Kalimbas are plucking instruments which you simply play with your thumbs. Therefore they are also called thumb pianos.
The “Mbira” or “Sansa” which are the African instruments for what we now know as a Kalimba, originated from a simple halved calabash, a turtle shell or half a coconut as a resonance body. One could often find bicycle spokes, forks or spoons used as the tines. Sometimes crown caps are mounted on top of the tines to give it a more rattling sound.
A student of music discovered these instruments and decided to build them out of American Cherry Wood and metal, so he founded a business in 1985. Here they are now, our new shooting stars from Hokema, handmade in a small town in lower Saxony in Northern Germany.
You can immediately produce a wonderful sound without knowing any notes at all.
All Kalimbas come pre tuned – ready to play.
