U-channel drilled & tapped

    In order for any kalimba to work the metal keys have to be held onto the body at their different lengths. Each key is being held up in two places and being pushed down in the middle of them. The spring tension of the key resisting this pushing down and the resulting friction at the three points is what holds the key in place.
    In African models the downward pressure is put on all the keys at the same time by a metal bar wired to the back of the wood. The upward pressure comes from wood or metal rods wedged under the keys.
    On my kalimbas I use aluminum u-channel that I have cut to length and polished to provide a system to hold the keys up. I put downward pressure on the keys by putting them under an aluminum bar that I have also cut to length and polished. My pressure bar is held down not by wires but by machine screws drilled and tapped into the aluminum u-channel.
  All this engineering results in a much stronger and more secure system.

The Graphic Buzzalizer

In their ancient, original, and varied forms almost all the kalimbas of Africa had some provision for rattles or buzzers. Some had seashells loosely attached to the wood body, some had tiny pieces of tin can wrapped around the keys inside the bridge area. When the keys are played these additions buzz sympathetically, adding a square wave sizzle to the sign wave of the key's tones. These Africans were creating distortion hundreds of years before electric amplification was invented!

    My innovation on this effect is to move the sizzle rings out of the bridge area onto the vibrating part of the keys themselves. Of course they would fly of the ends of the keys and get lost if I didn't also put on the clear plastic retaining rings. The beauty part of this system is that the sizzle can be turned on and off at will!

Double twanger

Organic tremolo
(This is one of my innovations I'm most proud of.)
The gamelon orchestras of Indonesia create some fantastic sounds and part of the reason is their use of paired gongs. They will purposely tune two gongs very close to each other but not quite in unison. When both are struck together their vibrations go in and out of phase with each other, causing the volume of the sound to pulse louder and softer. With careful tuning the speed of this throb can be controlled.

    One night I thought; "why not try this with kalimba keys". It worked great! When I used double keys tuned slightly apart in a pentatonic key all the elements came together beautifully to create an organic tremolo effect. The richness and fullness of this new sound make this the 12 string guitar of kalimbas.

    As a further refinement I now often add an upper layer of single keys so you can play rhythm and lead at the same time, on the same hand-held instrument.

RK224    $250 / SOLD

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