Carl Orff was born in 1892 in Germany. His early interest was in adult dance and movement.
He began his work with teaching children when he was asked to write music for the opening
of the 1936 Olympic Games.
After the second world war he developed music teaching
methods based on rhythm and dance. Out of this was born the Orff Schulwerk teaching method.
Orff used ideas involving untuned percussion (including body percussion) and singing, to form
the basis for a childs' musical awareness and appreciation. Later, tuned percussion can be
introduced, moving through pentatonic, then diatonic and on to modal and chromatic scales.
These small xylophones, with removable keys, were developed to provide practical tools
through which musical concepts and skills could be taught.
There is an extremely active Orff Society in South Africa. Called the:
ORFF SCHULWERK
SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA
who can be contacted in the following ways:
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Soprano
- for solo, group or orchestral work. 2 octave range (C'' to C'''') sneezewood keys
on a five box resonator. Played with hard rubber headed beaters.
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Alto
- for solo, group or orchestral work. 2 octave range (C' to C''') sneezewood keys on a
five box resonator. Played with felt headed beaters. The bottom octave is overtone-tuned.
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Bass
- for solo, group or orchestral work. 2 octave range (C to C'') sneezewood keys on a
seven box resonator. Played with wool wrapped polyurethane headed beaters. All keys are
overtone-tuned.
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Metallophones
Metallophones are available in sizes and layouts identical to the Xylophones. The hand-
polished aluminium keys give a brilliant, clear ring, with a vastly increased sustain, and
are therefore ideal for playing chords, or providing a contrasting sound to the xylophones.
Notes can be damped using the beaters or by hand if a pizzicato effect is required.
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Glockenspiels
Two ranges: Alto (C'' to C'''') and Treble (C''' to C''''') are available, and
feature built in dampers to vary the sound from sustain to pizzicato. Alto supplied with hard
rubber headed beaters and Treble with wooden headed beaters.
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Bass Chime Bars
Bass bars exploit the exceptional sound of Sneezewood to an even greater extent, by placing
individual notes on precisely tuned resonators. This enables music groups to build up a
collection of notes that are tailor made for their requirements (e.g. A pentatonic set in
the most commonly used key) and to enjoy a strong, mellow bass support in their ensembles.
They are available from middle C to an octave below for the bass range, and a further octave
below for the contrabass range.
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