November 27, 2008
Kalimba Magic NEWS
New Products at Kalimba Magic
The Ugandan Amadinda Xylophone
AMI's amadinda xylophone.
The Ugandan amadinda is a cool xylophone played by two people facing each other. You beat the ends of the xylophone bars with wood sticks, rather than beating the middle of the bars with padded mallets. As such, two (or even three) players play interlocking fragments of music, which combine to create intricate melodies.
N Scott Robinson shows us a traditional African song
on the Ugandan
Amadinda xylophone.
The amadinda has 12 notes tuned in an equal-tempered pentatonic scale (i.e., 240 cents, or almost a step and a quarter, between any two adjacent bars on the instrument). Made by AMI (African Musical Instruments), this is the first of their xylophones and marimbas that Kalimba Magic will be selling.
We have a few of these in the traditional pentatonic African tuning, made of kiaat, as well as a few in Western C pentatonic tuning, also in kiaat. These are great for learning about African music by way of building music together as a team, and also serve as an introduction to African scales. And they are just plain fun to boot. Available at the special introductory price of $240.
While kiaat is a beautiful resonant African hardwood which has long been used in musical instruments, including the mbira and kalimba, sneezewood is an even more resonant wood for xylophone and marimba bars. While kiaat is still relatively plentiful, sneezewood has been logged out and is very slow growing. It is now illegal to log sneezewood, so wood for sneezewood xylophones only comes from old stock or recycled wood. We have one 12-note African-tuned pentatonic xylophone made of sneezewood, which we are able to sell for $470. I sold a sneezewood Western-tuned xylophone at PASIC in the first hour of being open - before I could even photograph the instrument. I'll make sure to photograph THIS one soon!
Learn about this exotic instrument in N. Scott Robinson's article on the amadinda and the akadinda.
The Xhosa Uhadi
The uhadi is a predecesor of the Brazillian
berimbau.
The Xhosa uhadi is a simple bow with a resonating gourd attached. Two fundamental notes are obtained by striking the bow with a light weight stick: the lower note made on the open bow string, the higher note made by clasping the string near the bow's end with the thumb and first finger. The upper fundamental note is usually between a half step and a whole step above the open string fundamental. In addition, a series of harmonics are made by placing the gourd at varying distances from the player's body. The harmonics of the two fundamentals build up the instrument's full scale.
A clumsy demonstration of what the South African Uhadi is all about.
Michael Spiros and Michael Williams' CD BataMbira (2005)
B. Michael Williams plays African mbira and Michael Spiros plays Cuban bata rhythms. They have brought these two world traditions together to create the unique and fresh musical CD BataMbira.
The Cuban bata drums and the Shona mbira are both sacred instruments that are used to help people commune with the spirits of the ancestors, but in two entirely different traditions and cultures. A full compliment of bata parts comes together with the light and wispy mbira playing - really some of the finest mbira I've heard - and form what can be considered a prayer.
N. Scott Robinson's CD World View (1995)
We are proud to offer N. Scott Robinson's percussion CD World View, which features Scott's masterful frame drum and tambourine playing, but also includes some sanza (kalimba) and Berimbau music. Scott is a smooth and versatile world percussionist. Very nice.
N. Scott Robinson's CD Things That Happen Fast (2001)
We are proud to offer N. Scott Robinson's percussion CD Things That Happen Fast, which features Scott's masterful frame drum and pandeiro playing, but also includes some sanza (kalimba), karimba and berimbau music.
Scott is a smooth and versatile world percussionist who has enlisted some good studio musicians (including Malcolm Dalglish) to help him express his musical visions - visions plural, because these songs are drawn from many different traditions and instrumentations, and Scott puts his own spin on these. His kalimba playing is fast, precise and accomplished, and his compositions are mature. A rich and enjoyable listening experience.
Recent New Products
- Go to the Zimbabwe-made mbira page in the Kalimba Magic Shop
- Go to the AMI Shakers page in the Kalimba Magic Shop
- Go to the Josh Humphries Marimbula page in the Kalimba Magic Shop
Discover the world of kalimbas at http://www.kalimbamagic.com
Shop for kalimbas and accessories at the Kalimba Magic Shop