March 10, 2010
Kalimba Magic NEWS
Kalimba Magic 2010 Catalog Is Here!
The 2010 Kalimba Magic Catalog is available for download right now. You can download a 4 MByte low resolution PDF catalog or if you have wideband you might want to get the 20 MByte high resolution PDF catalog. Remember the coupon code CAT10 to get 10% off of your online Kalimba Magic purchases. (I can't wait for the 2011 catalog, when CAT11 will get you 11% off!)
New: CD in the Catalog
As I was working on the 2010 catalog, trying to figure out how I could more precisely describe the different sounds each kalimba made, I realized I was working with the wrong medium. I should be releasing a CD, not a catalog. And then it came to me - why not do both?
When you open the hard copy 2010 Kalimba Magic Catalog, the first thing you will see is the CD. Tracks 1-36 contain samples of the different kalimbas, which will help you decide which kalimba is right for you. But in addition to that, we also have six lessons to help you on your way with your kalimba playing. I have also selected one highlight song from each of my four different kalimba CDs, and include those songs as a gift to you.
The hardcopy 2010 catalog will be available in about two weeks. You will automatically get one when you purchase a book or a kalimba from Kalimba Magic, or if you would like one, just contact me and I'll drop one in the mail to you.
Kalimbas in the Kalimba Magic Catalog
At Kalimba Magic, we are musicians first and sellers of musical instruments second. Every kalimba we sell is worthy to be played. We sell kalimbas from four different kalimbas makers: African Musical Instruments (AMI), the maker of the Hugh Tracey kalimbas, in South Africa; Hokema, the maker of the Sansula, in Germany; Catania Folk Instruments in Pennsylvania; and Goshen Art School in West Virginia. A lot of thought, care, and love goes into the making of every one of the kalimbas made by these instrument makers, and we believe that we should also produce a catalog with enough good energy to match the kalimbas.
In Kalimba Magic's 5th year of operation, we will be adding kalimbas from a 5th kalimba maker! But that will be news for another day...
Who's Behind the Kalimba Magic Catalog?
Kalimba Magic is a very small business. We operate from a place of love for the kalimba, and adrenaline when we run out of daylight but there is still more work to be done. Each year, one of our most important jobs is to make the new Kalimba Magic Catalog. This takes scores of hours to get product photographs, to set prices to keep the business solvent, to write text, do layout and make sure that all information is clear and accurate. This is a lot of work, but it doesn't all fall on my shoulders. I get a great deal of help from two people: photographer Glen "Thumbs" Davis and graphics guru Robert "Swam"" Peizer. I wholeheartedly recommend the work of these two people who are masters at their work.
If you need photography, Glen has a nice setup for product photography, but his work shines even more when taking photographs in the great outdoors - he's got the eye for light and location.
Several people have commented to me about how they loved the 2009 catalog. "Its just about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," said one friend of mine - and she wasn't joking. If you would like to work with a dedicated freelance graphics design expert who transforms our catalogs into works of art, Swami is your guy.
To get in touch with either Glen or Swami, contact me and I will forward your request to the right guy.
One photograph in the 2010 catalog, a silhouette of me with a kalimba in my hands, was shot by my wife Deb, 10 years ago, shortly after we met. After she got off of work, we raced to the park and madly shot photographs for 45 minutes until the sun went down. Those photos were used in the cover art for my first kalimba CD Two Thumbs Up. The silhouette photo taken that day is the backdrop for pages in the 2010 catalog. Fitting, and symbolic, that Deb's work pervades mine.
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