1). Anybody here play kalimba? I have a little gourd one that I got on eBay a long time ago but it only has 4 notes and sucks.
2). How do you pronounce ‘kalimba’? I always just say “thumb piano” when I’m talking about it, because I can never figure out how to say it right.
I like them. I’ve heard them called a “thumb harp.” I like the ones with about 5 notes for each thumb. I’ve heard good African music played on the kalimba. If I hadn’t read the label, I would have thought it was a marimba that I was listening to.
I played thumb piano years ago. I had a small one, which was sold as a kalimba, but which I would describe more as a mbira, that had a lovely sound. You could do a lot of neat effects doing finger vibratto on the three tone holes. It also had a full two-octave range. Later I had a larger one, about 12" maybe, with maybe 10 or 12 notes. I made it from a kit from Hughes Dulcimer Company. It had less sustain – more like a marimba whereas the other was more like a vibraphone.
It’s really a fun instrument; very relaxing.
Very cool. I use to have a bass harmonica. When recorded right, they sound just like an upright bass. This Marimbula sounds like an upright bass too, according to the description. Played through a good mic, I’ll bet it would substitute nicely for an upright bass. I love the low tones of marimbas and kalimbas.
I like kalimbas also. I went on an ebay kalimba buying frenzy awhile back, so I now have them all over the place. And, of course, I never leave them just the way they were made to play. I remove all of the pieces of metal that vibrate (reeds?), and I rearrange them to my liking. I like to have the notes arranged in a linear manner, just like on a piano, as opposed to alternating the notes from hand to hand, as kalimbas are usually laid out. That way you can see the interval that you want to play. By removing 6 of the 17 vibrating reeds on my Hugh Tracey African kalimbas, you can separate the reeds and arrange them to play a two-octave, pentatonic scale. This is great because you don’t have to know what you are doing with this scale. All of the notes go together, and you just can’t make a mistake. It is also easy to lay out the reeds for unusual scales, as well as the standard chromatic scale.
I think that the Hugh Tracey Kalimbas, made in South Africa, are among the best of the commercial kalimbas. They are rather expensive in the music stores, but you can usually find a second hand one on ebay.
you should be able to hear a lo-fi recording of one being played here:
http://www.musicalafrolatino.com/pagina_nueva_4f1.htm
they are still seen in Cuba as part of the Changüi bands that play mostly in the Eastern side of the island
there’s a group in Jamaica, the Jolly Boys, which uses marimbula and have had releases in the US.
Cool! I would have thought that was a cajon.
I have a nice kalimba that i bought in some African museum in Washington DC. An African student saw me plunking it and told me: “in my country the bushmen play these things, then they sing!”
it’s sort of both – usually the box is struck along with the metal keys, so it functions as both bass and drums.
Wow. I think I could actually make one of those things that Missy linked to.
The only marimba’s I’ve noticed around here are mere toys.
here ya go, Fly…
Met a gal with one of those… it was WONDERFUL! I would love to have one!!! It was fun to play, and had the most beautiful sound… and easier to carry than my regular bass.
I collect Hugh Tracey Kalimbas. My favorite is the alto model.
Dale, I have a question.
Are some of those note pushies suppose to be blue? I saw a few used instruments on eBay and another site (I can’t remember, it might have been Lark in the morning, or elderly instruments…) and I assumed that some were blue and some werent because paint had worn off…
Can you imagine having a piano with all white keys? Having both white and black keys allows you to visualize intervals, such as the fifth or an octave. On a kalimba it is helpful to mark certain notes (vibrating steel reeds), such as the tonic and octave. Because the kalimba alternates notes on the scale from one side to the other, I find it confusing. I have a Hugh Tracey alto kalimba just like the one the Dale has pictured, but I have changed the reeds so that the lowest note is on the far left and the highest note is on the far right. Laid out in this fashion, I have three pairs of blue reeds, which serve to structure the notes, like the black keys on the piano. This allows me to play the kalimba as I would play the piano. I am lost when I try to play the standard kalimba.
Likembe. Or mbira. 
“Kalimba” (kah LIM ba) is a name that was, if I recall, invented for a particular commercially produced thumb piano, and the name stuck overall in the West.
Yes, I can imagine that. And I can imagine Walden playing it.
Typically, the Hugh Tracey instruments have some keys painted, just to help the player quickly ID the note she’s trying to play.
Doug Tipple wrote:
“Can you imagine having a piano with all white keys”
Sure! I play mountain dulcimer! Diatonically fretted. Now, I play in the key of D, A, G or Em mostly, so I have 1, 2, or 3 “black keys” available - but if I was tuned to the key of C, I would be playing with only all white keys.
Absolutely NOT a problem. And for the kalimba, I’m sure you can get used to what is where, without having a visual reference of whole and half steps.
Missy
Thanks Missy. BTW did you see Kathy’s post about a PA get together in May?