Kalimba Magic NEWS

The kalimba is such a beautiful and joyful instrument, making it perfect for Christmas music. I released a progresive book of Christmas Carols in 2005 when Kalimba Magic started up, but now I am happy to announce a new downloadable collection of advanced Christmas carols for the Alto and Bb Treble kalimbas. These arrangements are very similar to what I play at my Christmas performances.

The karimba is thought to be the grandaddy of all metal-tined African lamellaphones, including the mbira. Traditional African music played on this instrument goes back hundreds of years, perhaps over 1000 years. We are pleased to offer a download of tablature for 10 traditional African karimba pieces.

B. Michael Williams is a scholar of modern music and ethnomusicology, as well as a lover and player of traditional mbira and karimbas from Zimbabwe. This interview is a great opportunity to learn more about the history of these great instruments. Michael's book on playing mbira is a valuable resource, and his CD BataMbira has some truly beautiful mbira playing on it. Basically, B. Michael Williams is someone you should know.

In this new feature, we wade through the collection of kalimbas in the Kalimba Magic catalog to shine the light on special kalimbas, one kalimba at a time. This month, we feature the G minor tuned TM Alto kalimba, a very sweet personal instrument.

While the very first African lamellaphones were made of rattan or bamboo, the karimba didn't really take off as an amazing instrument until Africans started making the tines out of metal. When did this happen? Anthropologists are still trying to answer that question.

In a followup to last month's article on the Hang, we offer an explanation of which tuning naturally works with the Hugh Tracey kalimbas in G, as well as some corrections and additions from well-informed Kalimba Magic readers.

New CDs, new kalimba video, new tunings, and old songs from Africa in a new voice: