Cikira's Mbiras
Musical inspiration from a fresh perspective
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What's an Array Mbira?
It's a lamellaphone from Array Instruments --a plucked-tine instrument based on a much smaller version from the Zimbabwean folk tradition. Using fine woods, interesting inlays, and spring-steel tines that seldom if ever need tuning, Array System inventor Bill Wesley and craftsman Patrick Hadley have re-interpreted the old mbira in a much grander form that features equal temperament. Their Array is a two-dimensional layout of pitches that's immediately friendly to play, with columns of stacked octaves and diagonal rows laid out in ascending fifths. The timbre of this modern-age mbira has been compared to steel drum combined with harp, and it has built-in pickups that allow stereo-effect amplification and recording.
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The playing surface of this remarkable
instrument drew me to it above all the other innovations I discovered while researching alternatives to the chromatic keyboard--ones both with and without MIDI. It continually inspires musical ideas as I hoped it would. The organic, world-music flavor complements the sounds of my electronic toys.
Here's the three octave baby 'bira that got me hooked. It's black lacquer over royal mahogany, with Hawaiian koa wood trim. It has 90 tines of rich, full sound, and it fits in a mixer bag.
Here's my four octave custom beauty of mahogany with lacquer and Chilean fire bush burl. This is the most versatile size to own if you have to pick just one. It adds a lower octave, giving this instrument 120 tines in all.
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And here's my mbira mirabilis! This one is a custom "high-five" with 150 tines, made of mahogany and paduk. It has a higher range than most five-octave mbiras, effectively expanding a three-octave in two directions. Through a nice preamp the ultra-high octave sounds like a big, mellow music box.
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Bill and Patrick make other exotic Array instruments such as the unique Nail Violin. Find out about them here!
Fellow Array enthusiasts, I'm always happy to hear from you! Join me in ArrayPlayers, the Yahoo discussion group for Array System instruments: