The Encore NZ5B Nancy Zeltsman "Medium Soft" mallets are a nice, articulate bass mallet. They produce a very warm sound that can also be used in soft graduated sets in the "tenor" position. Birch Handles.
One unique characteristic of my line is that the oval-shape of the mallet head is horizontal rather than vertical. I imagine (and maybe it's true) that the width of the mallet activates more of the vertical grains of wood in every bar-thus contributing to a richer tone. Everything about the construction of my line of mallets-from the cores, to the latex, to the type of yarn-is aimed at helping you to produce a fundamental-rich tone.
- Nancy Zeltsman
| Quantity | Sold in Pairs |
|---|---|
| SKU | ENC-NZ5B |
| UPC | 850028734780 |
| Weight | 0.25 lb |
These mallets produce one of the prettiest tones I've ever heard. They're on the lighter side, but even as someone who prefers heavy mallets, they still feel great. They sound best on instruments with thinner bars.
This is not a general mallet: this mallet is slightly more articulate that than Zeltsman 6, which is the pink mallet that comes as the bass mallet in the Graduated set. This mallet pulls one of the fullest sounds you'll hear out of the low to mid range of the marimba, and it works great as a bass mallet or tenor mallet, depending on the range of the piece you're playing. I know a lot of people that sub out the 6 for this one in the graduated set (not that the 6 is bad - the 6 is gorgeous as well). The weight is (in my opinion) just right. They are slightly front heavy, but that's to be expected of a bass mallet. Highly recommended for any marimbist!
The other reviewer seems to think this was made to be a general mallet. Simply put, this is a bass mallet, meant to get full sound out of the bottom of the marimba. It does it's job well!
This mallet is an ok mallet for use in the middle 3 octaves of a marimba. I have found that above C4 you have to hammer on the bars to get volume, which one is not good sound, and two is not good for the marimba. And you can forget about getting anything in the top octave, it's basically dead. The bottom octave is very pingy, the notes shout rather than sing. But if you are specifically playing in the middle, these are ok.
