Different kind of classical sounds from marimba duo

A couple of Maritime musicians are striking a notein a different kind of classical duo.

Taktus features Jonny Smith from Cole Harbour, N.S., and Greg Harrison of Fredericton, N.B., who both play marimba.

The duo's first release featured a suite of pieces called Glass Houses;had critics raving, and CBC Music named it one of the top 10 classical albums of last year.

They are in concert Friday night at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Charlottetown, where Mainstreet's Kerry Campbell spoke to them in rehearsal for the show.

First off, he, like many others, needed an explanation of what a marimba is.

"They're basically like really big xylophones, they have wooden keys laid out very similar to a piano, and we play them with mallets that are rubber wrapped with yarn," said Jonny Smith. "They make a beautiful, warm, wooden sound."

The pair is quite used to having to introduce the marimba to people, and that actually makes the shows more fun for them.

"I would say that 50 per cent of the audience hasn't heard or seen a marimba before," said Harrison. "So that's always exciting, they're always ecstatic checking that out."

Marimba by accident

Learning the marimba isn't something most kids choose as a goal, and both of the players came to the instrument by accident.

Smith started on piano, but always wanted to play drums, so moved to that in school.

"When I got to 12th grade, and was introduced to the marimba, it was the perfect merging of the two," he said. "With a piano background and a drum background, it just worked very well to translate to the marimba."

Harrison simply got sent to the percussion department in school.

"I was one of those kids that was thrown into the percussion section to stay out of trouble, because I was always banging on my pencil cases and desk, so it seemed like the smart decision to put me in there to keep me occupied," he admitted.

New listening experience

Although a staple of thepercussion section, it's not common to have the marimba as the sole instrument, so the concerts are new listening experiences for most.

"A lot of the music we play, the Glass Houses, are very trance-like, even though they are very busy, rhythmic pieces," said Harrison. "I like to say it's a choose-your-own adventure as a listener and as a performer too."

Being in Taktus has meant the pair have had to spend countless hours learning, practicing and performing together, and Smith said luckily, they get along really well.

"Greg is also a really fun guy to play with, and I think as a duo it really helps to have a good friend as a musical partner," he said. "And we've developed a really good musical chemistry together so that makes it enjoyable to spend many hours practising together."

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