A descendent of the African xylophone, of the marimba found in Guatemala and Mexico and of instruments of the gamelan orchestra found in Bali and Java.

It was invented in the US toward the beginning of the 1900s and was popularised by the jazz musicians Lionel Hampton (with clarinettist Benny Goodman) and Milt Jackson of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Some other notable vibraphonists are Gary Burton (who popularised the use of playing with four mallets), Cal Tjader and Bobby Hutcherson.

The bars of the instrument are struck by mallets of varying hardnesses. The vibraphone looks similar to a xylophone and a marimba. The difference is that the bars of both the xylophone and marimba are made of wood, whereas those of the vibraphone are made of metal. The vibraphone also has a sustain pedal like a piano that when depressed allows the notes to ring until the pedal is lifted again.

The vibraphone originally got its name because it has a motor that turns metal discs, called pulsators, located under the bars at the openings of the resonators or tubes. The rotation of the pulsators gives a vibrato sound to the instrument.