How does a mbira make its sound?

The mbira is held in both hands, with the thumbs creating the music by striking the tines. The action looks a lot like the hands-and-thumbs motion of texting on a cell phone. The mbira's unique tone is described as inharmonic—a dissonance that occurs when the motion of one tine creates a vibration in an adjacent tine.

1. How does an mbira work?
2. What part of the mbira vibrates?
3. What amplifies the sound on a mbira?
4. Which are the two main features of mbira music?
5. What is making the buzzing sounds on the mbira with a DEZE around it?
6. How many keys does mbira have?
7. What does the word kalimba mean?
8. What is the purpose of the mbira music?
9. What is the difference between a kalimba and a mbira?
10. What kind of tree is the mbira made from?
11. How does a Lamellophone make sound?
12. What does the word mbira mean?

How does an mbira work?

The mbira is one of several idiophones that are plucked rather than vibrated by percussion, shaken, or scraped. In performance, the player holds the instrument in his hands and plucks the tongues with his thumbs and forefingers.

What part of the mbira vibrates?

The acoustic spectrum of the mbira, a musical instrument from Africa that produces sound by the vibration of cantilevered metal rods, has been measured. It is found that the most prominent overtones present in the spectrum have frequencies that are approximately 5 and 14 times the lowest frequency.

What amplifies the sound on a mbira?

Played by Shona-speaking communities in Zimbabwe, the mbira is an instrument with 22 to 28 metal keys (lamellae) fixed to a wooden soundboard, which is then placed in a gourd resonator, used to amplify its resonance.

Which are the two main features of mbira music?

The physical features of the instrument include a wooden sound box, attached on the face are flexible metal or bamboo keys (also called tines or reeds) of varied lengths which give each specific pitch. Performers pluck or stroke the keys with the thumbs.

What is making the buzzing sounds on the mbira with a DEZE around it?

To better project its sound, the mbira is often placed inside a resonator made from a calabash gourd, called a deze; it is mounted inside the deze by wedging a small stick called a mutsigo between the deze and the mbira itself. ... Such shakers may also be mounted on the deze to further the buzzing effect.

How many keys does mbira have?

A typical mbira dzavadzimu consists of between 22 and 28 keys constructed from hot- or cold-forged metal affixed to a hardwood soundboard (gwariva) in three different registers—two on the left, one on the right.

What does the word kalimba mean?

: an African thumb piano derived from the zanza.

What is the purpose of the mbira music?

At the kurova guva ceremony, approximately one year after a person's physical death, mbira is used to welcome that individual's spirit back to the community. In previous centuries, court musicians played mbira for Shona kings and their diviners.

What is the difference between a kalimba and a mbira?

The kalimba is actually a smaller, modern version of the mbira, which dates back more than 1,000 years in Zimbabwe. ... The kalimba features the seven-note diatonic scale used in traditional Western music while the non-western scale of the mbira features the same notes but not in the same order.

What kind of tree is the mbira made from?

Mbira construction facts. Traditionally, the sound board of the mbira is made from the wood of the Mubvamaropa tree. This species is native to many Southern African countries so its known by many different names.

How does a Lamellophone make sound?

A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free.

What does the word mbira mean?

: an African musical instrument that consists of a wooden or gourd resonator and a varying number of tuned metal or wooden strips that vibrate when plucked.