So, I've opened a new branch in my musical instruments collection. Hitherto limited to woodwinds, reeds, and members of the ocarina family, this is my first foray into plucked instruments. Woohoo! More money sinks!
Yep. If you want to sharpen you hammer on the long end. If you want to flatten, you hammer on the short end. That shifts the little tine through the clamp.
When tuning a marimba you can shorten the key to make it higher in pitch. To make it lower in pitch you carve out more from under the bottom of the key.