Mbira consists of a row of metal strips, used as key, attached to an open-ended wooden gourd or hollow resonator . ... The keys are made from a variety of different metals such as spring wire, and for more contemporary home-made versions, spoon handles, bicycle spokes and other recycled metal objects.
What does mbira sound like?
The mbira is held in both hands, with the thumbs creating the music by striking the tines. The action looks a lot like the hands-and-thumbs motion of texting on a cell phone. The mbira's unique tone is described as inharmonic —a dissonance that occurs when the motion of one tine creates a vibration in an adjacent tine.
What does the mbira Look Like?
The mbira consists of a series of tuned metal or bamboo tongues (lamellae) attached at one end to a soundboard that often has a calabash or box resonator. ... For a rattling tone colour, the tongues are often fitted with buzzing metal cuffs, or metal bottle caps may be affixed to the soundboard or resonator.
Where is mbira found?
The mbira is found throughout the African continent , but it's associated most closely with the Shona people of Zimbabwe. The Shona have played the mbira for more than a thousand years.
What kind of instrument is the mbira?
The Mbira or African thumb piano (other identifying names include: kalimba – contemporary term; the most popular term is either sansa, or mbira) is a percussive instrument originating from Africa. The instrument, also used in Cuban music, is generally held with both hands and played with the thumbs.
What is the most distinct feature of mbira?
The mbira is one of several idiophones that are plucked rather than vibrated by percussion, shaken, or scraped. In performance, the player holds the instrument in his hands and plucks the tongues with his thumbs and forefingers . ... Many of these Latin American instruments are known by some variant of the term marimba.
Who uses the mbira?
Mbira (the name of both the instrument and the music) is mystical music which has been played for over a thousand years by certain tribes of the Shona people , a group which forms the vast majority of the population of Zimbabwe, and extends into Mozambique.
How do I use mbira?
They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs (at minimum), the right forefinger (most mbira), and sometimes the left forefinger.
Why is it called the Jew's harp?
Both theories—that the name is a corruption of “jaws” or “jeu”—are described by the OED as “lacking any supporting evidence.” The OED says that, “More or less satisfactory reasons may be conjectured: e.g. that the instrument was actually made, sold, or imported to England by Jews , or purported to be so; or that it was ...
What is body percussion called?
Traditionally the four main body percussion sounds (in order from lowest pitch to highest in pitch) are: stomp (stamping) , patsch (patting the thighs with hands), clapping, clicking.
How many types of mbira are there?
About twelve major types of mbira are played at the present day by the peoples of the central and lower Zambezi valley and en- virons.
What world culture uses microtones?
Shrutis (microtones) is a widely used term in the context of Indian Classical Music . Some say there are 22 Shrutis while some say they are infinite.
Is a xylophone A Idiophone?
Idiophones are instruments that create sound through vibrating themselves . ... Stuck idiophones produce sound when they are struck either directly or indirectly (ie. xylophones and gendérs). Plucked idiophones produce sound when part of the instrument (not a string) is plucked.
What is one similarity between a mbila and a mbira?
is that mbira is (musical instruments|in southern africa) any of several musical instruments, similar to a marimba , having a small sound box fitted with a row of tuned tabs that are plucked with the thumbs while mbila is (musical instruments) in southern africa, an instrument similar to the xylophone, played by ...
What family is the kalimba in?
The thumb piano, also known as a kalimba or mbira (or many other names), is an instrument originating in Africa. It is a member of the idiophone family , meaning that it is an instrument whose sound is produced primarily by the instrument vibrating without the use of strings or membranes.
What is the difference between a kalimba and a mbira?
The kalimba is actually a smaller, modern version of the mbira, which dates back more than 1,000 years in Zimbabwe. ... The kalimba features the seven-note diatonic scale used in traditional Western music while the non-western scale of the mbira features the same notes but not in the same order.
