December 15, 2010
Kalimba Magic NEWS
Two Kalimba Magic Contests:
What I Feel When I Play Kalimba Video
Use the Mbira Cycle to Create Your Own Song
in last month's contest.
What I Feel When I Play Kalimba Video Contest
Contest deadline: Jan. 1, 2011
Express how playing kalimba makes you feel
in a YouTube video.
Write a song, play kalimba, give a testimonial,
get creative. Send us a
link to the video and a
few sentences describing who you are.
As with part 1 of this contest, there may be 3 winners and the winning submissions will
share $150 in Kalimba Magic store credit.
(We'll decide if there are one, two, or three
winners when we view the submissions.)
Create Original Music Based on the Mbira Cycle Contest
Contest deadline: March 1, 2011.
Submit your original music as a sound
recording in MP3 or on a CD, as a KTabS file, as written tablature,
or in a YouTube video.
What is the Mbira Cycle? Andrew Tracey refers to it as the system of the mbira - a circular chord progression made up of 12 chords positions (some chords are repeated, so there are only six different chords that inhabit these 12 positions). When you get to the end, of course you go back, Jack, and do it again - wheel turning round and round. Hence, I call it a cycle. There are three different possible start points. And Andrew Tracey states that most mbira music is based on this music theoretical framework. Hence, it is a generative system - once you understand the mbira cycle, you can use it as a tool to create new songs, just as they have been doing in Zimbabwe for centuries.
The mbira cycle is also featured in this newsletter! Well, that article is little more than an advertisement for an ongoing series of Wednesday Tips of the Day - that's right, for the next two months we will be instructing you step by step about the mbira cyle, giving you the information you need to create your own mbira-like music and to enter this contest! It's like getting paid to learn about something that you probably want to know about anyway.
Here is my own submission to the contest - played on the Bb Treble Hugh Tracey kalimba. It's a bit thin - there is only the basic part - I haven't written any variations yet, but it gives you a solid example of the mbira cycle, repeated four times. (Actually, I forgot to mention that a Kalimba Magic employee isn't allowed to enter the contest.) In this example, I didn't take liberties with the chord progression, but I won't hold you to strict adherence to the chord cycle - as long as I can hear that the music you create is based on the chord cycle, I'll be happy.
To enter this contest, send us a few sentences describing who you are, what your song is, and how you are going to enter (email, snail mail, etc.). As with the other contests, there will be up to 3 winners and the winning submissions will share $150 in Kalimba Magic store credit. (We'll decide if there are one, two, or three winners when we judge the submissions.)
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