HOKEMA - Sansula Basic

Product Information

Most 8-Note Kalimbas have a standard tuning of the C major scale (the Goshen Box 8-Note Kalimba has the same basic note layout but is tuned to D major instead). The books assume you have this tuning. While this tuning is totally logical, there are actually a lot of other tunings that you can do wonderful things with. D Major Pure magic, the New Age Sansula is a delight to play. Perhaps the most beautiful sounding kalimba, and with nine notes it is not so complex…the challenge here is to get sonic diversity through alternative tunings, and we have lots of great tunings for the Sansula. But in the demonstration video below, I bypass the tightening and untightening and just show how to apply moisture to the goatskin. The reason for this: I have noticed that if I loosen the tension more than the “factory setting,” I can make the instrument sound much worse. So frankly, I would not even mess with the hex wrench or the tension. I do like the sound, feel, and appearance of the Sansula Deluxe over the Sansula Renaissance – but the goatskin head may not be preferred by vegetarians. The goat skin of the deluxe also responds to changes in humidity. If you have a Deluxe Sansula in a dry climate that is acting up on its low notes, do try this technique.

If you live – at the other extreme on the spectrum of humidity – by the sea, or in the southeast US, or along the Mississippi, your Sansula (or you) will not have this problem with dry skin. Rather, the Sansula might have an issue with rusting tines.

Sonuscore Origins Vol.1: Steel Tongue & Sansula Overview

And the Deluxe Sansula, with a goatskin membrane, can (in a very dry climate) get dried out to the point that the low note sounds as both A and A sharp, beating together in a markedly unpleasant manner.

The Sansula’s standard tuning is an A minor chord. This tuning is a double-edge sword – you will not be able to play any songs you might think of playing on it, but on the other hand, EVERYTHING you play will have a unique mystical and haunting beauty, whether you know anything about music or not. To complement the very high quality of the Sansula instruments, I felt the need to create very fine instructional materials, and these books are among the best that Kalimba Magic has to offer – beautiful books with beautiful music, music that befits the Sansulas. Playing the Sansula Book The main reason the 8-Note Kalimba is great to learn on is that it shares all of the layout features with the bigger Alto and Treble Kalimbas, but it only has a few notes – just enough for you to get the principles without being overwhelmed. Everything you learn here can be fully transferred to the bigger Alto or Treble kalimbas. With fewer tines, this kalimba tilts the odds in favor of success. It is sized for young hands, but I actually have a few in my arsenal of instruments. I also have 25 of these set aside for working with children and adults when I give a large kalimba presentation. So, while they are basic instruments that are easy to learn on, they are still good instruments and anyone can play one. If you compare this tuning chart to the C major tuning, you will notice that the letters are all the same, except that B has turned into Bb (B flat) – that is, you pull it out slightly to make it a bit longer and lower. This action will change it from being the7th of the scale and make it be the 4th… counting down, F is now the root, and the low note (and the top note) on this kalimba, C, is now the 5th.

But if your home is located in a region of the world with a dry climate, and your Deluxe Sansula develops the nasty beating of the A and the A# (A# is the same as Bb), there is a simple solution: add moisture to the goatskin membrane. Kalimba Magic started making the first alternative sansula tunings many years ago, and we are the only people to have made instructional materials for the sansula and its alternative tunings. This series of tips is an overview of Kalimba Magic’s sansula tunings and related instructional materials.

If you do live in a very humid environment, I recommend dipping a Q-tip in mineral oil and lightly coating your instrument’s tines. After letting it sit for an hour, wipe off the oil. I cannot say that this will entirely prevent the tines from rusting, but I would bet that you will get more rust-free years than if you don’t do it. instructional materials for: standard A minor, Beautiful E, Heavenly A, Morocco E, Bluesy E, C major, and C minor sansula tunings. Read more This is a truly delicate sounding instrument. Imagine going into a secret room that nobody but you knows about, a place where your soul can be renewed as you surround your mind and heart with mystical beauty. That’s what playing this instrument feels like! The Sansula is one of the coolest kalimbas in the world, and costs a lot of money too – but the good news is that you can put the Sansula tuning on your inexpensive 8-Note Kalimba. This tuning is an A minor derived from the Ake Bono scale. When you play the Sansula, you don’t really need to worry about which notes you are playing – you just twiddle your thumbs and out comes enchanting, mystical music. The flip side of this: if you try to make your Sansula play a song you know such as “Home on the Range” or “Happy Birthday,” you will likely have difficulties. Get the Heart-17 for those songs… the Sansula plays its own music… organic, intuitive, ambient and spontaneous.

Musical Instruments

The Sansula is one of the most beautiful sounding kalimbas on the planet. It represents a confluence of superfine German engineered kalimba tines and metal pieces, a wonderful tuning and note layout that make it very easy to play, and the rich deep “wah wah” sound that is easily made with its frame drum. As such, the Sansula has very broad appeal – musical novices and inexperienced kalimba players can have great fun with the Sansula, but it can also hold the interest of experienced players, especially when one considers the alternative tunings, which are not quite as easy to make wonderful music on, but are significantly more capable. In addition, there are great books available for standard Sansula tuning as well as two alternative tunings – books that are worthy of these amazing instruments. So – it is a great tool for someone who wants to make mind-blowingly beautiful music with the very cool wah-wah effect, but doesn’t want to put in the effort to learn complex music. The Hitzazkiar tuning is a Persian scale similar to the Middle Eastern tuning. Look at the right side – C E G B – these are the same notes as the standard tuning, but the notes on the left side are all one half-step above the notes on the right side. Questions? A series of 15 tips covering the whys and whats and hows of sansula retunings. We look at the music, emotions, and

The Moon-10 Kalimba is a new 10-note instrument inspired by the Sansula. When you get it in Am Ake Bono tuning, it is a great companion to the Sansula. The Sansula can be played in the energy field of clients for 1-2-1 Sound Healing and in Group Sound Baths & it is also great for self-care! What we thought of as the standard sansula tuning is just one of many tunings. There are literally millions of possible tunings on a 9-note sansula, and who knows how many of those would sound fantastic? The important thing is that each tuning sounds different and plays different music. So this broadens the definition of what a sansula is even further. The Standard Sansula (which Kalimba Magic no longer carries) sounds good but has the considerable flaw that, when the instrument is dropped from a height of 1 meter or more, its paper-thin membrane will break.Fitted with a robust and durable Remo (USA) synthetic drum skin, which makes it moisture resistant and therefore holds rich tones even in damp conditions The Renaissance Sansula has the basic Sansula kalimba mounted on a frame drum with a Remo synthetic drum skin. I don’t recommend that you actually slap the skin of the drum – it is not made for this, and its sole purpose is the augment the Sansula’s resonance. This Remo membrane is much more resilient than the original paper skin (which we do not carry because it breaks too easily), but you still need to be careful with it.