xylophone
/ˈzʌɪləfəʊn
/noun
A musical instrument played by striking a row of wooden bars of graduated length with one or more small wooden or plastic beaters.It is a simple ballad with a choirboy singing a melody over a xylophone and soft string orchestral backing....
- Percussion is composed of sleigh bells, tambourine, xylophone and kettle drums.
- Here the group combines trombone, a simplistic guitar line, and what sounds like either a marimba or a xylophone.
Derivatives
xylophonic
- A thick gush of guitar and xylophonic pluck, the vocals are pushed up front for the first time.
- First the xylophonic tinkering, then the thunderous drums, instantly knock you out.
- In the drain, hidden by foliage, ducks clacked a quacky, xylophonic tune.
xylophonist
- This biopic about a legendary Thai xylophonist's beautifully shot, but that's about all that can be legitimately praised.
- In a real players' tour-de-force, this multi-faceted and instrumental band allows all of its members - from guitarist to xylophonists - to contribute to the genial groove going on.
- Marimba players, xylophonists and other percussionists will be spotlighted as soloists on Handel's ‘Concerto No.5 in F.’
Origin
Mid 19th century: from xylo- 'of wood' + -phone.
This is the only common word formed from Greek xylo- ‘wood’, although it is common enough in science in words such as xylene (mid 19th century) a hydrocarbon made from distilled wood, and archaeologists can describe a single lump of wood as monoxylic (mid 19th century) on the model of monolithic (mid 19th century) for ‘single stone’.
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