You can also place the kalimba on a flat surface rather than holding it. Put them through the holes as shown in the completed front face above. You will note that most kalimba sellers will not do anything like this – a kalimba simply taken off the shelf and packed in a box will likely not play its best. For kalimbas that have hexagonal sockets, you will need a hex key to loosen or tighten the tine. To make everything as clear as possible, check out the link to hear the kalimba with a board instead of the resonating box. “Most percussion instruments that are not drums are idiophones,” explains Wikipedia: Scrub off dirt and loose skin, using a piece of steel wool. Choose the type of thumb piano you want. You can use the pictures for reference, but I'll write most of the information here. Basic Materials . Select a dried gourd with a good, deep bowl or a shape that you like. Naturally, you will only touch the one that’s causing the buzz, and ignore others. If they are too close, or too tight (or too loose), the buzzing will happen. A kalimba is a great beginner instrument that is easily accessible to the majority of people. Click here for information. Also, I know of several people who are making, experimenting and in at least three cases selling versions of this instrument. Kalimbas use several metal tines of different lengths, which give different notes when plucked. They are great value for money when considering how much instrument you are getting for relatively little money, and the effort? I made two videos on how I go through the process just click on them if you feel prefer learning through videos instead. So here are a full list of reasons why a Kalimba is worth it and how they will benefit you . A kalimba is more than worth anything you can put against it. While that dried, I cut the… Not a whole lot of how-to's out there on how to make a kalimba, so thought I'd make a quick one. This is a far simpler form of the kalimba using cardboard and bobby pins that can be made in minutes. The ‘karimba’ technique allows you to rotate your right index finger in the opposite direction of the clock. Step 7: The Bottle Kalimba，Step 8: Heart kalimba. By playing the tines in the right order, you can play melodies and chords. Make Sure Your Nails Stay Strong. Kalimbas are a traditional folk instrument of Western African which use metal keys of varying lengths to make different sounds. Before Kalimba Magic ships our kalimbas, we make sure they are in tune, we fix any buzzes, and we get the high notes playing as well as we can get them to play. … Kalimba Tines are metal strips on a thumb piano whose primary function is to produce sound when plucked with the tip of the thumb or thumbnail. One thing which ended up working equally great was a drain cleaning strip, used for unclogging drains. How to stop the tines Hold the kalimba in both hands. In the tutorial video above, we walk though how to make your very own multi-sample instrument, using a kalimba to demonstrate. 1. The last three steps in this tutorial show you how to make some slightly different kalimba compared to the teacher. If you drop your kalimba, or if you get the tines caught in a bag or on your shirt sleeve, you can mess up the tuning. The central octave is the one you need for the 1-7 kalimba tines, one to the right is for the 1’-7’ tines. They are quality and solid instruments that can last you a lifetime. Make more "U" shaped pieces of wire, in this Mbira you will use 5, each of them about 5 cm long. You can use the pictures for reference, but I'll write most of the information here. Let it soak for about 15 minutes. And to do that download the Kalimba Tablature Software made and designed by Mark Holdaway. Many who make their own kalimbas make the tines from metal rakes, cut down to size. What you want to do is to either loosen it or tighten the tine, and the buzzing will stop. Kalimba Magic is a world-wide creator and distributor of all things kalimba. You are most welcome to contact us to discuss the options. This kalimba will work with other kalimbas in G major tuning, other kalimbas in A minor tuning (such as Maurice White’s Evil Tuning on a Treble or Alto), and the standard A minor Sansula tuning. Make a note of the position of the tines in the other steps.Step 4: The Faceplate Assembly，Step 5: Attaching the Tines and Completing the Instrument，Step 6: Other Ideas! In this post I will try to condense a written walkthrough guide on how to make kalimba tabs from piano tutorials. It is played by plucking metal tines of various lengths with your thumbs. Most of the kalimba Youtubers like Sandrah Araja, Ipida and April Yang made their own tabs, but they don’t mention in detail on how they made it. There are clever resonant chambers out there on other kalimbas that can give very interesting variations in tone as well as how long notes are sustained. To make the kalimba look more like the piano (because more people seem to know what the piano is), Mash adds some black marker on the flat and sharp notes to mimic piano keys. Apr 17, 2019 - Not a whole lot of how-to's out there on how to make a kalimba, so thought I'd make a quick one. African craftsman make mbiras out of almost anything, including gourds, coconuts and wooden boxes -- anything that will resonate. An overview of how it works and my process Examples … How to Make Kalimba Tabs from Piano Tutorials Read More »