Modartt user forum - Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (kalimbera) — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:03:57 +0000

I love Kalimbas.

Ever since I saw the first one, I had a very strong connection.

I now manage a Kalimba Shop https://kalimbera.com
and a Kalimba Forum - https://KalimbaForum.com

Please come say hello one day! There's plenty of Kalimba wisdom there.

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Wheat Williams) — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 20:07:37 +0000

By the way, the mbira, or kalimba, was originally an African folk instrument made by a blacksmith hammering iron nails into thinner flexible tines which were then mounted on a resonating wooden chamber and plucked with the thumbs.

The mbira is often referred to as the "thumb piano". It is my understanding that "kalimba" was at one time a trade name for a company that made mbiras, and today some people still refer to any mbira as a "kalimba".

In the modern ones I have seen in the USA, typically the metal tines are tuned to a diatonic scale.

I know of a company in the USA, Colorado Soundscapes, which has refined the mbira design to a great degree. Their mbiras have precision tuning mechanisms for each key, and a built-in pickup in the body so you can easily amplify the instrument and also run its output through guitar effects pedals and the like.

http://coloradosoundscapes.com/kalimbas/

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Wheat Williams) — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:59:59 +0000

Beto-Music wrote:

Instruments made with the cheapest wood available (agglomerated wood)

I understand what you mean by "agglomerated", but that is not a term I have heard used in that context in English.

The correct English term you are looking for is "plywood", which is a term from the construction industry. The fancier term often used in the musical instrument trade is "laminate wood". Sometimes you hear of "high-pressure laminate" or "HPL" for short; that's a material used in some low-end Martin guitars, for example.

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Beto-Music) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 21:06:59 +0000

Una Corda and Una Corda virtual:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfHK7_lSY-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG6lqd_mYvY

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Jake Johnson) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 20:39:29 +0000

Nice sound in the "...Courtyard" video.

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (dklein) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 18:26:54 +0000

Curiously, these tine-based instruments are not much different in simplicity and solitary of tone and sound (or at least similarity) as David Klavins' Una Corda piano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R49faHgWW9w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrqH4yqjnHs

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Luc Henrion) — Sat, 11 Mar 2017 08:59:55 +0000

I own 4 of these, 2 of them are made from a cabassa (Burkina Fasso), another one from a "cigar box" (a real one!) - Tanzania, and the last one is made with a turtle shell... I know, it's prohibited, but it's an old one. And the best sounding is the cigar box !

Re: Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Beto-Music) — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 16:44:52 +0000

Just to avoit open another topic.

The weirdest music machine ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q

Thumb Piano-Kalimba-Mbira

null@example.com (Beto-Music) — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 16:21:09 +0000

First time I saw (on video) one one this.

From quite complex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3b1bz_9gEo

To compact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jybfYyzIUbo (Pocket "piano" --- as difficult as type in a d... small cell phone ? )

To ultra simple:

But I found something disturbing...
Instruments made with the cheapest wood available (agglomerated wood) They really do exist...