News and Announcements

Leslee Morrison’s Second Kalimba Has Opened a New World of Possibilities Leslee’s pentatonic kalimbas Acquiring a second kalimba in a different tuning is almost like stepping into the exciting realm of kalimba for the first time – everything seems so fresh and new.   However, unlike the first time, I come to the second kalimba with an established set of rhythms and thumb patterns I learned on the first kalimba.  These patterns do transfer to the second kalimba, and it feels like I am flying.   I got my first kalimba – a Hugh Tracey Box Pentatonic kalimba – from Mark at Kalimba Magic a few years ago. I had

It was good enough for Jimi Not many know that Jimi Hendrix was an excellent kalimba player Did Jimi Hendrix really play kalimba?  Well, no, Jimi Hendrix didn’t do anything with the kalimba as far as I know.  I’m sure one was put into his hands though, as the kalimba was exploding in popularity at the same time Jimi Hendrix was. This art work is derived from the famous photograph of Jimi kneeling in front of his guitar as he is poised to light it on fire for the first time in public.  In that photo, Jimi is looking down at his hands, and his hands look like he is

Scales and Chords for One-Sided 8-Note Kalimbas Left: ergonomic setup for individual with the use of their left hand. Right: ergonomic setup for right handed person. I have known several people who only have the use of one hand, and two of them play kalimba. Kalimba Magic offers a special one-sided kalimba, either in a left handed or a right handed setup. It seems you would need both the left and right hands to simulate the full kalimba experience. The theory is that the kalimba evolved from huge log xylophones, made from actual logs, which were played by at least two people, one on each side, playing interweaving parts. The

Joe Hernandez is learning to play all of Maurice’s kalimba parts Joe Hernandez, his family, and Earth Wind and Fire – 2014, long after Maurice left the band There are probably tens of thousands of kalimba players around the world who first learned about the kalimba from Maurice White. One of them is Joe Hernandez: “I saw Maurice White play in 1988 in Kansas City, the first time I had ever actually seen a kalimba. I was amazed and wish I had attempted to find one and start playing back then. Thanks to Kalimba Magic, I finally got my own kalimba and I love it. Too bad it took me

And how you can get a kalimba like Maurice White’s Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire A lot of people who play kalimba were first exposed to the instrument when Maurice White of the band Earth, Wind and Fire pierced their hearts with its sound so many years ago, first beginning in the 1970s . While I did always like hearing Earth, Wind and Fire on the radio, I never even knew Maurice White played kalimba until after I started Kalimba Magic and people started pointing out the sorts of things I would need to know to stay in business. Now I’m making up for lost time. In another

The C Major Lotus Tuning is one you can do. The Em/Am Lotus Tuning is one for us to do. These are the three models of Lotus Karimba that we make at Kalimba Magic Yesterday, two sansula players came to Kalimba Magic headquarters with their sansulas, both of which were in standard A minor tuning. They had grown tired of the enchantingly beautiful standard A minor tuning and wanted to play different music. After trying several tunings, they both decided to go for the Heavenly A tuning. They left happy, and the new tuning has opened many new pathways for them to explore. Why am I telling you this in

What is a tuning? Why do you retune? How do you retune? Click to visit the first sansula tip The sansula is a great instrument for so many reasons: its lush tone, beautiful craftsmanship, the smooth metal tine tips, the amazing wah-like effects it produces totally acoustically, its simple 9-note layout with staggered tines, and its intuitive tuning that literally transforms nearly-random thumb twiddling into actual music. However, the same tuning that is geared toward instant success turns out to be very limiting. I realized this early on, but I so loved the tone and feel of the sansula; I wanted to do more with it. So I started to

The C Major Sansula Tuning has always been beautiful – and now it is accessible! Get the C Major Sansula Instructional Download Kalimba Magic sansulas are normally sold in the A Minor tuning, which produces music of an enchanting, mystical and melancholy nature. I created the C Major sansula tuning in 2011 in response to a customer’s request for a sansula in C.  I love this tuning; it is simply happy and positive, potentially majestic and even euphoric. I am often struck by how easy it is for the C Major sansula to produce music of great simplicity and beauty. If something gorgeous happens in the midst of my time spent with

Doug is a studio percussionist in NYC, and the kalimba is in his bag Click to visit Doug Fitch’s website Hi! I’m Doug Fitch, and I have been playing kalimba for about five years. I work as a studio musician in New York City. I’m a percussionist, and one of the special things I bring to the table is the kalimba, and specifically I like Hugh Tracey kalimbas the best.  I’ve found there is just nothing else like them out there. I own several, and have given them as gifts to friends and family. I’ll be sharing here some of what I’ve learned about playing, recording, and amplifying the kalimba.