Idiopan And Kalimba

The sounds and uses for kalimbas and Idiopans go hand-in-hand. They're great for melodic and rhythmic playing, and can both be used effectively for activities such as sound healing, meditation, or even just something fun and easy to jam on when you get a musical itch. With that being said, when these two are played together the results are beautiful pure tones; Which is why we have added a "Kalimbas" section to the website.

If you're unfamiliar to kalimbas, they are an idiophonic instrument that saw its first origins in Africa nearly 3,000 years ago, and they consist of a wooden box-like body with attached metal tines. They were largely introduced to the world outside of Africa in the 1950's when a man named Hugh Tracey started exporting them from South Africa. Since then, they have been infused in modern music and used by popular artists such as Genesis, Earth, Wind, and Fire, John Mayer, Danny Elfman, Vampire Weekend, and more. 

While there are many different ways kalimbas can be tuned, our Dobani model is pre-tuned to the C Major Scale, ranging from C4-E5. With this tuning it can be played with any Idiopan, and fits perfectly within the standard tuning of the Bella, Domina, and Dominus without having to re-tune. If you need to re-tune your kalimba for any reason and want to learn how, read about in the blog here.

Now that you have learned a bit about kalimbas, you can hear for yourself how they sound with an Idiopan! The video below is of our friend Max playing the kalimba and myself on the Domina.

I hope you enjoyed the video and found this blog informative! If you have any questions or comments, please send them my way on any of our various social media platforms, or email me directly at Logan@EnSoulMusic.com. 

Thank you and happy playing,

Logan