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![Sansula On Stage with Jazz! Featuring violinist Gwen Laster and the Travelguides jazz ensemble](http://weplaywelltogether.com/cdn/shop/articles/GwenPic_1200x693_crop_center.jpg?v=1711852111)
Sansula On Stage with Jazz! Featuring violinist Gwen Laster and the Travelguides jazz ensemble
Gwen Laster and her Jazz Ensemble captivate by adding Sansula to their musical interludes
World Renowned Jazz and experimental violinist Gwen Laster incorporates the Sansula into her live onstage performances. Originally trained as a classical violinist, Gwen is an adventurous composer, arranger and orchestrator with a deep appreciation for America's musical history, and a scholar of African- American musical heritage.
In this highlight video, Gwen plays free-form improvised musical interludes on the Sansula by Hokema together with her fellow instrumentalists to create a sense of space and expanded time between her more thorough-composed compositions.
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2101/9005/files/Sansula-Deluxe_middle_480x480.jpg?v=1711851748)
In this video Gwen Laster appeared on stage at the KuBe Arts Center in her hometown of Beacon - located in the Hudson Valley New York State (located about 90 minutes north of New York City) as part of the Beacon Bonfire Arts Festival in November 2023. Gwen performed alongside her husband Damon Banks on Bass, Mani Kosh on keys, and Harvy Wirht on drums - making up the band TRAVELGUIDES.
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2101/9005/files/Travelguides_5fe5e335-a488-4df3-b936-ef4d6b5fcd34_1024x1024.jpg?v=1711852200)
Gwen Laster's music and playing is poignant, descriptive and always relevant. Perhaps that's why she has recorded and performed with the world's most influential artists. The list reads like a “who's who” of modern masters: Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Alicia Keys, Rhianna, Shaggy, Aretha Franklin, Solange, Mark Anthony, J Lo, Shakira, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Anthony Braxton, Nona Hendryx, Wadada Leo Smith, William Parker, Danny Elfman, Sun Ra Arkestra, Tyler, the Creator, Emeline Michel and Andrew Baba Lamb.
Learn more about Gwen Laster and follow her on Instagram: @lastergwen
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2101/9005/files/Gwen_1024x1024.jpg?v=1711851582)
Gwen is playing the Sansula Deluxe in its default A-minor tuning. The 9-note Sansula comes in 3 varieties: Basic (with a paper drum head) Renaissance (with a synthetic drum head created by Remo) and Deluxe (a goat-skin head which makes every instrument unique in appearance.) We offer them in 4 tunings to match our Elemental Soundscapes Sets: A-minor (Air), D-minor (Water), G-Major (Fire) C-Major (Earth) and F-Major (matches our F-monochords.) There is also a 11-note Sansula Renaissance Melody which offers a G-Major diatonic scale. All our Sansulas can be custom-tuned to other unique scales however using the Hokema Kalimba Tuning Tool.
Shop the different Sansulas and Accessories: Bags, Book and Tuning Tool.
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Joule is an excellent teacher! Her lessons flow from topic to exercises with so much ease and class time is so enjoyable. Joule makes sure everyone's questions are answered before going to the next lesson. Before this training, I had no idea of all the many different ways to play the monochord. After this course, I now have so much more knowledge and I'm able to tap into my creativity with a deeper love and appreciation with this beautiful instrument.
I love the "water" collection and this chime is one of my favourite instruments (so far!). The D minor tuning is said to be the "saddest" key, but I find it soothing, ethereal, and utterly charming. The gentle tones of this chime bring gentle, meditative tones. Do yourself a favour if you can and get the matching Koshi chime. They sound absolutely amazing together!
Thank you for sending me the Hokema Sansula Deluxe. I am enjoying the unique sound as I relate it to similarly designed instruments in parts of Africa. It creates a beautiful sound world with which you can improvise and expand infinitely. I will be using the small ones for my gatherings. It's a beautiful instrument and as I explore and improvise with it, I'm sure I will find something new that I will want to share with you. - Kevin Nathaniel
Wonderful, perfect to play on top and bring my sansula basic everywhere!
It’s my first Kalimba and I absolutely love how it sounds, such a magical instrument
Never got the delivery
Hi Dimitri ,
It looks like the tracking information indicates your package was delivered to your mailbox. Could you check to see if perhaps a neighbor might have picked it up by mistake?
If you still can't locate it, no worries at all—just let us know, and please provide a secure shipping address where we can resend your item.
Looking forward to resolving this for you!
Warm regards,
Gabriele
This is a very beautiful chime that I can play with my Aqua Zenko Element (432Hz), Aqua Tinka Tong (432Hz), & my Aqua Hokema B5 Kalimba (432Hz) with a little help from my friends. Of course, I can mix & match the chimes with other elemental instruments & be amazed by the way that the sounds blend perfectly.
This is my favorite chime that I play before bed for a more restful sleep. I have noticed a little hum with beautiful overtones & undertones when moved around in a circular motion that I particularly enjoy. I can play this with my beloved Terra Tinka Tong or my beautiful Hokema B5 Terra Kalimba.
This is a lovely chime that I play with either my Hokema Terra B5 Kalimba or my Ignis Tinka Tong. The great thing about these chimes is that they sound great mixing & matching them with other instruments from WPWT.
I play these chimes for self care before bed for a more restful sleep.
This Kalimba is pleasing to the eye because of the cut & quality of the cherry wood. The size is perfect for small hands such as mine. I particularly love the Terra Tuning & fell instantly in love with this Kalimba that reminds me of a music box when played.
I also received the Aqua B5 Hokema Kalimba which is equally as beautiful as the Terra.
The Aqua Kalimba completes my Aqua Elemental Soundscape bundle. I cannot say how much I have loved jamming with my set.
This B5 Kalimba may be small, but its sound output is excellent & the tone is perfect. The B5 Kalimba can also be paired with the matching Koshi Chime & easily played. I think that I prefer the size of the B5 Kalimba & would highly recommend it for sound & ease of play.
Thanks & best wishes to the WPWT team.
All that I can say is that I love my Koshi Chimes. Each Elemental Chime is unique & complete in its own light tinkling playful sound & becomes even more beautiful in the complexity of two chimes paired together. I particularly enjoy the calming quality of Aqua & Aria. I also like the joyfulness & energy of Ignis & Terra as they are played together. I bought the Koshi Chimes because they were highly recommended for their durability & because they never go out of tune. I also like the earthiness of the color of bamboo. One day I might like to pair Koshi Chimes with a pop of color from matching Zaphir Chimes.
Now let me throw in the beauty of the B5 Hokema Kalimbas - Terra & Aqua as they are paired with their companion Koshi Chimes. I have small hands & can easily hold & play the B5 Kalimba as I am holding the chime of the same tone in the other hand. This is indeed as lovely as the Elemental Soundscape video.
I like to play the Koshi Chimes before I go to bed as it helps to empty my mind, offer relaxation & sounder sleep.
My thanks again to the WPWT team for providing yet another pleasant experience as I keep adding to my ever growing collection of musical instruments.
The packages arrived in a timely manner and packaged with care. The instrument had the richest tone and a divine frequency, I look forward to using this for sound journeys.
I was pleased with customer service & by the work ethic that this company has. This is my first kalimba that I have ever owned. It is easy to make pretty little melodies & pairs well with the chime of the same key, but admittedly the kalimba sounds louder & sweeter when held & played so it works better when these instruments are played by 2 people. Overall I was pleased with my purchase.
Customer service was yet again excellent. My question was answered promptly by email. Items were mailed promptly & in excellent condition upon arrival. I purchased my Aria Chime & was thrilled by its beauty & by how easy it was to learn to play. All I need to do is slightly move my arm to emit the best sound. Please do not sling your chimes from side to side as it will sound chaotic. There are instructional videos on Youtube that will teach you how to play your chimes correctly. I did purchase a companion Hokema Kalimba in the same key to play with the Koshi chime. The chimes & kalimba do sound beautiful when played together by 2 people. I personally feel that it would be better for me to play 2 Koshi chimes together as it is easier as my coordination is just so so so. I will be adding more Koshi chimes to my growing collection of musical instruments from WPWT. As always I am pleased with my purchase.
This case makes carrying my monalina so easy and I feel confident that she won’t get damaged.
Easy to set up and very sturdy
The wait is over!!! I am now the proud owner of the Aqua (Blue), Aria (Gold), Terra (Green), & Ignis (Red) Tinka Tongs. I purchased the Aqua first just to test the water, & immediately fell in love with the instrument. I purchased the other 3 Tinka Tongs just as soon as they became available. It adds so much more to the experience to play multiple instruments at once. I line the Tinka Tongs vertically & mainly play 2 at a time. It is fun just to hit random notes & to be amazed at the unique sounds to be made. Every note played is indeed beautiful & harmonious.
The majors & minors do pair well together. The Aqua (D Minor) & the Terra (C Major) pair well together.
The Ignis (G Major) & Aria (A Minor) pair well together.
You are not limited to playing minors & majors together. Both the Terra (C Major) & Ignis (G Major) sound well together- so light & happy.
The instruments are well made & sound amazing.
This is a great company to do business with. Emails are promptly responded to. Orders are mailed via UPS within days. The instruments are exceptionally well packaged & arrive in perfect condition.
I look forward to adding the chimes to my collection in the future- Terra & the Ignis in a few months.
Thanks to the hard working team at WPWT.
LOVE this instrument. A calming, soothing sound, played like the wind in a random way, allowing time for pause. This helps clients and participants in a sound bath feel the magic energy of sound.
As a music therapist, and doing sound healing work, I am loving this instrument. It sounds great alone as a way to begin and end a session as it allows people to really drop in. I use it with my Native American flutes as well. Affordable, durable, easy to play, great sounding, relaxing, helps you breathe more deeply.
I first learned of this instrument through Kalani Das of World Drum Club during his Tuesday night video on Youtube & his special guest, Joule L'Adara of We Play Well Together as they were demonstrating the Water Elemental instruments in D Minor & making all of the instruments sound so beautiful. I have purchased a Diatonic C Major tongue drum that Mr. Das recommended in the past that I have been well pleased with so I was confident in the workmanship. I purchased both the Tinka Tong, my preferred instrument, & the Baby Turtle at the same time. The little Zenko tongue drum sounds exactly as it does in the videos on Youtube. The notes are crystal clear & bell like without the annoying reverb. I much prefer the sound of 432 hz as the sound is pleasing filling me with intense pleasure. The carrying case is well made. I really like this instrument paired with the Tinka Tong as it is like PB&J. My Mother ,who is a stroke victim, was able to place the Baby Turtle in her lap while reclining & play beautifully with me for nearly an hour the 1st time that we played together. Now I must give a shout out to Gabriele who promptly responded to my emails, texts, & phone call. Gabriele was courteous & extremely helpful. My shipment went out quickly & arrived via UPS earlier than expected in a well packaged box. I look forward to a long relationship with this company. The employees really worked hard to meet my needs & I am thankful.
I first learned about this instrument through Kali Das of World Drum Club on his Tuesday night video on Youtube and his special guest, Joule L'Adara, of We Play Well Together as they were demonstrating the instruments of the Soundscapes Water Collection in D Minor. I have previously purchased a Diatonic C Major tongue drum that Mr. Das recommended. This drum was very much enjoyed so I was confident that this Tinka Tong was of excellent workmanship & it is. The videos on Youtube of Feeltone & We Play Together demonstrating these instruments are well worth watching as well as the instruments sound exactly as they do at my home. I purchased both, the Zenko Elemental Aqua (Baby Turtle) & The Tinka Tong in D Minor. Both sound great together; however, I prefer the Tinka Tong as it was love at first sight. The Tinka Tong is visually appealing & unique in sound. I like the new design & size of the instrument. While I have no formal music training, I was able to play well immediately. While there are only 6 tongues, there are a never ending amount of melodies & rhythms to be played. Best of all, there are no wrong notes. Warning: the use of this drum is highly addictive as a feeling of pleasure & calm will wash over you. I played with my Mother who is a stroke victim with Aphasia; however, she was able to follow my rhythm at times as she played the Zenko Element. Her musical ability was excellent as she plays the piano. We enjoyed playing for nearly an hour. Music is so beneficial as it yields a total brain workout. I also have to give a shout out to Gabriele (whom I have contacted via email, text, & phone) for her prompt response to my inquiries & for all of the assistance provided. I ordered my items after business hours on a Friday night. Instruments were mailed out the following Monday & arrived earlier than expected via UPS.
This chime (Ignis/red/g-major) makes absolutely captivating sounds, I really love it. I initially made the investment for a meditation workshop I was leading with college students— many of them said that the 7 or so minutes I spent moving around the room with the chime was the very best ("most magical") part of a very enjoyable weekend. I am excited to fine more ways to share it with others! My cats like it too :)
I love the We Play Well Together business model and ethos, and look forward to bringing them more business.
I am a musician. When I was 14 years old I started playing classical guitar. I’m 66 now. I have had a lifelong love of stringed instruments.
About three months ago my wife and I attended a sound bath. As we lay there meditating all the sounds of the evening washed over us and everything was peaceful and then I heard this richness of sound that sounded like a thousand strings moving and pulsing and I sat straight up and looked for the source. The woman who was holding the sound bath was playing a Monolina. I was enthralled by the sound. After the sound bath I went up and I snuck a look at the name and I saw that it said Feeltone
And now its now.
Although the Monolina is be good for sound healing and meditation it is also an instrument with 34 strings! With the use of bridges and alternate tunings I am able to group the strings in note ranges to further utilize its richness of sound. With 34 strings and 10 bridges the possibilities are endless.
As a musician i have seen many hand made instruments. I am very impressed by the ‘luthier’ skills of the people at Feeltone. The instrument is tight. No buzzes. And it looks beautiful. I am looking forward to many years of sound experimentation!
I would also like to the Gabrielle of WePlayWellTogether. She was very helpful. She answered all my many questions promptly and with a positive spirit.
Cool instrument. Nice lady!
David
I love my sansulas very much. This instrument has allowed me to explore music. The Deluxe has such great sound! This is a great company to work with!