May 18, 2007
The Dark and Light Kalimbas

Last week, I pointed out that the light colored kiaat wood is less massive than the dark colored kiaat wood. TJ was the first person to correctly guess (intuit? calculate?) what the two kalimbas would do, so he will be getting the "Between the Dark and the Light" CD. The lighter, less massive one responds more quickly, so it is louder at first. However, the dark, more massive one will hold onto its note and sustain longer.

On the left is the amplitude vs. time for the dark kalimba, and on the right is the amplitude vs. time for the light kalimba.

The effect is more pronounced for the higher notes. Is this just because they are higher and require a more massive kalimba body to sustain them? Or is it because the light kalimba has dark wood under the lower notes and light wood under the higher notes?

Next week, I'll show you a 45 year old kalimba with a nasty looking crack that actually affects the kalimba's sound in a positive way. However, I don't recommend that you go and rip your kalimba open to reproduce this on your own, rather it is a study tool to help us understand how cracks usually deaden a particular note on the kalimba.

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