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Here is the Go Fund Me page for Paul and Sue Tracey. Paul Tracey is the surviving son of Hugh Tracey, the man who brought the world the “Hugh Tracey Kalimba” starting in 1954. I met Paul in November 2005 when I started Kalimba Magic. We split an order of kalimbas. I flew out to LA, rented a car, and met Paul at the Airport, where we loaded the kalimba cargo into our respective vehicles. I saw right away that his car had the California plate “KALIMBA”. Apparently, both he and Maurice White applied for the “KALIMBA” plate in California in the same year – lets say 1971 or 1972,

What Exactly is This Kalimba? The 10-Note Spiral box kalimba has super sweet tines that are wider than typical kalimba tines, and have a nice feel to place.  The 10-Note Spiral Box kalimba may be retuned to an 8-Note Student Karimba in C. If you would like the kalimba with unstamped tines, that is an option too. However, as this traditional African tuning is a bit out of the ordinary, you may want to get yours with the note names and numbers stamped on the tines. An Ancient African Heritage When Portugese priest Father Dos Santos encountered the kalimba in southern Africa in 1586, it very well could have been

For the last 6 years, the most popular kalimbas in the world have been the Chinese-made 17-Note kalimbas. 10 years ago, I would have said the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba was the most popular. Unfortunately, they are not being made anymore, but we still have a few Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimbas that you can get your hands on. But back to the 17-Note: the 17-Note Kalimbas are modeled on the Hugh Tracey Treble Kalimbas, which were the original kalimbas first made in South Africa in the 1950s. The tuning is easy and intuitive, with middle C, the root note, residing right in the middle on the lowest note. So, what

Are you a “numbers-based learner”? First of all, you may want to get our EZ Numbers Kalimba EBook! But then you might also be interested in getting this 10-Note Spiral Kalimba with stamped tines. Why do I call it the “Spiral Kalimba”? Because of the spiral-shaped wood burn design that my wife Su and I designed. (You can see more artwork by Su at “SuLuWashArt“.) If held at one angle, you can barely see the note names and numbers stamped into the tines. But if you change the angle or the illumination, you will clearly see the “C” and “1” on the central tines. You might think this is a

The Kalimba Magic 10-Note Kalimba comes in several alternative tunings. Why would you want an alternative tuning? Because different tunings offer different musical possibilities. By retuning just one tine, you can actually put your kalimba into a different key that can play many more songs! Or you can change the tuning such that the kalimba sounds like a strange and exotic magical instrument. And Kalimba Magic is one of the only vendors who will offer you alternative tunings. Or, you could do the retuning yourself. What 10-Note Tunings Do We Offer? C Major standard tuning   You can find all of the resources available for this tuning on the Learn

Most kalimbas are in just one particular key. But what do you do when the song requires notes that are out of that key? Of course, you can get a Chromatic Kalimba, with the “sharps/flats” on the back side. But there is a simpler technique also available, especially if the song just temporarily modulates to a different key, such as in “Winter Wonderland”: The verses are all played on the G Alto Kalimba. The bridge is half in the key of Bb, and half in the key of D. I play the Bb part of the bridge by picking up a Bb Treble Kalimba.  The second half of the bridge,