Hey there music-producer friends...

Check out this sweet little 83-second video featuring the Kalimba Electro by Hokema. With its piezo pickup and a 6.35mm jack socket, the Kalimba Electro makes it possible to pick up sound directly from the instrument without an additional microphone: perfect for music producers, studio and live musicians for adding gorgeous pitched percussive notes into their musical grooves.  

This short vid features musician and performance-artist Connor Shafran with his live setup in Germany through which he pitch-shifts the kalimba sound in real time. He's followed by Oakland-based producer Sia Mozaffari a.k.a. Sia Seeds in his music studio showing how he uses a keyboard and drum pad to trigger the kalimba sound samples and loops. 

You can check out the B11 Kalimba Melody Electro in action here (with 11 tines tuned to G-Major). The Kalimba Electro also comes in more compact versions with 9 tines (in a-minor tuning) or 7 lower-octave tines (tuned in C-Major pentatonic scale). But remember! Just like all other Hokema Kalimbas they can be retuned to virtually any scale using the handy kalimba tuning tool.

Time to Plug-In!

The kalimba (also known as Sansa or Mbira) originally comes from the traditional African music of the sub-Saharan continent and is a form of the lamellophone. It was particularly widespread among the Chewa and Tumbuka of Malawi. Several lamellae are attached to a sound box and are plucked with the fingers or thumbs. The instrument's sound is warm, soft and gentle and has a relaxing effect on his listeners. It can be played alone, but also blends harmoniously with other instruments. 

But did you know that Hokema makes some kalimbas that are acoustic and some that have a built-In pickup so you can use a DI and plug them into an amp? Brilliant! These are so great for live shows as well as your livestream setup when you want to easily get the sound of your kalimba directly into your analogue to digital converter - perfect for Zooming, Streaming or IG-Living. Elektro Kalimbas are specially equipped with a piezo pickup and a 6.35mm jack socket, making it possible to pick up sound directly from the instrument without an additional microphone.