Kalimba

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Kalimba

Postby vasikgreif » Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:05 am

I would like to buy kalimba. Anyone has an idea where to find a good one? Thanks. :wink:
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Re: Kalimba

Postby vasikgreif » Fri Dec 31, 2010 5:48 pm

Found this site: http://mbira.org , which has lots of infos and instruments. I read some of the info and I really like the concept - cyclic music, where no beginning is - the cycle can start at any place... Hard to grasp for the western world...
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Re: Kalimba

Postby Jerry Bembe » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:13 am

Hugh Tracey makes a fine Tenor and Alto. The tenor goes 4 notes higher and has 17 keys while the Alto goes 2 notes lower and has 15 keys. I prefer the Alto and tune it to D. Typically these are tuned to a key and not chromatically.

I hope this helps. Happy New Year. Perhaps I can send you a MP3 of an arrangment I played in the early 90's.

Jerry
We are surrounded by rhythm everywhere we go. Listen and be in sync with the clave. Peace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmwxUIIP-EM
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Re: Kalimba

Postby vasikgreif » Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:23 pm

Hi, thanks, I came across Hugh Tracey kalimbas during my search. Samuel Torres has a nice song on it on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwBLr3mEpAk . I won't buy it though, as this is not the traditional one. I would like to learn a little in the traditional way, so I'm going to buy the mbira from mbira.org. For now I ordered the only book on Mbira music I found on this topic: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Mbira-Tradit ... 0226043797
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Re: Kalimba

Postby Jerry Bembe » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:29 am

The African Kalimbas are quite interesting. I personally like the lower bass keys.

I will share my recent custom instrument I had a hand builder build for me. I saw on his web site a chromatic Marimbula. I asked him to push the limits of this instrument for me and now I have a 3 1/2 octave chromatic Marimbula with 2 seperate Marimbula boxes. The builder put all the white keys on one box and all the black keys on another. He told me this created better tonal clarity. He also added a 3 head piezio in the larger box and 2 head piezio in the smaller box.

It is a remarkably small instrument for the range of bass available. I made this due to my love of Kalimbas and Marimbulas. I was hard pressed to purchase a 6-8 note model for $500-600. I also like to support the hand builders, I belive they help push the innovation along.

Jerry
We are surrounded by rhythm everywhere we go. Listen and be in sync with the clave. Peace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmwxUIIP-EM
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Re: Kalimba

Postby vasikgreif » Tue Feb 15, 2011 4:36 pm

Hi everybody, I got my mbira today. I bought it from a german mbira maker, Sebastian Pott. It's the traditional Zimbabwean style mbira. I played it for a while now, trying to learn the basic Nhemamusasa Kushaura part, and have to say the instrument is great!!!
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Re: Kalimba

Postby Chupacabra » Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:26 pm

Good to see that you found a really nice looking instrument! It looks really well made from the photos. How does it sound?

I have a couple of CDs of Zimbabwean mbira music and I must say it sure is trance-inducing!

Back in the mid-nineties I went to go see a Peter Gabriel concert in Vancouver, BC and there were these two performers who put on what I thought was an absolutely amazing performance. Hukwe and Charles Zawose of the Wagogo nation (Tanzania) were performing the traditional music and dance of their people and playing their ilimba and some other traditional instruments. This music has to be seen live or at least on video to appreciate it's beauty. Just listening to the audio leaves out too much of the bigger picture.

FYI: The Zawose family is pretty famous throughout Africa and they play quite a diverse array of instruments and, of course, very energetic dancing! There are several videos on YouTube...
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Re: Kalimba

Postby vasikgreif » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:09 am

The mbira is well made, feels really sturdy. I visited Sebastian when I went to Amsterdam two weeks ago - he lives in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, Germany. He lived in Ghana for ten years, was building drums there, has been several times in Zimbabwe and learned mbira from great zimbabwean player. He showed me number of mbiras, different types, different chunings etc. As I didn't have enough money with me to buy the mbira immediately, we agreed I'll send him money via PayPal and he'll send me the mbira. He sent it on Friday, I got it on Tuesday. He's nice guy to deal with, he showed me two sets of bata he build too (he didn't have skins on them, so I can't say how they sounded, but they were made from one piece of wood and looked very nice), and he builds other drums too..

You can check the sound of one of his mbiras here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j5ymyRg_Gk , mine sounds very similar.
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Re: Kalimba

Postby Chupacabra » Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:37 pm

Vasikgreif, how's that new kalimba of yours working out? Getting enough playing time?

I just got back from a trip to Japan two days ago and have had the chance to listen to a CD that I picked up while I was there. They do have some really good record (...oops, showing my age! "music stores" stores) in Osaka, Tower Records is one of them. There you can find music from every genre you can think of. And, of course, lots of Japanese synth pop and techno.

Osaka would be one of the last places I would expect to find a CD recorded by the late Hukwe Zawose but there it was. "The Art of Hukwe Zawose: Songs Accompanied by Ilimba and Izeze" If you are into mbira/ilimba/kalimba/any other type of thumb piano playing I highly recommend this CD if you can find it. It is the best recording I've ever heard of this type of music.

When I walked up to the cashier to pay for the CD she had a shocked expression on her face. One, because there are not very many white folk like me in Osaka (especially now), and two, this CD has probably been sitting on the shelf since the year it was recorded which was in 1989!
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Re: Kalimba

Postby bongosnotbombs » Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:37 pm

I love Osaka! Been there several times. of course the real place for record shopping is Shinjuku in Tokyo. Never underestimate the Japanese and their worldly approach to music.
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Re: Kalimba

Postby Chupacabra » Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:10 pm

I wouldn't underestimate the Japanese for anything... The Land of the Rising Sun will rise once again! Godspeed their long journey to recovery.
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