So Sebastian Hurtado of Guatemala was, it seems, the first to make a fully chromatic marimba (1890s). We had to wait until the 1920s before the next essential feature of the modern marimba was introduced, namely harmonic tuning .... which is what, exactly?
Explanation, and more, follows below the fold. (This is quite a long post, but there are many illustrations to make it even more confusing).
...continue reading A driftwood marimba on the Beach of Improbability