Aug 20, 2009
Kalimba Magic NEWS
Kalimba of the Month
The Hugh Tracey G Chromatic Kalimba
For the month of August, the Hugh Tracey
Chromatic kalimba and the
Chromatic Celeste kalimba are both 10% off. But the real steal is the Chromatic kalimba without pickup...
more info below
When Sharon Eaton of KTabS came up with her ingenious idea for the Chromatic kalimba, she originally thought of putting the front side in the key of C, and the back side would be the sharps and flats. This was a logical choice.
However, what if you've been playing Alto kalimba for years and you know all your songs in the key of G or E minor? Well, you would have to relearn. But there are some songs that you just can't do in C - for example, what if you sing with the song? C and G are miles apart in terms of vocal range. Or what if the song needs two octaves from root to root?
It took me a long time to realize that for me, and for many other kalimba players, it makes more sense to arrange the front tines on the Chromatic kalimba exactly like the Alto, right down to painting the tines to help you keep your place and to remember the songs you already know. Then the other notes, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and F NATURAL (because F# = Gb is on the FRONT of the kalimba) go on the back side of the kalimba. Actually, there is also a low F# on the back, right behind the low G on the front.
When you are in the heat of improvisation, or when you are trying to figure something out, it helps to know where to go to get the chromatic notes. For example, if you are on C, to go a half step down you need B, which will be on the front of the kalimba, but on the opposite hand. If you are on G, F# is also on the front, opposite hand. If you are on A, the Ab will be on the back side, right behind the A on the front side. To indicate which notes have their "flats" right behind them, I recommend placing a black dot on the tine (see the photo above). This keeps you oriented at all times.
And, by the way, when I say the flats are "right behind," that is a bit figurative. You cannot see those notes on the back, so you have to rely upon feel. Based on the size of your hands and which finger you choose to use to pluck the flat notes on the back, you will require moving the tines around left or right a bit. I set the instruments up so that the back side tines feel as if they are right behind the corresponding tines on the front, but they aren't right behind - which is why there is a big gap in the middle of the back side tines. If your hands are larger than mine, that gap will narrow.
If you already bought a Chromatic Hugh Tracey kalimba, you may be interested in downloading the new tuning chart. There is nothing worse than an out-of-tune kalimba—unless it's an out-of-tune kalimba that you have no idea how to tune. SO, these charts will help you keep your kalimba in tip-top shape.
Brian Wistler of California recently bought a Chromatic kalimba in G setup, and he has written this insightful review:
Just want you to know how pleased I am with the chromatic alto. At first it was really not tuned very well [Ed: oops! I am paying more attention to this.] I had to mess with it for a long time before I was satisfied. Finally, I got it reasonably in the pocket and my music partner and I played by the river for several days. We got into some pretty "fey" zones. We did get into several arabic scales, We also explored some of the common flamenco scales, especially the so called spanish phrygian from e (e f g g# a b c d e) with some variations. My music buddy plays classical guitar, so these scales sounded great as a duo with kalimba.
We played in C Maj, F Maj, Em, G Maj, Am, D Maj and Dm (mostly dorian) and it worked well. I fooled around in some of the flat keys but was discouraged by the difficulty. I am sure in time it will get easier.
My verdict is, that with a lot of hard work one could master this instrument and play in virtually any key. Although I think it will be best to play in some of the aforementioned keys with the luxury of being able to play secondary dominants and a few color tones.
The further one ventures outside standard tuning, the more one loses the characteristic Tracey alternating key layout which make playing the instrument so easy and so much fun. In some keys/scales, one has to play up to four adjacent keys on the same side! Not fun, but doable, and at least one is freed from the tyranny of diatonicism. And it does get easier to alternate between the upper thumb and lower middle finger on the same side. I found it useful to move the "black notes" around until they were more accessible to my 3rd fingers. I think this is an individual thing and I encourage players of this instrument to experiment with fine tuning lower note placement.
Still in all, it is way easier to play chromatic music on this kalimba in contrast to the Array Mbira, which, being technically chromatic, is in my opinion really set up to be a diatonic instrument that can easily be played in any key. I describe the Array Mbira as perhaps the most ergonomically designed instrument for two handed melodic/rhythmic pattern playing ever invented. However, as soon as one attempts to play true chromatic music on it it becomes far less intuitive. Yes it can be done, but the question is, is it worth the trouble? I think each instrument has its own uses and areas of special brilliance. As a jazz pianist who has spent some time messing around with these chromatic instruments, I still think the kalimba family (i.e., the western redesigns of the african mbira) is best thought of as diatonic and as such, has an undeniable charm all its own. When I asked Hugh Tracey's son Paul (who doesn't carry them,) about them (chromatic altos), he said, "Why make a simple thing complex?" In the end, I have to agree. But that won't stop me from trying to learn to play the blues on this puppy!
All in all, I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this instrument, though I doubt I'll be playing through the changes to Giant Steps anytime soon!!
Take care, Brian
Be sure to catch the August Thursday Tips on the G Chromatic Kalimba!
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