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Jan. 26th, 2021 11:50 amSo, I bought a kalimba - it arrived this weekend and I have spent a couple hours every night since playing with it. It is pretty much a perfect-for-me musical instrument to just futz around with and I'm really enjoying it.
Pros:
- For the socially anxious who don't want to be overheard while practicing, it is pretty hard to play a kalimba loud. The loudest sounds I can produce average around the quiet end of mf and if I'm not actively trying to play loud, the default sound is a solid mp. (I have a hollow-bodied wooden kalimba - I gather from what I've read online that solid-bodied instruments are even quieter.) Since I want to play basically just for my own pleasure, this is a definite plus.
- For the socially anxious who worry about bothering people by playing badly, you basically can't make an ugly sound on a kalimba. Even random plucking just sounds like a tinkly music box.
- While obviously you can't immediately play really well, it is entirely possible to pick out a song well enough for your own enjoyment right away.
- Obvs you can find really expensive high quality kalimbas out there but also you can get a pretty decent beginner one for around $30-$40.
- Also, while I did not do this, it is possible to buy one that is a) rainbow colored and b) shaped like a cat. I had already purchased mine before realizing this was an option, alas. Mine is still very pretty but it does not have cat ears.
Cons:
- Your standard 17-tine kalimba is tuned in the key of C and has no accidentals. This limits the repertoire you can play. You can retune if you want but I imagine it's a pain to do just for a single song. (Retuning involves hitting the tines with a hammer and I'm a little nervous about it as yet.)
( - I do now kinda want to someday get a chromatic kalimba that would have accidentals but I cannot in any way justify that as yet.)
- While there are a lot of free kalimba tabs available online, most of them tend to be written in a way that does not include any indication of note duration, which makes it difficult to learn songs you're not already familiar with.
I spent about 2 hours last night figuring out how to play We Learned the Sea by Dar Williams and it was pretty great.
Pros:
- For the socially anxious who don't want to be overheard while practicing, it is pretty hard to play a kalimba loud. The loudest sounds I can produce average around the quiet end of mf and if I'm not actively trying to play loud, the default sound is a solid mp. (I have a hollow-bodied wooden kalimba - I gather from what I've read online that solid-bodied instruments are even quieter.) Since I want to play basically just for my own pleasure, this is a definite plus.
- For the socially anxious who worry about bothering people by playing badly, you basically can't make an ugly sound on a kalimba. Even random plucking just sounds like a tinkly music box.
- While obviously you can't immediately play really well, it is entirely possible to pick out a song well enough for your own enjoyment right away.
- Obvs you can find really expensive high quality kalimbas out there but also you can get a pretty decent beginner one for around $30-$40.
- Also, while I did not do this, it is possible to buy one that is a) rainbow colored and b) shaped like a cat. I had already purchased mine before realizing this was an option, alas. Mine is still very pretty but it does not have cat ears.
Cons:
- Your standard 17-tine kalimba is tuned in the key of C and has no accidentals. This limits the repertoire you can play. You can retune if you want but I imagine it's a pain to do just for a single song. (Retuning involves hitting the tines with a hammer and I'm a little nervous about it as yet.)
( - I do now kinda want to someday get a chromatic kalimba that would have accidentals but I cannot in any way justify that as yet.)
- While there are a lot of free kalimba tabs available online, most of them tend to be written in a way that does not include any indication of note duration, which makes it difficult to learn songs you're not already familiar with.
I spent about 2 hours last night figuring out how to play We Learned the Sea by Dar Williams and it was pretty great.
