February 4, 2009

Volume 4, Number 2

Kalimba Magic NEWS

• In This Issue
• What's the Buzz at Kalimba Magic
• New Products from Kalimba Magic
• Interview with Joel Laviolette
• Music Therapy Using the Kalimba
• The KTabS Notebook: Time Signatures and Savers
• Kalimba Magic Contest of the Month
• Kalimba of the Month: the HT HotShot-11
• Kalimba Community
• Ask Mark: Answers for Your Kalimba Questions

Kalimba Community

Fifth Annual Mbirathon, March 28-29, 2009

Just what is an Mbirathon? Mbira players all around the world keep traditional Shona mbira music playing continuously for 24 hours. The 2009 event is the 5th annual Mbirathon. During the Mbirathon, people play mbira on every continent!

You can help the Mbirathon raise funds for the over 140 Zimbabwean musicians that Mbira.Org works with, in any of these ways:

• Send a tax-deductible donation (made out to MBIRA, with the note "Mbirathon donation") to P.O. Box 7863, Berkeley, CA 94707-0863, USA
• Make a tax-deductible donation online. Click on "Donate" at www.mbira.org (top of page). All donations made between March 24 and Aprril 3, 2009 will be considered 2009 Mbirathon donations.
• Donate by phone—during the Mbirathon weekend only! Call 510-548-6053. Erica Azim may be playing mbira when you call, so leave a message and she'll call back.
• Attend an Mbirathon event near you! Get more info at mbira.org on where to find events. Locations include Alaska, Berkeley, CA, Carbondale, IL, Portland, OR, New York and Seattle, WA.

To find out more about the Mbirathon or get info about holding your own Mbirathon event, check the website and contact Erica Azim at: erica("at")mbira.org

Also, I just came across the Mbira Centre. Though their website is limited to the one page, it is very intriguing!

John Walton's Chromatic Kalimba!

John Ike Walton, formerly of the psychedelic rock band The 13th Floor Elevators, has come over to the kalimba side. He builds large 3-octave chromatic kalimbas (see pic at left). You can buy Mr. Walton's CD to hear how this instrument performs. If you can't afford the $1200 price tag, you might be able to learn how to make this from Bart Hopkin's book on building simple musical instruments. This book is, very unfortunately, out of print. But check your public library!

Mark Shelton Plays Kalimba While Exercising

Says percussionist Mark Shelton:

It was good to meet you at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. I have really been practicing the kalimba lately. I discovered that it is possible to pedal the stationary bike while playing the kalimba.

Kalimba Videos

We've neglected kalimba video for a few months, but it's back!

• Kinobe is a Ugandan musician who plays the Akogo, a Ugandan kalimba. He says that this instrument was played in Uganda for at least 200 years, an interesting data point, and surprisingly recent.
• TheKalimbaDiaries has several video clips of Mark Holdaway playing the Ugandan Akogo.
• Sardine Can with Digital delay, played by Tark.
• Kevin Spears has some good video and some more good video.
• Kevin Quick is indeed a quick study. He bought an Alto from me about 18 months ago, and here is his first original song—well done! And here is Brahms' Lullaby.
• Here is a guy with a $35 kalimba getting in touch with the Hang sound sculpture device.

Tark's "Heavenly A" Sansula Tuning

A few months ago, we featured a short story on Tark's Sansula song "Little Star." Check out the Little Star YouTube video, which features a very special guest. The really wonderful thing about this piece is the new tuning Tark has on his Sansula, the "Heavenly A." Here is the story from Tark himself:

The story of the "Heavenly A" is quite simply the case of another happy accident. I had mapped out several tunings on paper and was trying them on the sansula. I knew the F# and G# would lay right and lead well to A B C# E on the top. My prior tuning had the low C bumped up to D. I meant to bring it down to C# but forgot. Luckily, I started playing and as soon as I heard it I knew it was special. I think having that fourth (D) instead of the major third (C#) is what makes the tuning "heavenly" and more versatile, and, it's the only note that wasn't intentional! Funny thing is, I never did try C#.

So there you have it. Chalk up another one to chance, kismet, other power or God, however you choose to look at it. Hopefully, by summer I'll have some good news to share with the kalimba community. You'll be one of the first to know.

Tark

Hey, Tark, I also love when something new finds me! By the way, instead of mapping tunings on paper, check out KTabS. KTabS lets you retune your kalimba or Sansula on your computer in seconds, and then you can hear how that tuning will sound without changing your physical kalimba. I think you will agree that there is no substitute to actually having the instrument in your hands to see how it feels, how it sounds, and how the tuning works with the physical layout of the tines—but I find KTabS to be a wonderful creativity booster/time saver. —Mark

A Note from Hugh Tracey's Granddaughter

Mary Clare Tracey Craigen writes:

Greetings from New Zealand. I'm Hugh Tracey's granddaughter, daughter of Andrew and Heather Tracey. I've been sitting in front of my computer for the last half hour just quietly listening to you play Christmas carols and other pieces. Wow! Completely overwhelming to hear our instrument played so beautifully. I must get my alto out again —it's been years...

Thank you so much. Grandpa designed the kalimba so that everyone would see, hear and appreciate the complexity of African instruments and music. I reckon he'd love to have met you.

Deepest regards,
Mary Clare

Dear Mary Clare, I would love to have had the honor of meeting your grandfather. But at least I can appreciate a part of his legacy—the Hugh Tracey kalimba, which is in my hands much of every single day! I have met his two sons, Andrew and Paul, and I see Hugh's spirit at work in them. —Mark

Eric Freeman's Kalimba-on-a-Guitar

Eric Freeman mailed me these tw photos. The
tines are from a Hugh Tracey pentatonic kalimba,
the buzzers are from an Andrew Masters kalimba,
and the guitar is an Ovation someone didn't mind
turning into a big resonant kalimba!

Another angle. Three out of the 11 tines are usually
painted on the Hugh Tracey Pentatonic Kalimba,
but it is possible to scrape the paint off, as Eric
has done. He kept the paint on the central tine.

Check out Eric's MySpace page - the default song is not available on the Kalimba Sound System CD - it is too new - but it really really deserves a listen. As my recording engineer said "Hey, they could make money with music like that!"