Some native African instruments allow solo harmonization, although harmony in African music serves only as an embellisment or variation to the given theme. The most sophisticated of these primitive instruments is the sanza, or mbira.
There are a variety of similar instruments in different regions of Africa. The appropriated names are: e.g. "kalimba" in Kenya, "ikembe" in Rhuanda, "likembe" in Congo and "mbira" in Zimbabwe.
The kalimba is made from a board box or calabash: wooden or metal keys are attached to the top. The kalimba is a lamellaphone of Eastern Central and South West Africa.
The mbira is a popular African instrument. Particularly in Zimbabwe, the mbira is used as a solo instrument as well as to accompany other musicians and dancers. Although it is also known as a "thumb piano," because one uses their thumbs to pluck the six metal strips which are keyed to particular notes, the mbira is actually in the percussion family.The mbira consists of a number of split cane metal tongues (10 or more) over a wooden resonator, the tongues are supported with a lateral bar. The other ends are free to be plucked with the thumbs.
The metal keys are plucked with the thumbs, or with thumbs and fingers. Often, the thumb-piano is made from old spoon handles, bicycle spokes or spring wire that is cut and hammered to the desired shape.
Traditionally used to accompany singing in Africa, the kalimba or sanza is relatively easy to play, and became popular in the West for instrumental music.
However, the sound of the kalimba is now found on most digital samplers. It isn't unusual at all that two ikembes play together: one covers the melodic accompaniment of the vocalist, while the other plays the bassline (or bourdon). The picture above represents a really modern sanza (found in Cameroun, Central Africa) with an integrated bassline (larger lamellas at the left side), and also a rhythm part: crown caps fixed on a vibrating sheet of metal! Observe the hole in the sanza-board to keep the sanza with your fingers and to shake heavily while dancing and shaking all parts of the body. The pitch of this sanza-board is sharper and very rhythmical, because the pitch don't resonate in a sound box. To amplify the sound, you can put an play the sanza ON a sound box. The grand piano is a extremely good sounding resonator.
While experimenting with the thumb-sounds, please pay attention to the shake and rhythm part of most
sanzas too. The two Rhuanda -sanzas below are the soundboxes filled with fruit buds or dry peas! Like a rhythm box.
Listening attentively is a great strain but it's very interesting to tune the sanza, or better to learn from the typical tribe-tuning. Don't switch the order or lenght of the metal tongues in your first manipulating.
Use a western melodical instrument to check out and to enjoy the pitches of the lamellaphone. If you don't like to lose the authentic feeling of african tuning, please don't tune the metal keys immediately to our diatonic or chromatic scale. To facilitate your microtonal proves, you can first draw the tongues of the sanza on paper. Then, discriminate the tuning of thumb-keys comparing with the chromatic scale: each key belongs to a normal detuned pitch - 4 micro-level: flat b - bb - sharp # - ##).
You'll discover that the left area isn't exactly the same image (in reverse) of the metal tongues on the right side.
While our western keyboard industry is obsessed by clean noiseless recording and clean samples without aliasing, the native musicians and dancers from Africa don't care about noise or tonality. On the contrary, they add some small metal covers of the sanza-keys, especially to augment the vibrating effect of the attack. Look at the picture on the right.
Please "clean" and refresh your western ears to enter the original sensibility for melody and rhythm in the African world.
Antique Percussion Instruments
Percussion Instruments of Asia
Percussion Instruments of Africa
Africa is the homeland of a peculiar plucked
lamellophone. Of the many names given to the instrument by the different African (and Afro-Cuban)
populations who use it, sanza and mbira are the most widespread. It is composed of a series of flexible tongues of uneven length, made of metal or
bamboo, fixed to a wooden plate or trapezoid sound-box. The musician holds the instrument in both hands and uses the thumbs to pluck the slightly
upturned free end of the lamellae. These vary in material, number and arrangement with the regional style of making and playing. In the Central
African Republic, the sanza is usually played as a solo instrument to relieve a traveller's solitary trek or the night caretaker's long watch. Among the
Gybaya people, the instrument accompanies a male repertoire of "songs for thought," or laments.
