The Sounding Board is a part of the Kalimba that gives a tone to the instrument. A hard wood will give you a long, resounding note, while a warmer tone comes from a more tender wood. The thickness of the board is also an important factor. Thin wood produces a lot of attack but less resonance, whereas a thicker piece creates longer notes.
All kinds of woods are used to make the board, depending on the kind of instrument being made and the sound we intended to achieve.
We often shape and sculpt the piece for both sound and design. Frequently, we use recuperated wood, in accordance with the recycling philosophy that Leman Creation is founded on.
The Blades or Tines are the notes of the Thumb Piano. The source of the sound produced by the instrument when strummed. At the beginning we used all kinds of things raging from bicycle spokes to windscreen wipers but today we use only the best High Carbon Spring Steel for sustained performance.
The dimensions of these notes a very important factor as both thickness and width change the whole sound and feel to an instrument. One type instrument requires a very different kind of note than another and one player may prefer stronger or finer notes on the same instrument. We use a wide variety of different dimensions of steel on our Kalimbas to bring out the maximum potential of each model but also to satisfy personal needs and requests of our customers.
The Leman Creation blades are unique because they are handmade individually for each instrument through a long process of hammering, filing down, more hammering and some more filing and finally polishing. To achieve this one needs a very hard anvil, some good hammers, buckets of elbow grease, ear protection and really cool neighbours.
It is very important that the notes are well finished since any Kalimba player knows how playing a thumb piano with rough notes will give one sore thumbs in no time. Our notes are not rough stripes of metal. No! They are polished to a perfect aesthetic feel and to facilitate a smooth effortless play. We at Leman Creation call them Angel's tears.
Our instruments are finished in a manner to enhance simplicity of our designs and low tech natural beauty of the instrument. Our satin varnishes are applied in three thin layers with a cotton cloth so that the sound of the instrument is in no way effected by thick layers of varnish.
Leman Creation instruments remain primitive yet are polished: the highest quality that low tech has to offer.
The tuning of the Kalimba is the last of the many stages in this Labour of love that is a creation of a living musical instrument. Good tuning is of utmost importance and this takes a lot of listening, multiple adjustments and care. All our instruments are perfectly tuned and we will always do our utmost (in the realm of the possible) to for fill our customers request in terms of tuning. Once again customized Kalimbas are the two key words here at Leman Creation.
There infinite scales in which a thumb piano can be tuned.
Leman Creation first aim is to plant a seed in the heart of our inner child. The thumb piano is the most unimposing of the musical instruments the gentle sound of which touches the pureness of our souls the instant we come into its intimate orbit.
