The mbira is a musical instrument of African origin. You might have made one when you were a kid, out of popsicle sticks. It's known by many other names, including the Likembe, the Kalimba, or (as you may know it) the Thumb Piano.
This is an mbira:
This is also an mbira (the mbira doesn't really take off 'til about 2:10. I know the sound quality on this video sucks, but it was the best I could find for this song, which is awesome):
These things sound beautiful. Why the heck do more people not play them? I have several theories:
- People dismiss it as either a child's toy or an ethnic novelty instrument, because…
- Most of the mbiras in existence suck. They have a tiny range and/or are poorly made and tuned. As far as I can tell, there is only one company that makes quality mbiras: Array Instruments (both of the above videos are Array Mbiras), and even then…
- To play an Array Mbira, you have to learn a totally new key arrangement (which actually kicks ass from a music theory and fingering standpoint, but you still have to learn the new setup).
1 comment:
dude i hope the mbira becomes more popular, because it is an awesome instrument. i saw this "stomp" film called pulse that i really loved--it was stuff from all over the world and one section had a bunch of people playing the mbira or something similar.
so come on hip indie artists out there, do something original--go to the mbira.
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