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Mike Ankomeus

Focus on Two Star-13 Kalimba Tunings: Bothe-F and Desert Star Tunings

These two Star-13 Kalimba Tunings organize the universe of notes in two different ways: Bothe F Tuning: Upper Row vs Lower Row I have taken inspiration from other kalimba tunings.  Thomas Bothe, a German kalimba maker,  was inspired to create his own tunings with the lower row defining one musical space (FM9) and the upper row tines defining another musical space (Gm9).  To make interesting music, you just play the lower row tines for a while, then the upper row tines… and then return. Literally, you don’t need to know anything about music to actually make real music with this tuning. What makes the Bothe F Star-13 Kalimba Tuning so

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

One Off “Special” Kalimbas Available.

These kalimbas have been laying about in my collection, and it is time to part with them. What to expect: (a) These are one off items – when the first person buys one, it is gone. (b) I can work with you on the setup – the tuning and which tines are painted. (c) I have been pretty generous with the kalimba instructional downloads here! (d) Expect more kalimbas like these in September. Alto Afroharp with Small Crack   Hugh Tracey Treble + PU with tiny cracks

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

Star-13 Kalimba – Available in These Exotic Tunings

See what the Star-13 can do in each of these exotic tunings: Ethereal Lotus Lyte Star-13. Beautifully easy, light and shiny, Bothe F Star-13 Kalimba. A Harmonic Minor tuning of the Star-13 Kalimba. Romantic and charming. Desert Star Tuning. Beautiful and fiery!   eBook Instruction for Exotic Star-13 Tunings An Instructional Download for six exotic Star-13 Kalimba Tunings is now available! You will get this download for free when you purchase a Star-13 Kalimba in any tuning. Of course, you will also get the Star-13 Hardcopy Booklet for the standard C tuning. There are a lot of techniques covered in that book that will be applicable to any tuning you

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

The Situation at Kalimba Magic

Hi kalimba friends! So it looks like I get to retire. I have found some folks to purchase Kalimba Magic. This means you will still be able to get these cool little instruments that I stock, on into the future. And perhaps more importantly, the instructional downloads we offer will continue to work. (If you don’t have one of our downloads, they are PDF files with live links to the sound recordings. So you get to see the tablature, showing you which tines to play to accomplish a song, and you get to hear me play the song too!) And in recent years, my hard copy kalimba books have transitioned

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

Some Quick Info on Retuning Your Kalimba

Here is some useful info on retuning your kalimba. These two pages were taken from the Star-13 Exotic Tunings download.   Here is something I learned from my days as a Radio Astronomer: if you can tell there is a problem, you can usually fix it! If the kalimba sounds off, that means you can correct it and make it sound better. That knowledge doesn’t always do it, but it certainly helps to have that attitude.

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

Star-13 Kalimba in G Tuning – bundled with 50 pages of inspirational lessons

Here is the Star-13 in G Tuning, playing Bob Marley’s “Is This Love”. OK, I’ll reckon straight with you. I have too many of the Star-13 Kalimbas in stock. To sell my business, I need to get the inventory way down. To sell these kalimbas off at a discount, I am doing what I should have done when I started selling them in 2021: write articulate and helpful instructional materials to help you get the most out of the Star-13 Kalimba. But instead of doing that work, I was tending to my ill wife. (It is complicated, but she is doing much better now.) No complaints. My life is great.

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

Desert Moon Kalimba – with a great new instructional download

Desert Moon Tuning The Moon-10 Kalimba, made by Magadi, really caught me eye. I loved the way they felt and sounded. The notes have a clear, beautiful sound that sustains for over 10 seconds, much longer than the typical kalimba. And I especially loved the variety of tunings I could get out of the Moon-10. Today, I am selling off the Moon-10 Kalimba in the Desert Moon Tuning, a 6-tone Middle Eastern scale that is so cool and easy to play. Plus, I include for free a 37-page instructional PDF with live links to sound files. This download will show you all of the tricks I figured out on this

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

SaReGaMa Style Karimbas 60% Off, through March 31 2024

Save 60% on These SaReGaMa tuned Karimbas With Coupon Code SaRe60 SaReGaMa’s Lotus Tuned Karimba SaReGaMa is the stage name of a new age musical artist. About 15 years ago, someone gifted him a Hugh Tracey African-tuned Karimba, but it was out of tune. He set out on a path exploring the tunings it was capable of. Every week or two, he would take the instrument apart and put it back together again with a different key, a different tuning, and a different note organization. The Lotus tuning, which SaReGaMa made to play music for his newborn daughter, was the first one to become insanely popular. Remember to use the

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Blog
Mark Holdaway

Moon-10 Kalimba in Golden Moon or Silver Moon Tunings – with custom instructional downloads, at ridiculous prices

Silver Moon Tuning The Moon-10 Kalimba, made by Magadi, really caught me eye. I loved the way they felt and sounded. And I especially loved the variety of tunings I could get out of the Moon-10. And now, I still have a few hundred of them that I need to sell before I can retire. So, you and I can help each other here. I can give you a joyful ride, and you can help me sell out of kalimbas. Today, I am selling off the Moon-10 Kalimba in two different diatonic tunings. Diatonic? That means they have all the notes from the major scale: “Do Re Mi Fa So

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