Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Performing on the Kalimba:
Solo or Accompanied?

The kalimba works totally as a solo instrument - you can get rhythm, melody, harmony, chord structure, and flash.

On the other hand, that is a lot to be holding down all at once. Some people like to have a drum machine going while they play kalimba, or a percussionist to play with them. Similarly, a guitar can provide harmonic, structural, and rhythmic support. A mandolin can work, but it is in the same pitch range as the kalimba, so they are both like hummingbirds at times. A bass can work too, but there is a big difference between the kalimba's pitch and the bass' low notes. Have the bass player think about adding some midrange and high notes too.

If you are playing with lots of instruments, you may want to electrify your kalimba, and maybe even to modify the sound of the instrument, adding harmonics so that the kalimba can cut through the other instruments.

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