New! The Magadi Star-13 Kalimba

The Star-13 Kalimba is a great blend of cool magic tricks and shear capability. Magic tricks? Try the “wah wah” technique, and the very useful note layout. Do you want to just wave your thumbs around and have cool-sounding music pop out as if by magic? CHECK! Do you want to be able to play the tines with precision and have beautiful arrangements come forth through your careful practice and work? CHECK. Heads up  – I don’t have a book for this kalimba YET, but I will have in about a month’s time. You will be able to find the book and other instructional resources for this kalimba here at the Star-13 Kalimba Resource Page.

By the way, this kalimba is made by Magadi, a new Chinese kalimba maker that has made it their stated mission to be the makers of the best professional level kalimbas. This instrument is certainly in step in the direction of Magadi achieving their dreams.

Here is the view from the back. When you play the kalimba on a flat surface, it makes a closed resonant chamber. When you lift up, the geometry of the resonant chamber changes, resulting in the “wah wah” effect.

Here is the tuning chart for this kalimba. The lowest note is G, but it is formally in the key of C. It can also play in the keys of G (mixolydian mode), A minor (as in the video below), or D (dorian mode).  The low note being the 5th means that there are a great many songs you can do with this kalimba. For example, you can play every song in the “EZ Numbers Book” on this kalimba.

But really, if you need proof of how much fun this kalimba is to play, check out this video. Yes, harmony is powerful on this kalimba, but so is melody. I look forward to completing the Star-13 Book and further exploring how very capable it truly is.

Will you take this journey with me?