News and Announcements

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,

It was back in 2002 when I shocked everyone in the Tucson music scene by showing the true extent of the magic that is possible when you play the kalimba with great skill and great emotion. (Here is a more recent version of the Christmas Kalimba Medley, played on a Kalimba Magic 17-Note Bamboo kalimba.) Back in 2002, I performed 12 favorite Christmas Carols in 12 minutes. The waves of beauty and joy kept coming, overwhelming everyone’s expectations of what the kalimba could do. The music kept climbing in intensity, accelerating in tempo, until the final victory lap of “The Christmas Song” rang true with its unsung words: “Although it’s

The years was 2002, before I started Kalimba Magic. I performed a 12 minute medley of 12 different Christmas Carols, on my Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba, to an audience of about 200 people at the TKMA Holday Party in Tucson Arizona. All I will say is that every one of the audience members will have remembered the magic of that music for the rest of their lives, barring severe memory loss. That extended moment is where Kalimba Magic really started, though the Kalimba Magic BUSINESS would not come to life until 2005. Over the years, I have notated my full advanced arrangements for a wide variety of kalimbas – 15-Note