The hammered Mbira is a tuned percussion instrument that I developed over the last 15 years. It is based on the idea of combining the African Mbira with a hammered dulcimer. As in the Mbira, the sound of the hammered Mbira comes from vibration of steel rods. The hammered Mbira rods are clamped in brass bridges that are bolted to a soundboard. The rods are tuned to a western scale and arranged in a note pattern identical to contemporary hammered dulcimers. The hammered Mbira is played, in the same way as a hammered dulcimer, by striking the rods with small hammers. Hammering patterns of these two instruments are identical so it is easy for a musician to shift between them. Of the two instruments, hammered Mbiras are typically smaller, more rugged and, since their rods vibrate according to their length rather than tension, their tuning is less sensitive to changing environments. They go through several tuning steps at the end of the building process and retuning is seldom necessary. Hammered Mbiras make ideal traveling instruments. They are easy to carry along and you can play them whenever you have a few minutes.

 

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