Marimba

According to oral history, the story of the marimba began a long, long time ago in Africa, where holes were dug in the ground, wooden bars were made to cross over this hole, and the bars were struck to produce sound. That is, a sort of xylophone arose that worked by having the sound produced by wooden bars resonate within holes. Subsequently, gourds were attached to the undersides of the wooden bars. Now it was the gourds that served as resonating chambers for the sound. Instruments like this are still familiar as traditional folk instruments. Interestingly, the Zulu tribe of South Africa is said to have legends of a goddess named Marimba who created a xylophone with gourds attached.