Metallofon

Metallofon, or metallophone, is a percussion instrument in the idiophone family consisting of tuned metal bars that are struck to produce pitched sounds. The bars are typically made of steel or alloy and are mounted on a frame above a resonator or sounding board. The instrument is played with mallets, using different striking techniques to shape attack, dynamics, and note duration. Its bright, ringing timbre makes it distinct from wooden-key percussion.

Metallophones are usually laid out in a keyboard-like arrangement, enabling melodies and scales to be played across multiple octaves. Bars may be arranged diatonically or chromatically, and the instrument may include resonators or dampers to influence sustain. In educational settings, metallophones are common in Orff pedagogy, paired with xylophones and glockenspiels to teach musical concepts through hands-on play.

In addition to Western educational and concert contexts, the term also covers metallophone instruments used in traditional gamelan ensembles of Indonesia. In gamelan, metallophones such as gender and demung are central melodic components. Their bars are tuned to regional scales such as slendro or pelog, and they are struck with soft or hard mallets to produce bright, sustaining tones that blend with other metallophones, gongs, and drums in the ensemble.

Notable Western variants include the glockenspiel, a compact metal-bar instrument with bright, piercing tones and minimal resonance tubes, and the vibraphone, which adds resonators and a mechanism for sustaining notes. Metallophones span educational and professional settings, offering a versatile, metallic timbre for melodic percussion.