While the blog portion of the site appears to have slipped into a state of hibernation, the same is not true of my personal research on music in the non-digital world. I have undertaken several projects that I am quite excited to document and share.
Most recently I have undertaken the task of building a new musical instrument. Not new in the sense that it had never been invented, but rather new to me and in its abilities to produce sound.
Continuing on my interest with quarter tones which have been documented on this site before, I decided that I wanted to build a physical instrument that could play back these seemingly mysterious 'notes between notes.' While I have converted a guitar to be able to play quarter tones by adding frets between each of the existing ones, it just didn't have the desired effect. Some of the noted only played with a buzz and the overall instrument didn't feel very sturdy as the frets liked to shift around do to their attachment method.
I am planning to devote a separate space on the site to both of these instruments which will take a look at how they were constructed as well as the different tunings and layouts possible on each. However, as a brief overview to the kalimba I would like to share some images of it being constructed as well as the tuning method that I have developed to work with the unique properties of the instrument.
Construction
The kalimba has that need to be assembled and I chose a different type of wood or metal based on various articles and bits of information that I found on the web and in my correspondence with other kalimba makers.
The kalimba has that need to be assembled and I chose a different type of wood or metal based on various articles and bits of information that I found on the web and in my correspondence with other kalimba makers.
For the soundboard and sides of the kalimba I chose to use birch plywood due to its hardness to help with sustain and resonation. Additionally the plywood helps save on the cost of the building materials as compared to using whole hardwoods. I am quite happy with the sound of the birch, it has a nice warm tone to it and complements the timbre of the tines well. I may try building a smaller kalimba in the future using a solid piece of hardwood, but for this build I am satisfied with the material choice.
The z-bracket of the instrument is made of red oak due to its superior hardness and its ability to be cut cleanly as most of the instrument was made with simple hand tools. I have read that other alternatives to wood for the bracket are steel bars and pipes. The red oak holds its shape nicely and doesn't deform when clamping down on the tines.
The saddle and backstop are both made from brass pipe. I chose this metal as it seemed to be widely recommended and I think that it will pair nicely with the final dark finish that I plan on putting on the instrument.
For hardware I have used mostly brass to keep with a consistent color palette. However, currently the threading rods and wingnuts for the clamping mechanism of the bracket are made of stainless steel. I will replace these with brass once I find a suitable replacement. I have kept these as the resilience of steel and the fine threads allow for effective clamping.
Possibly the most difficult to component to find concise information about was the tines. These seem to be a mystery as far as kalimba making goes. Makers are happy to share that they use various metal materials that are stiff but also allow for musical notes to be produced, but the choice of material seems to vary based on availability of materials of tools. I ended up using spring steel, which was a widely mentioned material for the tines. I salvaged my metals from an item called fishing tape. This is a metal reel often used in electrical work. I found tapes that came in both .25 and .125 widths and they are a good thickness as well for my uses.
Layout and Tuning
An interesting property of the kalimba is its resonation through the z-bracket and saddle. This effect can cause a tine when plucked to make the surround tines ring sympathetically based on their proximity in both frequency and distance to the original tine.
This is avoided or mitigated on most kalimbas in the tuning system that is used. Most kalimbas are not tuned with all chromatic notes present. In fact, it seems quite rare to find a chromatic kalimba that is made by a company rather than an individual, with the exception of the Hugh Tracey maker. Normally the lowest note of the kalimba is placed in the center of the instruments and the notes alternate on the left and right side of this tine up the selected scale. This keeps notes that are near each other with respect to pitch separated while at the same time allowing for a unique playing style on the instrument.
There are makers that have experimented with chromatic kalimbas and ones with a more linear layout more similar to a piano. These instruments often involve different bridge and bracket systems. I only learned that this was needed after finishing the bulk of my instrument's creation.
I initially tuned my instrument in a linear manner starting with C and ascending in quarter tones. Even in the initial stages of tuning I heard a problem arise. The struck tine caused the others around it to vibrate and produce their own tones as well. With a chromatic kalimba this means that when C# was struck both C and D rung out as well, creating two minor seconds in addition to the primary note. The issue was compounded with the introduction of quarter tones. When C# was struck C, Ct, Dd, and D all rung out as well. This created quite a muddy result indeed! I needed to return to the drawing board.
I eventually decided to tune the kalimba with neutral thirds between each tine. (C - Ed - G - Bd . . .) This ended up working quite well - for reasons that I will detail in an additional page or post - and has become my main tuning for the instrument.
While the different layout was initially a bit confusing, it sure has grown on me. It has even prompted me to find new melodies and voicings that a traditional linear layout would have obscured. I continue to finalize the instrument and look forward to its completion. I intend to add some audio recordings to its respective page as well as detailed construction info and music mappings at a future date.
The kalimba has proven to be a wonderful instrument and one that is definitely adaptable to quarter tone playing. Perhaps it will makes its way into one of my future pieces!
The z-bracket of the instrument is made of red oak due to its superior hardness and its ability to be cut cleanly as most of the instrument was made with simple hand tools. I have read that other alternatives to wood for the bracket are steel bars and pipes. The red oak holds its shape nicely and doesn't deform when clamping down on the tines.
The saddle and backstop are both made from brass pipe. I chose this metal as it seemed to be widely recommended and I think that it will pair nicely with the final dark finish that I plan on putting on the instrument.
For hardware I have used mostly brass to keep with a consistent color palette. However, currently the threading rods and wingnuts for the clamping mechanism of the bracket are made of stainless steel. I will replace these with brass once I find a suitable replacement. I have kept these as the resilience of steel and the fine threads allow for effective clamping.
Possibly the most difficult to component to find concise information about was the tines. These seem to be a mystery as far as kalimba making goes. Makers are happy to share that they use various metal materials that are stiff but also allow for musical notes to be produced, but the choice of material seems to vary based on availability of materials of tools. I ended up using spring steel, which was a widely mentioned material for the tines. I salvaged my metals from an item called fishing tape. This is a metal reel often used in electrical work. I found tapes that came in both .25 and .125 widths and they are a good thickness as well for my uses.
Layout and Tuning
An interesting property of the kalimba is its resonation through the z-bracket and saddle. This effect can cause a tine when plucked to make the surround tines ring sympathetically based on their proximity in both frequency and distance to the original tine.
This is avoided or mitigated on most kalimbas in the tuning system that is used. Most kalimbas are not tuned with all chromatic notes present. In fact, it seems quite rare to find a chromatic kalimba that is made by a company rather than an individual, with the exception of the Hugh Tracey maker. Normally the lowest note of the kalimba is placed in the center of the instruments and the notes alternate on the left and right side of this tine up the selected scale. This keeps notes that are near each other with respect to pitch separated while at the same time allowing for a unique playing style on the instrument.
There are makers that have experimented with chromatic kalimbas and ones with a more linear layout more similar to a piano. These instruments often involve different bridge and bracket systems. I only learned that this was needed after finishing the bulk of my instrument's creation.
I initially tuned my instrument in a linear manner starting with C and ascending in quarter tones. Even in the initial stages of tuning I heard a problem arise. The struck tine caused the others around it to vibrate and produce their own tones as well. With a chromatic kalimba this means that when C# was struck both C and D rung out as well, creating two minor seconds in addition to the primary note. The issue was compounded with the introduction of quarter tones. When C# was struck C, Ct, Dd, and D all rung out as well. This created quite a muddy result indeed! I needed to return to the drawing board.
I eventually decided to tune the kalimba with neutral thirds between each tine. (C - Ed - G - Bd . . .) This ended up working quite well - for reasons that I will detail in an additional page or post - and has become my main tuning for the instrument.
While the different layout was initially a bit confusing, it sure has grown on me. It has even prompted me to find new melodies and voicings that a traditional linear layout would have obscured. I continue to finalize the instrument and look forward to its completion. I intend to add some audio recordings to its respective page as well as detailed construction info and music mappings at a future date.
The kalimba has proven to be a wonderful instrument and one that is definitely adaptable to quarter tone playing. Perhaps it will makes its way into one of my future pieces!