What Is A Kalimba?
The kalimba, also known as the thumb piano or mbira, is an African musical instrument created about 3000 years ago. The exact origins of the kalimba are unknown, but it’s thought the first kalimbas were first built along the west coast of Africa near present-day Cameroon (Fleury). The kalimba is simple to assemble, consisting of a wooden soundboard, metal keys called “tines,” a bridge, and a Z-bracket (“What to Look for in a Quality Kalimba”). Kalimbas can vary in size depending on how many keys the player wants to be able to play. Kalimbas typically have 10-15 keys, but some can have up to 34 keys (kalimbatime).
How Do You Play the Kalimba?
The kalimba is widely considered one of the most accessible and beginner-friendly instruments to play because of its simplicity. To play the kalimba, one simply strikes the tines to produce the desired note. The intuitive plucking of the kalimba allows people with little to no musical experience to play since, unlike other instruments like the violin or viola, the kalimba does not need complex fingering sequences to play a piece of music. Another beautiful feature of the kalimba is that its small size enables people to bring it to wherever they would like to play music.
How Is The Kalimba Tuned?
To tune a kalimba, one should use an electronic tuning device. If you do not have a tuning device, there are apps that you can download onto your phone to help tune the keys to the correct pitches. The tines can be adjusted by moving them up and down to make them longer and shorter. By changing the lengths of the tines, the note produced changes. Typically, a tuning hammer is used for tuning by gently tapping the tines to change their lengths. Using the tuning device and the tuning hammer, shorten or lengthen the tines until they produce the correct note. For sharp notes, tap the top of the tine so it moves towards the soundhole. For flat notes, tap the bottom of the tine to move it away from the soundhole (“How to Tune a Kalimba”). It took me about an hour and a half to correctly tune my kalimba since I struggled with getting the tines to the correct length to produce the correct note.
What Is The Traditionally Used For?
It is tradition for the indigenous kalimba to be used for personal entertainment, dance music, and even bira spirit possession ceremonies for the Shona people of Zimbabwe (Austin and Vetter). When the Shona people need guidance, they call upon their ancestors to guide them through issues that affect individuals, families, and communities. These events are called biras. The mbira (the kalimba) is what guides the ceremony since specialists are playing the “mbira of the ancestors” to create enough energy to get into contact with the spirits of their ancestors. The mbira is typically accompanied by at least one shaker called a “hosho.” Other people participating in a bira spirit possession are encouraged to chant, clap, dance, and sing to create more energy used for contacting their ancestors. Overall, the mbira plays an integral role in a religious tradition of the Shona people of Zimbabwe (“Bira (Shona Possession Ceremony) Instruments from Zimbabwe · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection · Grinnell College Libraries”).
How Do You Build A Kalimba?
Building a kalimba is relatively simple because there are many kits you can purchase off the internet that come with all the necessary parts to construct a kalimba. For the construction of my kalimba, I purchased a kit and simply followed the instructions provided in the kit. The kit came with 10 tines, a wooden soundboard, a bridge, and a Z-bracket. Using these parts, I assembled a 10-key kalimba.
My Kalimba
I designed a Wesleyan-themed kalimba by painting the soundboard a cardinal red and painting the bridge black. As stated earlier, I ordered a kalimba kit from the internet and assembled it according to the included instructions. I first sanded the soundboard to ensure that the wood would accept the primer and the red paint. I then primed the soundboard and put three coats of red paint on it. This process took roughly an hour and a half as I had to wait for each coat of paint to dry before adding the next. After completing the primer and red paint, I got a stencil and carefully traced the letters onto the front of the kalimba. I then took a paint marker and filled all the stencil letters in with black paint. This process took approximately an hour. To assemble it, it took me about two hours. I glued the bridge to the soundboard and waited for it to dry to ensure that it would stay in place when I began to add other parts. I then placed each tine on the bridge and used a Philips head screwdriver to keep the tines from moving around as there is a metal bar that is screwed into the bridge to keep the tines from shifting. After assembled, I used a tuning app on my phone to get the correct notes from each tine. As stated earlier, I found the tuning process difficult since getting the tines to the correct length was challenging. Below I have attached a photo of “The Wes Kalimba” and a video of me striking each tine in the following order: E3, C1, A6, F4, D2, C1, E3, G5, B7, and D2.
Link to Google Drive With Photo and Video of the Kalimba:
Video of Each Key:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_7aNbTTMiSW_saP6NkgXZBEIvDpH9SkF/view?usp=sharing
Photo of the Kalimba:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17YdwaWKB0pRrkOP7_YmpMt4khBfr8zrr/view?usp=sharing
References:
- Fleury, Jonathan. “What Are the Origins of the Kalimba?” Boullard Musique, 9 Apr. 2021, www.boullard.ch/en/blog/what-are-the-origins-of-the-kalimba/#:~:text=The%20origins%20of%20the%20kalimba%20can%20be%20found%20in%20Africa.
- “What to Look for in a Quality Kalimba.” UkuleleMate, 3 Nov. 2020, www.ukulelemate.com.au/blogs/news/what-to-look-for-in-a-quality-kalimba.
- kalimbatime. “Kalimba Buying Guide.” Kalimba Time, 14 Sept. 2019, kalimbatime.com/kalimba-buying-guide/#:~:text=Most%20kalimbas%20being%20sold%20today. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023.
- “How to Tune a Kalimba.” UkuleleMate, 12 Jan. 2021, www.ukulelemate.com.au/blogs/news/how-to-tune-a-kalimba#:~:text=Gently%20tap%20the%20top%20of. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023.
- Austin, Toby, and Roger Vetter. “Kalimba · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection · Grinnell College Libraries.” Omeka-S.grinnell.edu, omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/item/2669#:~:text=This%20kalimba%20is%20a%20lamellaphone.
- “Bira (Shona Possession Ceremony) Instruments from Zimbabwe · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection · Grinnell College Libraries.” Omeka-S.grinnell.edu, omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/page/bira. Accessed 15 Oct. 2023.