The name of the instrument derives from the Greek: "Xylon" = wood and "Phone" = voice. Thus the name Xylophone cannot be applied to metalophones which have sets of bars made of metal instead of wood.
The simplest form of xylophone contains a set of wooden bars, made of rosewood, carefully cut and tuned, supported at two points and secured by small pins that lie between them on the one end and one which is pierced at the other end. The whole set of bars is arranged in two parallel rows (sometimes one) upon a special frame. The bars are struck with a set of different sticks. The sticks are usually round headed and made of different degrees of hardness and resilience, to produce a richness of tone colors.
The bars can be made in one of two different forms: flat or rounded. When a note gets out of tune, the pitch can be tuned again by reducing its length (to heighten its pitch) or by lessening its depth (to lower its pitch)
The tones of the xylophone are very short,without lasting resonance. The upper tones are dry and brittle, while the lower are richer and more resonant. In modern xylophones perpendicular resounders underneath each bar are placed, thus enriching and lengthening the tone.
The xylophone is a melodic instrument and players have become very specialized in playing it developing quite dazzling virtuosity. It seems to have first been introduced in Europe in the beginning of the 16th century, but it was the Russian Jew, Gusikov, who made it known throughout Europe's musical centers,around 1830, by his hypnotizing virtuosity.
Felix Mendelssohn, who heard him in 1836, wrote: "With a few sticks,lying on straw and struck with other sticks, he does what is possible only on the most perfect instruments. How from such materials even the small tone produced -- more like a Papageno-flute than anything else -- can be obtained, is a mystery to me".
The player can even play by holding a pair of sticks in each hand, in such a way as to be able to produce 2 to 4 notes at one and the same time or to play in two parallel voices. He can indulge in rolls, flourishes, graces, shakes and produce an enchanting glissando.
Saint Saens beautifully uses the xylophone in his Symphonic Poem "Danse Macabre" as well as Debussy in his "Gigues"' Copland in his "Appalachian Spring", Walton in his "Belshazzar's Feast" and many more.
