James Coleman
In the Bag - A Percussionist's Blog
For my first mallet review, I thought no better applicant than the Malletech Ivan Trevino IT13 marimba mallets.
Ivan Trevino is one of the hottest composers out there today in terms of popularity and this is for good reason. His writing is very "pop" like, which when merging with the classical sound and style of the marimba/percussion ensemble makes for a revolutionary concept of sound and style unique to Ivan. As a result of this unique sound, his signature mallet has to fit this bill. This makes the IT13's have a fat, resonant sound meant for groove style playing found signaturely in Ivan's pieces. They come in at a total of $36.95 and are described from Malletech as: "Malletech Ivan Trevino Mallets can produce a fat sound for groove- oriented playing, clean articulation for melodic playing and enough subtly for soft playing. They work well in solo or chamber music settings." Unlike many other mallet series', the IT13's are only one sound of mallet (monotonal), and also only have one series of hardness. This is my frist griple with the IT13's as in the bass region the mallets can be a little "thuddy." To cope with this, I will usually substitute a Malletech CN4 bass mallet in the bottom voice to avoid the 'thuddy' sound. However, it would be nice to see Malletech enhance Ivan's line as I love their sound. Their sound is exactly as described, fat and resonant. This gives a really good 'groove' style to them and makes them great in most situations. I do not use them in concert band/orchestral settings because they do not project over the band too well and I feel there are better options in my stick bag for such. However, in percussion ensemble and most solo's these mallets are my go to set. The shaft is smooth birch and will not feel uncomfortable in your hand as all Malletech mallets feel great. The yarn has held up better than I thought as well; After 3 years of playing at a University level (everyday practice for hours and hours a day), the mallets have only just recently started showing signs of wear. The yarn has began to frey, however, they still have about a year left on them I would assume. All in all, if you are playing any pop arrangements, any Ivan Trevino solos, any Big Trouble/Trevino percussion ensemble pieces, or anything with a fat groove line in it, these mallets are perfect. I could not recommend these mallets enough and I love Malletech as a whole as a brand. For the categories I was judging on a scale of 1 to 5: Durability (how well do these mallets hold up to time), Sound (how do these mallets sound across the entire board), Feel (how do they feel in the hand and while playing), and how Applicable (how applicable/how many situations can they be used in to make them worth it); This is how the Malletech IT13's stack up. Durability: For this category, I used years of everyday use as the caption. Since these have lasted me 3 years and have about another year left, I feel they fall into the 4 category. Sound: In this category, I used how many octaves can they achieve a good sound. They work in the lower register, however, the lowest octave of a 5-octave marimba sounds 'thuddy', so I will give them a 4 because I think that there are other better options, but they still get the job done. Feel: These mallets feel great! Both in the hand and hitting the instrument, it is very satisfying to hear the thick sound they get out of the bars with a nice little bit of rebound. All in all they feel great to me... 5. Applicable: These mallets do not check every box for me in applicable. For large ensembles, I do not feel they could cut through the band due to their mellow, groove like sound. However, for this reason I feel they are perfect for any piece with a groove or pop like influences. I will give them a 4. This leaves them with a score of 13 out of 16. Will these be "In my Bag?" A huge YES. I love these mallets and will continue to love them for as long as they are in my bag. For a sound sample, Adam Tan on YouTube has a great review and sound test of these mallets and I encourage you to take a listen to them. The link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AwLoVlZNjw. Unfortunately, in doing my review I found that these mallets have been discontinued by Malletech. No word as to why, or if they will make a comeback someday, but I truly hope they do. For now, it will be just wait and see... What do you think of these mallets? Let mw know in the comments below!
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Welcome to In the Bag! - #110/10/2019 Welcome to the first post for In the Bag! To elaborate more, my plans for this blog are to do many equipment/mallet reviews. For example, I will be posting a review of some mallets in my next upcoming blog post with my thoughts and critiques for the mallets. These will be unbiased reviews as I am not currently sponsored through any brand so I will say it how I feel it!
I also plan on doing travel blogs related to the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) as well as music happenings in the industry/life. This is meant to be a fun way of putting my thoughts and opinions out there and I am by no means saying that one particular mallet or brand is better than any others. I love all mallets/brands/equipment! I also encourage you to share your thoughts with me in the comments on each post to strike up a friendly dialogue! Let me know if there is any specific topic or gear you would like me to share my thoughts on. Onto post #2! In the Bag"In the Bag" refers to In the Stick bag. This is a percussion/music themed blog about gear, music happenings, and just life from Mark Ewell of markewellpercussion.com. |