Thumb organ, which originated in Africa 3,000 years ago, is a dial-type sounding instrument.The English name is Kalimba, Chinese translation Carimba, is generally played in religious ceremonies or social activities in Africa.It is heard that the music it plays can not only drive away the evil spirit of patients, but also play a pray for rain. Therefore, it is one of the most popular instruments in Zimbabwe. The original thumb organ The vocal part of the original thumb organ is the elastic metal bars of different length, the material is only metal melted out of the ore, using wood or gourd melon as the consensus box.The original thumb organ comes in many different shapes, and the number of steel bars is not certain.Zimbabwe, for example's thumb organ, is in a wooden circular speaker with 22 to 28 steel bars, arranged in two rows. Modern thumb organ With the development of skills, modern Thumb Piano has been gradually improved more and more superior. today's thumb piano is generally using black peach, mahogany, miss wood and other precious wood as the main material of the organ body.And the use of single board piano surface, make the sound quality more pure and plump, sound color conduction more agile, its special pronunciation hole makes the sound color uniform and high fidelity, the sound is clear and moving when playing.
How to play
As for beginners, the simple thumb piano is not only portable, but also very easy and convenient to study, just to play the corresponding score.Thumb organ as a fit with your soul, a music partner that can take with you, let you better start the music journey. Thumb piano is mainly used to accompany singing. When playing, hold the piano body in two hands, and then play with two thumbs. When the thumb is pressed and then let go, the steel sheet will vibrate and make a sound.Some thumb organs will be equipped with some shells or soda bottle caps and other goals, so that when playing can make some similar "hoarse" sound at the same time, but also can half shake on the table, will send out the echo of the same swing effect, perhaps like the sound of the bell drum metal sheet shaking, make the sound effect more rich. The thumb organ is small and easy to carry, and in the evening, people form a circle for a singing or storytelling score, and some natives take it for fun along the way on long walks.The characteristic of the thumb piano is easy to take, ethereal sound, similar to the sound of the eight-tone box, but more transparent.Beginners can paste the corresponding scales on the thumb piano shrapnel to facilitate the familiarity with the position of the thumb piano. Thumb organ maintenance 1. The climate is too boring or humid is not conducive to the placement of the thumb piano. It is appropriate to store the thumb piano into the piano box or velvet cloth bag after playing; do not be exposed in the air conditioning or heating room, and maintain the ambient humidity between 30-60; 2. Do not put the thumb organ after use. The maintenance of wood products should generally avoid sun exposure; 3. As for the cleaning of the thumb organ, because the organ body and keys are wood and metal respectively, do not scrub with wet cloth to avoid wood deformation of the consensus box, metal shrapnel rust and noise. After each use, scrub and clean with dry cleaning cloth; 4. Moisture affects the consensus of wood and keys, and excessive drying can make the wood crack.Doring areas (north) can be ready for humidification
