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I am a musician playing the Marimba. Because quite a bit of music for marimba is written by famous Japanese composers, occasionally I come across some Japanese text I would like to understand.

In the piece "Two methods of Movement for Marimba", written by Toshimitsu TANAKA, there is, on the 6th page, a Glissando (moving with the sticks along all bars) with a star. At the bottom of the page, the star is printed again, this time with a note in Japanese.

gliss

note

(Full images: glissando & note.)

★撥の音も加えたgliss.

I would be very grateful if someone could unveil the meaning of that sentence.

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It reads: "[撥]{ばち}の[音]{おと}も[加]{くわ}えたgliss". This literally means: "The sound of drumsticks"-too "added to"-gliss, and in translation:

Glissando complemented by the sound of drumsticks.

It seems a bit rendundant, knowing that a Marimba would only allow for discrete glissando.

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  • Could it mean sliding the mallet shaft as well, rather than just the wrapped part? If so, then I think it wouldn't be redundant.
    – user1478
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 18:07
  • Hmm... very interesting. This might be the case. Something that also hints to this are the X-shaped notes on the Glissando, normally used on 'hard' hits in percussion like when hitting a cymbal or a cowbell. Thanks a lot, Jens and snailplane!
    – Qqwy
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 19:33

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