Thin, solid, wooden handles; turquoise yarn, tightly wrapped around the ends of the mallets; a small yet powerful instrument; often two in each hand drawing out a deep, melodic sound unassuming in nature, so wildly robust in sound.
The crowd is small, a few dozen mostly aging neighbors, enjoying their Sunday with Friends; so many, yet so few, random people drawn together for the love, the curiosity, the enjoyment of the new and unknown.
Each note drops down, down onto the thick wooden keys; sending sounds through organ-like pipes, their sizes dwarfed yet guttural notes are emitted down, down towards the earth. Each ping, each stroke, emitting a sound reminiscent of the summer abroad, that one person you connected with those years ago, the forgotten but remembered moment, day, experience, that shapes the mind and soul.
Paul, our Sunday musician, strokes the keys with methodical attention. The emitted sounds engulf me like a peaceful rain shower. Each drop, varying in size, strength and value falls to the earth; landing in ponds and rivers, leaving droplets on the foliage and ferns; the lush, green, peaceful land absorbing life, beginning anew.
The music, the rain, tapers off leaving the observer, the now participant, rejuvenated, breathing deeply, honestly and truly experiencing life, its minute intricacies – the Marimba, an instrument unbeknownst to most, yet its sound, producing airy yet deep tones, drawing out notes that hold on, delay, allowing you to experience and know it before it lingers and fades into the depths of serenity, the sounds of life through silence.
The artist with his repertoire of songs has a set, as all do; one particular song entitled Yellow After the Rain seems to embody all the Marimba has to offer; the song originally created for four mallets as opposed to two, one that allows the musician to truly feel it and be one with his instrument, turning his wrists, eliciting staccato notes in rapid succession, looking as astoundingly beautiful as it sounds.
The music fills both my body and soul with such depth and light; sounds and knowledge only culled from natural elements within; for the earth, by the earth, the soundtrack to our existence. Soft and deep and as only truly soulful music can, the hum of the Marimba transports me, the listener, to a far away place, unique to only my imagination and desires.
