PHYSICS OF A KALIMBA

The kalimba is an African musical instrument consisting of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs.

The sounds produced on a kalimba are result of pressure applied to an individual tine that creates a longitudinal wave that will bounce off of the wooden sounding board.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT PITCH

• Density of the wood used
• Size and amount of sounding holes
• Sound board size
• Tension of the tines
• Length of the tines

Tuning a kalimba is quite simple. By adjusting the length or tension of a tine, the frequency of a note will change.

Calculations