't have the same feel as the actual Marimba. So if anybody can give suggestions that would be great.

This is one of the things I hate about mallet instruments, they cost to much to get one of your own.

I run into this same problem, all of the time, because I love to practive mallets, but I cant practice at home, because I dont have the thousands for a marimba, and in reality, you can practice on different mallet instruments, but, just never the same as the amazing marimba lol

if your school has any old mallet instruments that they arent using at the current moment, ask your director if he/she would allow you to borrow it for practicing, I am not sure if they would do it, but worth a shot. I have tried using a piano/keyboard to practice mallets, but it just isn't the same, so, this really is a huge problem with mallet instrument playing, maybe save up for a xylo? they are cheaper than a marimba, louder to, lol

It's going to be hard to get the same kind of touch that any mallet instrument has. It's just one of the things that I have had to deal with, too.

The best thing that you can do for yourself is deal with not use the excuse of "I don't have a keyboard at home, so I can't practice," because it's not true. That will just hurt your in the long run because you're not playing at all. I will give it to you that working out notes is a little tough without a board, but getting the rhythm is half the battle and you can do that on the floor. Playing there will help your hands significantly and build your chops. You can work out pretty much anything, especially permutations, from the floor. You're taking it down to the basics and removing all tone and movement and putting it on one surface. When you bring it to the board, you'll just have to put it to notes. It's just like playing a check, or how tenors can learn their music on one drum and then move it around afterwards.

It's already been said, but can try to learn the notes on a piano. Personally, I haven't been able to get into it and actually be productive in this way. I've picked up a pretty much just studying the music. Sitting down, and looking at the motion and the progression of the chord, without even touching an instrument. It actually helps me a lot because then I understand the theory behind the music, rather than just learning it as just a bunch of notes.

Edit - If I remember right, Xymox has a practice pad for marimba that's about $90+. And that's if you're absolutely determined to have the picture of the keyboard for the notes. To each his own.

I have also been thinking about just making my own marimba pad, but I'm still looking at what would be the best material to use.

Like Tory suggested, you can do a remarkable number of things on the floor.

Then there's the practice pad option. When I was a freshman in high school, I actually made this little cardboard keyboard thing to practice on. It was basically a piece of posterboard with cardboard cutouts that were measured to the bar sizes. Put on a table... thwack away, you get the picture. Looking back, I'm not really sure if it's a good idea or not. On the plus side, you're actually able to look at the physical shapes of the notes you're playing, but on the downside, it feels nothing like a marimba, and also, if you're like me and learn as much with your ears as you do with your eyes, it's easy to learn a wrong note and not realize it if you're not careful. Or if you're playing a more atonal piece, you can't really get the sound of the right notes into your ears.

So yeah... it's a rough problem. I think the best solution is to go to your band director and ask if there are any other times that you would be able to practice at school. Maybe s/he would be willing to stay after school for an extra hour or two one or two days a week. I'm sure that if you politely explain your situation, even if s/he can't be accomodating they'll be thrilled to have a student interested in putting in more time.

I just make my own pads. And use a bell kit or keyboard to see what it sounds like. Just drawing it own paper is better than nothing, but really doesn't give the right feel. So I make marimba practice pads. Works for me. Also. When you can't practice the notes or music, just focus more on your technique.

do you use certain material when you make you pad. I have been looking for something to make a mallet pad. I think the only thing that came close to the feel of a marimba is taking very thin pieces of rubber and stretching them over a piece of wood. but i would be interested in hearing what you use for your pad

Since playing mallet percussion requires the ability to hear the melodies you're playing, I would probably advise against making a pad that you're going to sit and play actual music on. It's going to be really easy to learn wrong notes and not know any different because you won't hear the pitches you're playing.

While I sit and hack out permutations whenever I don't have a marimba to practice, I can't say I would ever make a keyboard pad to learn notes on.

My band directer lets people come in during lunches and study hall to practice, as long as they don't disturb a class he has then if he has a class. Being able to practice on a real instrument will always be better than a pad.

Yeah getting time on a real instrument is always great, but at my school there is usually something going on in my band room. so its hard to find time to get in their.