Mark Holdaway

Save 25%, New Products, New Tunings, and New Services We have a 25% discount coupon code for some of our most popular non-electrified kalimbas. We have a new middle eastern tuning for the Alto kalimba and some great new paired tunings for playing Pentatonic and Alto kalimbas together. We have new kalimba accessories. And for the holiday season, we’re offering gift wrapping service with kalimba purchases.    Now through December 5, 2017 you can save 25% on select Hugh Tracey kalimbas without electrical sound pickup jacks using the coupon code UNPLUG25. Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba Hugh Tracey Treble Kalimba Hugh Tracey Box Pentatonic Kalimba Hugh Tracey B flat Treble Kalimba

A new sound. Inner peace. Mind-blowing and heartwarming responses. “My other guitar is a Hugh Tracey Kalimba” My name is Jerrid and I am a multi-instrumentalist living in Los Angeles, California. I bought my first kalimba, a Hugh Tracey Alto in standard G tuning, about 2 years ago from Mark Holdaway at Kalimba Magic, and my music has felt like magic ever since. I had been searching for a new instrument to add to my collection that would give my performances a unique sound, and that is exactly what I got and more, right out of the box. I noticed that the craftsmanship was solid as I held the beautifully-grained

These two kalimbas can sound so good together! The Pentatonic and Alto Kalimbas The pentatonic kalimba and the Alto kalimba are a great natural pairing. They can create a gorgeous contrast that works when two players can “jam with deliberate abandon” – meaning players who are technically proficient and can also really move, respond, and dance with each other’s music. The pentatonic’s basic traits contribute to the very attractive alliance it can make with the Alto. The pentatonic kalimba is a bit of a mystery. It seems so simple – a perfect instrument for a beginner. Everything you play on it sounds great – playing it is a bit like finger painting

This exotic scale sounds “WOW” on the Alto Kalimba I remember being 8 years old, getting to stay up late to watch “Lawrence of Arabia” on TV. Even as I drowsed, I found myself listening attentively to its dazzling music. How grand! The music’s sumptuous scales sounded ethnic and different. It was moving and magical. Did the composer actually understand middle-eastern music and scales? Or was he just “making it up”? Probably both. The cool thing about the kalimba is that you can just “make it up.” Here, I have made up the “Hitzaskiar” tuning for the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba. The Hitzaskiar is an actual ancient scale from Persia, but

you Can Play This Music on Two Different Kalimbas Many people born in the last couple of decades were first turned on to the sound of the kalimba by the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The kalimba was regularly featured in the sound track.  The kalimba can really pull on your heartstrings in a sweet, simple way… a perfect accompaniment for animation! In this post we feature two different Youtube videos by people who acquired their kalimbas in order to learn how to play some of the kalimba music from Avatar: the Last Airbender:  one on the Hugh Tracey D Treble Kalimba, the other on the Goshen 11-note Kalimba. In

An Easy Way To Do It, Even If You Don’t Do Math The tuner registers a perfectly tuned A referenced to 432 Hz “Just” intonation is tuning based on the notion that ratios of frequencies should be ratios of simple whole numbers. That is a complicated way of saying: the distance between notes in a scale should be simple. And it turns out the ear agrees: “just” intervals sound more pleasing than what your $20 digital tuner or your cell phone app will lead you to tune. We’ll explain a simple way you can get most of the benefit of a just tuning. Oh, and 432 Hz? We’ll talk about

Customer Linda Hears that Music Do you experience music everywhere? Linda called me one afternoon earlier this year to order a kalimba – she wanted the pentatonic kalimba. She wanted this kalimba not just for herself – she really wanted to pass this kalimba on to her son and grandchild when she was gone. “There is music EVERYWHERE! I see and hear music just everywhere. In the evening, I hear the music on the breeze, and see the music of the stars, and the song of the clouds as they blow in and cover the stars, and blow out again to release the stars. And I want the kalimba to

This tired old download just got a total rewrite Click to get the Easy Alto Download There are three resources that I have recommended to beginning Alto players: the Alto Fundamentals Book, the Alto Primer, and the Easy Alto Download. I include a free, paper Primer when people purchase an Alto kalimba. The Alto Fundamentals Book is sold only as a hard copy. And the Easy Alto Download, though electronic, used to resemble a pile of music dropped into your lap with little instruction by your crazy uncle. Until now. I am happy to announce the NEW and GREATLY IMPROVED Easy Alto Download! If you purchased the Easy Alto Download

…Instead of following my head, I had to learn to follow my heart The pentatonic kalimba is available in several different exotic tunings For 6 months, I was the sole worker at Kalimba Magic. I wrote the newsletters, wrote the books, I answered the phone and took the orders, maintained inventory, assembled,  tuned and painted kalimbas, and packed and shipped. This work was a great time for me. A Zen-like focus on my craft resulted. I surely came out of this period a better human. When I recently hired Kacy Todirita to help with the kalimba business, there was suddenly enough slack in my schedule that I decided to try and change