Twin sisters Hala and Nuha Alaw were our special guests for our "Monochord Monday Meetup" in May of 2025 who joined us live from Nashville. The sisters share their fascinating personal account of how they came to the US in...
Marina Perdos was our special guest in March 2025 as part of our "Monochord Monday Meetup" series who joined us live from Ohio. Marina spent decades in nursing and has worked in emergency rooms, in hospice as well as being...
On February 24th, 2025, we met up online with a very special guest who joined our Monochord Monday Meetup live from Lisbon, Portugal: Mallika Paritosh. Originally from Argentina, Mallika began as a classical pianist in the conservatory who later found her freedom of expression as a multi-instrumentalist traveling the world as a musical artist, researcher, teacher, and event producer. In this edited video, Mallika shares with us about her journey in music and inspires us to find "sound intimacy."
We hosted a very special Monochord Monday Meetup on April 29th with honored guests Christine Stevens and Aaron Gannon who gave the presentation: "Playing monochord for sound healing - new research findings" . This Webinar was offered in connection with the newly published research article...
We Play Well Together with Sansulas tuned to to work in harmony with all our feeltone Monochords, and they can be played together in surprising ways... Sound Artist and We Play Well Together's Creative and Community Director Joule L'Adara recently made a cool new...
This past summer, We Play Well Together's Creative Community Director Joule L'Adara traveled to Germany to work directly with our instrument builder the feeltone Company, helping to create a series of videos for our new Elemental Soundscapes instrument collections.
Read on to learn more about her adventure.
The video features instruments like the Monolina D Monochord and Tinka Tong Aqua from feeltone, various Kalimbas by Hokema Kalimbas, and Zenko Element Aqua by Metal Sounds, among others, including a Quartz Crystal Singing Bowl to illustrate the synergy between these instruments.
A second, sound-only video provides a 4-minute demonstration on layering these instruments for solo sound artistry, highlighting the Monolina D and suggesting vocal additions.
The final 8-minute video offers an in-depth look at the Elemental Soundscapes concept, detailing the collections' intended audience, usage, and tuning specifics, encouraging viewers to explore the Water Collection further.
The tones of this chime are beautiful. I have it hanging where I can walk by and play it often.
The items arrived in a timely fashion. Thanks for a smooth transaction!
the craftsmanship, (and craftswomanship) is incredible, and her sound. so resonant and otherworldly. I'm so happy with my new Monolina in G. I can't wait to play her for my community. Thank you Gabriele for your outstanding customer service.
This has such a lovely sound! I can’t wait to start learning how to play!
A few years ago I became casually interested in the Kalimba because of its simplicity of design and playability. Without experience or a good point of reference I needed to taste a lot of flavors to sort out the choices. For a while, my discards kept the local Goodwill store supplied with inventory.
The feeding frenzy stopped when I discovered Hokema. Build and material quality is professional grade. The tines are not stiff, so you can play at any intensity without stressing a thumb nails. Resonance from the solid wood base and the resulting sustain are simply stunning. Even the high notes sing, unlike the flat 'tapping an aluminum pan' sound from my discards.
I first purchased the B-17, and later the smaller B-17 Mini. Comments above apply to both. There is no problem holding, playing, or carrying around either instrument. The Mini's smaller footprint might be more comfortable for small hands. I just like the smaller package. Because the B-17's wood block is wider, it has more space between the tines. Both instruments appear to use the same tine assembly materials, but the Mini has a shorter cross bar. The Mini's tine spacing is grouped, but they can be adjusted to make the spacing more uniform like the B-17. In that mode, even with the smaller block the tine spacing is noticeably wider than some other Kalimbas I've tried. My thumbs are average width for a 5'8" person and my nails are normally rounded (not pointed), and I have no trouble playing individual notes.
Tablature is available around the net for 17-key Kalimbas (RiffSpot has a nice ebook), so you can play tunes without reading music on both the B-17 and B-17 Mini.
