Nov. 19, 2011 Vol. 6, Num. 5

Kalimba Magic NEWS In This Issue Message from Mark: Welcome to Jordan McGary Anniversary Sale! 50% Off Books and Downloads New Instruments and Smokin' Deals New Music and Learning Materials Christmas Performances & the New Baba Marimba AMI Box Marimbas and Bass Bars 8th Street Music Unearths Vintage 1968 Kalimba Catania 12-Note: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme The Chromatic Kalimba Featuring Beatles Music! Jenny Bienemann Releases CD Girl Friday Another Kalimba Doctor Success Story Mbira Cycle Contest Winners!! Ask Mark: Pickup Effects / Tuning an HT Knock-off Kalimba Community News

Kalimba Community News

• Amazing Wood Burn Kalimba Art
• Two Web Resources for Kalimbas
• Paul Berliner Interview
• Kelly Makes Kalimbas at his Fourth Birthday Party
• Chromatic Kalimba Videos

Are you doing something cool with the kalimba? Have you released a new CD, or a new video on YouTube? Do you have an upcoming kalimba performance? Do you have some cool photos to share? Contact us and we'll get your story or pics onto the Community page to help you share your news or other good stuff with the kalimba world!

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Amazing Wood Burn Kalimba Art

Eric Freeman is at it again - or rather his friend is at it again. These are some of the most beautiful things I've seen people do with kalimbas. If you would like something like this on one of your kalimbas, contact Eric Freeman: efreeman("at")gmail.com.

Two Important Web Resources for Kalimba

Just wanted to advertise this impressive kalimba blog.

Also, there is a community of folks at the Kalimba and Sansula Lovers FaceBook page. While you are there, look for Andrew Lain Owen's wonderful handmade kalimbas. Andrew is a high school student in Dallas TX - just imagine what he is going to be doing in 5, 10, 20 years!

Marek Bolf has obviously been making kalimbas for 20 years or more, and his work is well worth seeing.

Interview: Paul Berliner on mbira, jazz, and improvisation (2006)

Here is a thought-provoking interview with Paul Berliner on the subject of mbira, jazz, and improvisation conducted by Banning Eyre for Afropop.org in 2006.

Paul Berliner, assisted by Cosmas Magaya, wrote The Soul of Mbira (1978) - one of the best resources for learning about traditional African mbira music and the whole family of kalimbas, and the source for what I think to be some of the most authentic karimba music, which I have notated in tablature as part of the 10 Traditional African-tuned Karimba download. Berliner and Magaya are currently working on the second edition of The Soul of Mbira.

Kelly Makes Kalimbas at His 4th Birthday Party

When you put yourself out into the world, you never know what is going to come back at you. Much to my delight, I got several emails from four year old Kelly (with the help of his mother). For his birthday party, Kelly and other party goers made kalimbas, using old rake parts for the tines. Reportedly, the kalimbas sounded great. Very old rakes had really thick spring steel tines, so if you can pick up an old rake at a yard sale, jump on it!

Chromatic Kalimba Video

The Chromatic kalimba has come into its own. I know this because of all the chromatic kalimba music that is appearing on YouTube. This is showing up not just on the Hugh Tracey kalimba, but on instruments of many different designs. And I expect that in another year, the field of chromatic kalimba music will be that much broader. It is certainly and exciting time to be playing chromatic kalimba.

Marius was also one of our mbira contest winners. Check out what Bad Marius did with all his contest winnings - he got himself a chromatic kalimba, and he is playing up a storm! Well done, Marius.

Trevor Gordon Hall has been very busy learning to play a new instrument - the KalimbaTar, a chromatic kalimba mounted on a guitar. Very cool!

Jomo Vibes is a long time kalimba player who invented his own "chromatic notes on back" style chromatic kalimba (much like the Hugh Tracey). Here he is performing 'Round Bout Midnight.

Life just got a little more insane - check out this Polish-made chromatic mbira - and by mbira, I mean that instrument that the Shona people have been making for centuries - only they never made one tuned exactly like this!

Crazy? You haven't seen crazy till you have tried the chromatic marimbula (bass kalimba) made by Josh Humphries.

Of course, he may have gotten the idea from John Ike Walton of the 13th Floor Elebatas.

Did I just say "Elebata?" Believe it or not, that is Japanese for "Elevator" - and here is YET ANOTHER DESIGN for a chromatic kalimba from Japan - this one with all notes on the front. This is pretty amazing playing!

I think this kalimba is made by the same guy in Japan, a five octave pentatonic kalimba. Beautiful and amazing, though I think the low notes are mostly overtone (i.e., it could use a bigger box to resonate at the low notes).

And while we are on Japan, there seem to be a lot of these piano-style chromatic kalimbas. The key design feature of this kalimba is the independent bridges for each note. On a Hugh Tracey or other connected bridge design, when you play one tine, it excites the adjacent tines too. A linear (piano-style) design with a connected bridge would end up sounding like mud, but this independent bridge design largely isolates the vibrations to each individual plucked tine. My personal opinion of these chromatic kalimbas? These have a beautiful sound bu,t really, get this one if you are a piano player, not if you are a kalimba player.

Nicola Strippoli plays Greensleeves on the chromatic kalimba - beautiful! And the photos ain't bad either.

Nicola Strippoli plays Amazing Grace on a Chromatic Hugh Trace. I think he is only using the front side, which just goes to show that you don't need to use those chromatic notes all the time.

New Dream - The Tom Gates BAND! Tom Gates is a top notch jazz guitar and steel drum player who picked up the chromatic kalimba a few years back. This song is great, but only uses the chromatic kalimba a little bit.

Here is Aaron Chavez using the chromatic kalimba in a world percussion ensemble at Lac Arts. Did I say "Lac Arts?" Free CD to the first person who can guess my favorite TV series and what I really intended to say.

Mark Holdaway playing The Entertainer on Hugh Tracey Chromatic Kalimba. By the way, the music for The Entertainer was available in a newsletter article earlier this year where I offered a special prize to the first person who could play it... I guess that would be me! My plan: take over the chromatic kalimba world with videos like this.

But if you search for "Chromatic kalimba" on YouTube, the top search result is still the original video I shot of Sharon Eaton explaining how she came up with the idea for the chromatic kalimba and playing the Beethoven song Für Elise.