At a time when traditional African music was quickly disappearing and the African scales were being replaced by the Western scale, Hugh Tracey founded ILAM, an institution to preserve African music and to promote research into African music.
Some of Hugh Tracey’s first kalimbas were made of aluminum! After building over 100 prototype instruments, blending traditional African design elements, Hugh Tracey brought easy-to-play, western-tuned kalimbas to the world in 1954.
The kalimba might not have caught on had it not been in a Broadway music called Wait a Minim, had bluesman Taj Mahal not played it, and had Maurice White of Earth, Wind, and Fire not wowed a nation with his electrified kalimba playing.
These are the Hugh Tracey patent models from the 1960s. With success comes competition and imitation. Kalimbas are made, not just in Africa, but in America, Germany, France, Pakistan, Slovakia, Japan, China, and everywhere between.
With its ancient roots and its seemingly infinite new age possibilities, the kalimba continues to amaze the world. The future of this simple, traditional African instrument is a bright one with ever more kalimba resources.
We have created eight song books for 17/C Kalimba – at last, the intro method book to help it all make sense! Order your Book: Intro to 17-Note Kalimba in C! If you play the 17-Note Kalimba in C, this is the book you’ve been waiting for. It will help you chart your course through the kalimba waters in the months and years to come. It shows you all the basics, and shares links for more information about a number of topics. It has clear and simple photographs and illustrations to show you the basic playing techniques, and shows you in clear kalimba tablature examples of some of the
This one looks and sounds bright and shiny! Get Your Bamboo 17-Note Kalimba Today! I am particularly proud of the design of this kalimba. Ecologically sustainable bamboo, with a “KALIMBAMAGIC” swirl of motion resonating from the sound hole. My wife, artist Su Washington, and I, made this design. “KALIMBAMAGIC” on the front is meaningful for two reasons. First, it is a call to you to create your own kalimba magic every time you pick up this kalimba. And second, this is a kalimba that I am happy to put my name on The Kalimba Magic Bamboo 17-Note Kalimba OK, basically this is the same kalimba that has been coming
Each tuning a different flavor, capable of its own music. The Moon-10 Kalimba is a fantastic platform for creating music. It has a clear piercing tone, great special effects, and is not difficult to get your head around… it tilts the odds toward success. The standard C Major Pentatonic tuning is fun, but realistically, it only scratches the surface of this instrument’s possibilities. To span this instrument’s potential, we need to sample some of the different possible tunings. Here are six alternative tunings you can put on your Moon-10 kalimba yourself. Explore the breadth of Moono-10 Tunings with me! When you order a Moon-10 kalimba from Kalimba Magic, we give
This C Diatonic “Silver Moon” Tuning makes the Moon-10 capable of playing a lot of music Get the “Silver Moon” eBook for the Moon-10 Kalimba While the standard C Pentatonic Tuning of the Moon-10 kalimba is a great place to go to be wild and free, and a great place to go to jam… if you want to play more songs, you might consider going for the C Diatonic, or “Silver Moon” tuning. Check out the video… real music with just 10 notes! The “Silver Moon” tuning of the Moon-10 Kalimba can play a lot of music. You can purchase the Moon-10 Kalimba in this “Silver Moon” tuning, or
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