What is a glockenspiel and how is it constructed? Percussionist David Hockings talks about the instrument and demonstrates how it’s played. |  |
THE GLOCKENSPIEL (which literally means 'playing bells') has tuned metal bars, usually made of steel, arranged in two rows like the black and white notes on a piano keyboard. These metal bars are hit by mallets or beaters, which have playing ends made of hard materials such as wood, nylon, plastic or rubber. The sound produced is bell-like and high-pitched. This is the kind of instrument commonly found in the Western classical orchestra.
Sometimes, such as when it’s used in military bands, the glockenspiel is carried on a special frame. The orchestral version of the instrument has a standing frame, or sits on a table top.
There are some versions of the glockenspiel which have a piano keyboard attached, with the metal bars being hit from below by little hammers. This instrument produces an inferior sound though and so is not so common.
The range of the glockenspiel can be anything up to three octaves. As it’s such a high-sounding instrument, the pitches are always written two octaves below the sound that will actually be produced.
Towards the end of the 17th century glockenspiels began to appear in the shape we know them today. There are many instances of the glockenspiel being used in Western classical music, an early one being in the celebrated Dance of the Hours from the opera La Giaconda (1876) by Ponchielli. In more modern music the glockenspiel has a prominent part in Pierre Boulez’s Pli selon pli.
Percussionist David Hockings talks about the glockenspiel and demonstrates how it’s played.
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