Kalimba

The kalimba is a member of the plucked idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 122.1). Listen to 4 recordings and learn how it makes its sound.

Listen to the kalimba

Kalimba de coco (notas sueltas) 04

0:38CC BY-SA 4.0by Luis AlvazWikimedia Commons

0:38

Kalimba de coco (notas sueltas) 02

0:36CC BY-SA 4.0by Luis AlvazWikimedia Commons

0:36

Kalimba de coco (notas sueltas) 03

0:17CC BY-SA 4.0by Luis AlvazWikimedia Commons

0:17

Kalimba de coco (notas sueltas) 01

0:15CC BY-SA 4.0by Luis AlvazWikimedia Commons

0:15

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

How the kalimba makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the kalimba belongs to the plucked idiophones (lamellophones): flexible tongues or lamellae are plucked – the mbira, kalimba, music box and jaw harp.

More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.

Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.

From Wikipedia

Mbira, also known as kalimba and zanza (or variant spellings), are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe.

The instruments 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 and/or fingers. Musicologists classify it as a lamellaphone, part of the plucked idiophone family of musical instruments.