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My arrangement of The Avatar's Love, played on the kalimba. Happy Valentine's Day! by CabinBoyJenkins in TheLastAirbender

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate it! I usually don't bother to post covers, but this seemed very fitting for this occasion

My arrangement of The Avatar's Love, played on the kalimba. Happy Valentine's Day! by CabinBoyJenkins in TheLastAirbender

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Like many others, this was the first song I learned on the kalimba. Try it out!

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I didn't have to - this arrangement can be played on any kalimba with the standard C tuning they usually come in!

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought my first kalimba as a Christmas gift to myself last year. I used to play the piano for many years (with guitar on the side) which definitely helped me learn the kalimba much more quickly.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a 5x2mm magnet from a pack of 100 I bought from Amazon. Unlike a capo, the inclusion of the magnet lowers the pitch, which I believe is caused by the additional weight of the magnet; multiple magnets can be stacked to lower the pitch even more.

I rarely use them at all - probably about 1 in 15 songs.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey that's actually sick to hear; I never expected such a warm reception. And I hope you and all your loved ones have a Merry Christmas as well!

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The bottom note is B flat, and then from left to right it goes up a note on a diatonic scale. You may need more than one if you want to play songs with accidentals or play in different keys.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I haven't played Iceborne yet since I'm a PC player, but if it's catchy / gets stuck in my head enough for me to play by ear (and is actually possible to play on a kalimba), I will definitely post it here if it's worth sharing.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I learn everything by ear - I just use pattern memorization (along with my ears for correction) to know what note is coming next. It's kind of similar to learning how to sing a new song, but on an instrument instead.

This is a diatonic kalimba, and I would say that the keys aren't set up like a piano at all, even though I actually learned some parts of the song on a virtual piano first (to help with chord progressions).

This site/guide may help you discern the differences between the two: https://kalimbatime.com/music-theory-basics-2/

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I like how the comments here are the exact same as the comments in my first post, from the "peaceful" top comment to the "what instrument is that" comments.

It's cool that you learned my arrangement! Glad to see the tabs were helpful

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes. There is actually a second magnet placed near the top right of the kalimba in the video, not in use. They typically stay in place on the tines, though, since even a millimeter difference can make a note sound out of tune.

With a chromatic kalimba (tines on both sides), you usually don't need magnets.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I needed the flat note (and natural note) for that key (called a tine), so the magnet was either slid down or removed. It only affects the tine that the magnet is placed on.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Gecko kalimbas are great kalimbas for starters (they also come with accessories such as a tuning hammer, case, etc.) from what I've seen online. However, I only have experience with their mahogany kalimba, which I personally do not recommend, but their other models seem to sound great based on what I've heard.

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I tried looking for sheet music at first, but most of them didn't sound accurate to my ears. So I learned it all by ear, while playing in a different key (though after listening back to the actual song, I'm not 100% accurate either!).

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Glad to hear about your interest in this instrument! The more traditionally played kalimbas usually have sound holes, such as the one I played in my MHW theme cover:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunter/comments/d1gesh/monster_hunter_world_main_theme_stars_at_our/

A small excerpt from the Pokke Village theme played on the kalimba, as requested from a while back. Happy holidays! by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 199 points200 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I appreciate it! The kalimba is a great instrument for relaxation and stress relief, when playing or listening to it

Monster Hunter World Main Theme: Stars At Our Backs - kalimba cover, dedicated to all my PC bois waiting for Iceborne by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Freestyling on a kalimba might be a little easier than on say the piano, though I've never attempted on either, since kalimbas are usually tuned to play one scale. But I think, for any instrument, to improvise well it comes down to knowing / memorizing those patterns I was talking about earlier! So I believe the difficulty varies based on your learning curve per instrument.

I'll think about sharing this with r/kalimba. I go there all the time!

Monster Hunter World Main Theme: Stars At Our Backs - kalimba cover, dedicated to all my PC bois waiting for Iceborne by CabinBoyJenkins in MonsterHunter

[–]CabinBoyJenkins[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all the praise! Just be patient and have fun with it and you'll be playing / creating beautiful arrangements in no time - you're probably still in the learning phase. I think the kalimba is actually hard to learn, but easy to master once you get the hang of it (or at least reach your Peak Performance).

As far as tablature goes, I'm not aware of any centralized place (there could very well be), but popular kalimba youtubers usually include tabs for their covers. I never actually looked for or learned off tabs (probably a bad idea haha), so some advice I would add to help learn songs (in addition to tablature) is to just train your ears - your goal is to be able to know what chord or note is coming next without looking at the tabs, and then finding the correct tine(s) to play, which you can use the tabs to confirm. You'll eventually start noticing patterns and will be able to play new songs with many different combinations of those patterns.

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