March 20, 2011 Vol. 6, Num. 3

Kalimba Magic NEWS In This Issue From Mark: The Secrets of My Success What's the Buzz at Kalimba Magic New Premium Kalimbas! Interview with Jeff Willet Workshop/Concert in MA, March 29/April 2 Children's Workshop in Phoenix, AZ, July 23 Kalimba Training with Kalani in CA, July 25-29 New Downloads for Alto and Karimba Contests: Winners! And a New Deadline (Again) Ask Mark: Resources for Orphaned Kalimbas Kalimba Community News

What's the Buzz at Kalimba Magic

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2011 Prices Begin April 15, 2011

African Musical Instruments (AMI), the makers of the Hugh Tracey Kalimbas, have incurred a 10% price increase for all kalimba shipments ordered in 2011. While I have held the prices to 2010 levels so far this year, I will have to adjust the Hugh Tracey prices upwards around April 15, 2011. The exact level of those price increases will depend upon what the U.S. dollar to South African rand exchange rate will be at the time. At the moment it looks like a flat 10% hike.

What this means for you, if you are in the market to buy one or more Hugh Tracey kalimbas: you will pay less if you order sooner rather than later. Also, please be aware that there are special deals if you want to purchase two, three, or more kalimbas. Contact me if you are buying several and you are interested in a discount.

The world wide demand for Hugh Tracey kalimbas is up. AMI will be hiring and training more shop workers to make the kalimbas, but at the moment, it is harder than ever to keep these wonderful instruments in stock. In spite of my efforts to order kalimbas from Africa months in advance, I am out of or low on about 10 different types of Hugh Tracey kalimbas - not good, considering that selling Hugh Tracey kalimbas is my main source of income! I hope things smooth out by autumn '11 in advance of the holiday season, but one cannot really tell what will happen. Believe it or not, I've been dreaming of this moment for years, and frankly I've been surprised it took this long to come.

In the meantime, if you want a deeper discount, remember the coupon code CAT10 (from the 2010 Catalog) when checking out at the Kalimba Magic Online Shop to get 10% off of your order.

What's Happening in the Tips of the Day

The Monday Tips have been exploring PRACTICE concepts. The kalimba sounds so good with almost no effort that it's easy to forget that it will sound even better if you actually work at it. These tips provide a little coaching to help you polish your practice strategies.

The Tuesday Tips just finished a series that shows how one kalimba musician organizes her kalimba, tools, books and other accessories.

The Wednesday Tips have just finished up a a fascinating series on the Mbira Cycle. This is a system by which you can create your own songs based on the same principles at work in traditional mbria dzavadzimu music.

In the Thursday Tips, we have begun a new series teaching a different kalimba riff each week. In addition to a video in which I demonstrate and break down the riff step-by-step, tablature PDFs and some helpful hints are also included. For the time being, we are concentrating on Alto riffs, but one of these days I'll just get tired of that, and we'll switch to another kalimba.

In the Friday Tips, Ian Clothier has been instructing us on how to make a surprisingly high quality preamp for your kalimba out of a few easy to find and cheap components. I'd really be interested in hearing how these home electronic projects are coming along - send me an email and let me know!

New Postcard Provides Info on the Care and Feeding of Your Kalimba

Kalimba Magic has just printed 1000 postcards showing the hands of Cliff Barien of Batucaxe Brazillian drum ensemble on the front. The back of this postcard is packed with lots of info about how you can keep your kalimba in top working order. We tell you how to find the video on YouTube that will show you how to keep your particular kalimba in tune, how to fix those nasty BUZZES that sometimes pop up on your kalimba, how to care for your thumb nails, and how to condition the wood on your kalimba.

You get one whenever you purchase a kalimba from Kalimba Magic! You can also download the PDF for the postcard for free.

The Kalimba Doctor is IN

Kalimba Magic doesn't make kalimbas, but we do perform general repairs, adjustments as well as emergency surgery on many kalimba brands, especially the Hugh Tracey Kalimbas.

People often think their older kalimbas need replacing, but often it is the case that, for only $20-35 (including return shipping), that beloved old kalimba can playing again as good as new with just a little expert attention. And sometimes getting the kinks out of an older kalimba results in a kalimba that is better than new - older kalimbas often have a mellower, age-ripened sound - not to mention, there is that a priceless spiritual connection between you and your old friend.

Says one owner of a rehabbed kalimba, who also received a tuning chart and instructions on how to keep her kalimba in tune: "What a wonderful gift to have my old kalimba renewed! I've never known which notes were which."

At Kalimba Magic, our mission is to spread the joy of the kalimba to every corner of the world and, by fixing up your old kalimba, we can do that for just a few dollars. So don't hesitate to call on the Kalimba Doctor.