New Products at Kalimba Magic
New at Kalimba Magic:
Josh Humphries Marimbula (Bass Kalimba)
There was great interest in our article on the Great Marimbula Playoff, in which I invited some friends over and we compared several leading models of marimbulas. Out of that event came an opportunity to sell one of those marimbulas: the Josh Humphries Bass kalimba. With a note layout just like a Hugh Tracey Alto (i.e., low note in the center, alternating left to right and migrating outwards to play the scale, exactly two octaves), this marimbula will be simple for any kalimba player to get their brain around. This one has two octaves, but is keyed to C, so its lowest note is one and a half octaves lower than the lowest note on the Hugh Tracey Alto kalimba. This is the same low note on the Cloud Nine marimbula, but this marimbula extends a full octave above the Cloud Nine in range. It has less key flexibility, but it can be easily retuned.
The Josh Humphries Marimbula is available now for $280, plus $40 shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S., or $60 shipping to Alaska and Hawaii. At this time, we are not offering the Josh Humphries Marimbula for sale internationally.
New at Kalimba Magic:
Mbiras from Zimbabwe
We have just obtained a few moderate quality mbiras through AMI, made in Zimbabwe. They came to me with a few notes out of tune or not playing, and I've fixed those issues, and am now ready to send these out to you. These are all keyed to B (i.e., the bass note and also the root note is B), and they have flat 7ths (known as mayarhopa tuning). I don't yet play the mbira, but I'm working on it. If you would like to learn to play, purchase one of these Shona mbiras.
New at Kalimba Magic:
AMI Shakers
In the last newsletter, I mentioned some really nice shakers that I picked up from AMI when I visited them in June/July. These are wicker shakers with a flat disk of kiaat wood on the end opposite the handle. When the pellets inside the shaker hit the wood, they make a high pitched sound. There are several ways of playing the shakers to get several different sounds. The sounds are pretty gentle, and they are a great compliment to the kalimba, much as the hoshu gourd rattles are a great compliment to the mbira.
While the first shakers I got from AMI had a weakness in that their handles would not stand up to severe abuse from children or over zealous percussionists, these shakers have been reinforced with wire, and I declare them robust. The wire also makes them stiffer, giving a somewhat sharper, less-spread-out attack and sound.
Purchase one of these new AMI shakers now.
Coming Next Month:
The Ugandan Amadinda
Next month, we'll have a few amadindas to sell.
The Ugandan amadinda is a cool xylophone played by two people facing each other. This model has 12 notes tuned in an equal tempered pentatonic scale (i.e., 240 cents, or almost a step and a quarter, between any two adjacent bars on the instrument). Made by AMI (African Musical Instruments), this is the first of their xylophones and marimbas that Kalimba Magic will be selling. We'll bring one to PASIC to show them off.
We will not be carrying the Akadinda, its larger 17-note cousin, but you can read all about these exotic instruments in N. Scott Robinson's article on the amadinda and the akadinda.
Discover the world of kalimbas at http://www.kalimbamagic.com
Shop for kalimbas and accessories at the Kalimba Shop