The Marimba Studio
Alistair Dickerson, creator of The Marimba Studio
Alistair Dickerson Marimba teacher, musician and creator of The Marimba Studio.
About the Studio

Built for students who need a marimba within reach.

The Marimba Studio exists for learners, families, teachers and musicians who want to practise, explore and create without needing immediate access to a physical marimba. It keeps the joy of playing at the center while giving students a practical way to build confidence between lessons.

Play at home Learn with purpose Create with real marimba sounds

A studio shaped around the people using it.

The platform is designed to meet different users where they are: a student trying to practise after school, a parent looking for an affordable way to support learning, or a teacher needing a flexible tool for lessons and demonstrations.

About the student

Practice should not depend on owning an expensive instrument.

Many students only touch a marimba during their weekly lesson. The Marimba Studio gives them a familiar place to return to at home, so progress can continue between classes.

  • Students can play notes, chords and rolls without waiting for the next lesson.
  • Guided songs, badges and Rumble Points turn practice into visible progress.
  • The free core experience keeps marimba learning open to more families.
About the teacher and professional user

A practical companion for lessons, demos and creative work.

Teachers, school facilitators and serious players can use the Studio as a quick rehearsal space, demonstration tool and creative sketchpad when a full marimba setup is not available.

  • Teachers can support lesson material with a browser-based practice tool.
  • Players can record ideas, test arrangements and export performances.
  • Schools can introduce marimba concepts before every student has an instrument.

The features are there to support musical growth.

Rumble Points, badges, streaks, recordings, song learning and creative tools are not just app mechanics. They are designed to encourage steady practice, reward real effort and make music-making feel inviting enough that students want to come back.

Play Make the first note easy to reach, enjoyable to hear and satisfying to repeat.
Learn Use songs, feedback and progress markers to build confidence over time.
Create Give players room to record, experiment and turn small ideas into music.
About the developer

The creator story behind the Studio.

The Marimba Studio was born from a challenge I faced repeatedly as a teacher: helping students practise effectively at home when owning a marimba is simply not practical for many families.

Marimba lessons can be incredibly rewarding, but progress becomes difficult when a student only has access to an instrument during a weekly lesson. In South Africa, a marimba can cost anywhere from approximately R9,000 to well over R20,000, depending on its size and configuration. For many students, that means there is no instrument waiting for them when they want to practise.

What if students could practise on a marimba at home without needing to own one?

That question became the foundation of what would eventually become The Marimba Studio. I wanted to create something that did more than reproduce the notes of a marimba on a screen. It needed to feel inviting, useful and enjoyable enough that students would choose to return to it.

From a simple idea to a growing platform

My own journey began with a single instrument: a 2011 amaAmbush Original Alto marimba. I started teaching professionally in 2013, and over the years my passion for marimba music and education grew alongside my teaching practice. That first instrument eventually became a collection of six marimbas used for lessons and performances.

In 2021, I launched my first online marimba project through Fourthwall. When tools such as ChatGPT made software development more approachable, I became fascinated by what could be built and began teaching myself how to create digital experiences. That learning journey produced the original Virtual Marimba, which is now preserved within The Marimba Studio as the Legacy Virtual Marimba.

As my skills grew, I wanted to make the experience more engaging for students. Many of them talked about Roblox every day, so I asked another practical question: if students were already spending time in a world they enjoyed, why not bring marimba learning into that space? Virtual Marimba on Roblox went on to attract more than 17,000 visits and taught me an important lesson.

The lesson People do not only want to learn. They want to have fun while learning.

Rumble Points, achievements, challenges and interactive play showed how strongly education and gaming could support one another. That reflected the same philosophy I use in real-world lessons, where learning is built around creativity, participation and fun.

The birth of The Marimba Studio

In 2025, I launched The Marimba Studio with a clear vision: to build an accessible, engaging and continually improving virtual marimba platform. I wanted it to serve children discovering music for the first time, students practising lesson material, teachers supporting their classes and experienced musicians looking for flexible creative tools.

The platform now brings together Alto, Tenor and Bass marimbas, multi-touch and chord playing, roll and rumble simulation, recording and playback, MP3 export, TRG Style, a Drum Machine, interactive song learning, Rumble Points, badges, achievements and leaderboards. These features are not separate from the story; each one grew from the same goal of making practice more useful, expressive and rewarding.

Whether someone wants to practise a school song, compose a melody, prepare for a performance or simply enjoy making music, I want The Marimba Studio to meet them there.

Play. Learn. Create.

Those three words represent the heart of the project. Play, because making music should always be enjoyable. Learn, because every feature should help players develop their musical skill and confidence. Create, because music is about imagination, expression and bringing new ideas to life.

Free and accessible at its core

Accessibility remains one of the most important principles behind The Marimba Studio. The core experience is completely free to use. Anyone can play the Alto, Tenor and Bass marimbas and explore selected songs without creating a profile.

Optional subscriptions provide additional creative and practice tools, expanded recording storage and enhanced customization. They help support continued development while keeping the essential marimba experience open to everyone. The goal has never been to place barriers in front of learning.

Looking to the future

What started as a solution for my own students has grown into a platform welcoming visitors from around the world. I am incredibly grateful for the support, encouragement and feedback that have helped shape it.

Most importantly, The Marimba Studio is not a finished product. It is an ongoing project driven by a passion for music education and innovation. I remain committed to improving the platform, introducing thoughtful new features and expanding what is possible for marimba players of all ages and skill levels.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Welcome to The Marimba Studio.
Open the Studio Visit the Legacy Marimba