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Home » DIY Projects

29 DIY Kalimba Projects You Can Make Easily

Published: Dec 21, 2023 by Tijasar · This blog generates income via ads

When you hear Kalimba, you might think of an African musical instrument. It is a simple xylophone that is played by touching the tines with the fingers. The kalimba is also known as mbira, one of Africa's most popular instruments. Tones are produced by plucking the metal keys attached to a wooden soundboard.

There is a tradition in Africa that young people learn how to play instruments during their adolescence. Have you ever thought of making your own kalimba? Well, you can! It’s not as hard as you think. In fact, this guide has many DIY Kalimba Projects that can help you make your own kalimba. And guess what? You don’t even have to spend much money on this musical instrument.

DIY Kalimba Projects

DIY Kalimba Projects 1 Save

This guide will share 29 DIY Kalimba Projects that can help you make your own kalimba at home. Most DIY kalimbas in this article use the same basic construction but have different playing methods. This is why, when you get more familiar with the kalimba, you can choose to make one that suits your needs and interests. These DIY projects will inspire you to start experimenting with your homemade kalimbas! Let's get started.

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DIY Krazy Kalimba

DIY Krazy Kalimba Save

Have you been wanting to try your hand at building something with wood? Or do you already have a basic knowledge and now you want to take it to the next level? Krazy Kalimba is the perfect project for you. It’s a great first project for beginners, and even for more skilled ones, it can still be a fun challenge. The Krazy Kalimba is made from wood, which makes it easy and affordable to build. It’s also very portable, making it the perfect instrument to take on the go. It has a simple construction that makes it easy enough for children and adults alike to build. This article will provide instructions to make your very own Krazy kalimba, including an overview of the design, materials list, and step-by-step instructions for construction.

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Kalimba With Love

Kalimba With Love Save

Have you ever wanted to give a guy the perfect gift that says I love you so much? Look no further because this DIY project can show someone how much you care about them. This is an easy homemade gift; all you need are a few supplies and some time to make it. This makes the perfect gift for Valentine's Day or any day of the year because everyone loves getting presents!

This DIY gift is one that you can make yourself and put together when it's all done. You can personalize it by adding a picture or quote of your own choice. You can customize it to say whatever you want or add a special memory of yours and your loved ones. It doesn't take long to make but will surely be cherished forever.

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How To Make A Kalimba Thumb Piano

How To Make A Kalimba Thumb Piano Save

One of the most popular ways to make a kalimba thumb piano is to do it with a wooden board and thin plywood. These materials are easy to get, and cheap, and you can use them for any type of kalimba. The first thing you’ll need to do is cut the wooden board into strips about ½” wide and ¼” thick. Then, you’ll need to drill holes into the metal rod stock after you have turned it into a flat strip. After you’ve drilled the holes in the rod stock, you’ll need to put an end cap on one end of the strip and insert it into one of the holes in your wooden board.

A spring steel strip will be attached between each hole in the rod stock and another hole in the wooden board. This will create a movable bridge that will vibrate when it is hit by the little hammers at the end of each string. The last thing that you’ll have to do is attach a handle on top of your Kalimba thumb piano so that it can easily be played. By following these steps, you can make your own kalimba thumb piano quickly and easily!

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The Minty Kalimba

The Minty Kalimba Save

This kalimba is great for anyone who’s looking to make their own instrument. It’s a little more advanced, but it’s still quite simple and cheap. And, it’s super portable! The Altoids tin is already hollow, so you only have to drill some holes and add the keys. If you follow the tutorial, you’ll have a kalimba that’s sure to thrill your ears. It’s fun and easy, but it sounds great as well! This is another example of how creativity and resourcefulness are key to playing music.

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DIY Recycled Kalimba

DIY Recycled Kalimba Save

If you’ve ever found yourself bored and in need of some entertainment, look no further than this Kalimba tutorial. Making your own kalimba is a great way to get music on the cheap. All you need are some basic supplies and fewer than 30 minutes of spare time. This DIY recycled kalimba guide will show you how to make one from scratch with a cigar box, a few pieces of wood, and some skewers. The result is a small, portable instrument that can be used for creative experimentation.

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How To Make A Thumb Piano

Have you ever heard of the thumb piano? It is a traditional African instrument that can be used for entertainment and for people who want to relax. The sound it produces is soothing and melodious. By making your own thumb piano, you can enjoy playing this instrument anytime you want. Even if you are just a beginner, this project is still doable for you. All you need to do is follow the steps in this guide and you will have a thumb piano in no time.

The best part about building your own thumb piano is that you can adjust the design to fit your needs or preferences. Depending on what works best for you, you can make it bigger or smaller. You can also modify the color of your thumb piano to match the theme of your room or garden. This project will be fun and rewarding, especially if you always look for unique things to do with your hands. So set aside some time and start following the steps provided in this guide today!

DIY Coconut Kalimba

This simple DIY project can make a great addition to your outside area. It’s easy to make (with the right tools) and it’s a lot of fun. This is one of the few kalimba-type instruments that you can take with you when you go camping or out in the garden.

The coconut shell kalimba is very light and it has a nice, mellow tone. You can make it as large as you want or as small as you want. It doesn’t have a lot of volume, but it really sounds good sitting on your patio or by your pool. If you need a lot of volume, you can play it with a drumstick or two sticks. The materials used for this project are very inexpensive, so if something goes wrong, you won’t be out much money! Once you’ve built your first one, you’ll get the hang of how to do it and will be able to build up from there and create larger and more complex kalimbas.

Homemade Kalimba

This is a sizable homemade kalimba for professional kalimba players. An experienced woodworker made this kalimba. The manufacturing process and materials used are quite complex unless you skip some designs and go straight to the body and keys built. A homemade kalimba is much more versatile than a manufactured one. It can be tuned to desired key signatures, makes different tones, and, most importantly, you can play a melody in any key you want if it has at least two rows of tines.

DIY Electric Kalimba

In this project, we will show you how to make a homemade electric kalimba. The only required tools are wood and some simple tools, making the job much easier. There are a few parts of the electric kalimba that play a part in playing the instrument. These include the base, two strings, the resonator, and finally, the neck. You will find that assembling these pieces is not difficult to do at all. When you are ready to make your electric kalimba, get started with this tutorial right away!

Popsicle Stick Kalimba

DIY Popsicle Stick Kalimba Save

This is a kalimba that you can build with just three simple materials: some popsicles, sticks, lots of screws, and a wooden board. The setup process is quick and easy to follow. This is the cheapest and one of the coolest kalimbas on this DIY guide. The kalimba is a percussion instrument that has been around for years. It's an open-ended, monochord-type instrument played by holding it in your lap with your hands and plucking the tines or strings with your fingers. This particular model uses popsicle sticks as the tines and screws as the strings. You can play this kalimba in the same way you would play a xylophone or marimba. Just pluck away to create your own rhythm!

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 Trash Kalimba

DIY Trash Kalimba Save

If you are a music enthusiast and a fan of the kalimba, this tutorial will be a great help. The creator of this guide was inspired by the need to create something that is not just beautiful but something that can also leave a great impact. He used trash and waste materials that should have been ignored or thrown away. This is the reason why he called it "trash kalimba." The guide shows step-by-step instructions on how to make one so you can have your own creation. It is highly recommended for those who love music and want to get creative with their hands.

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How To Make A Simple Kalimba

Kalimba is an African musical instrument that's easy to make and it's fun to play. You can use it as a rhythm instrument or even play melodies on it.

This instrument uses metal tines, which are pieces of thin metal that resonate when you tap them with a wooden stick. The length of the tine determines the note's pitch, and its width determines the volume. In this project, we'll use aluminum extrusion for the tines, but you could also use dowel rods or any other material. It’s made out of wood since that material is cheap and easy to work with. But if you don't have wood available, you can also make it out of cardboard or any other material you have lying around. It’s also very small, so it doesn’t require much material at all.

DIY Kalimba

If you want to make a kalimba, let this guide you. This DIY guide will show you how to make a kalimba using epoxy resin and using wood. The former is more durable than the latter, but it requires some advanced tools and equipment. We recommend that you try the wooden one first, and then later, if you want to build a more durable version, attempt this epoxy resin kalimba build. This is a great place to start if you like making musical instruments.

Electric Cigar Box Kalimba

Electric Cigar Box Kalimba Save

Electric cigar box Kalimba- A cigar box, piezo pickup, and a metal clothes hanger. That’s all you need to make this crazy little instrument with a very big sound. A cigar box is a perfect size for fitting inside the frame of a hanger, and piezo pickups are easy to install once you’ve mounted your hanger under the strings of your box. This project doesn’t require any wiring, soldering, or other electronics experience. All you need is a few basic tools and the ability to follow along with simple instructions. You'll be playing your own homemade kalimba in just a few easy steps!

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Pocket Kalimba With Bobby Pins

DIY Pocket Kalimba With Bobby Pins Save

This is the smallest kalimba on this guide so far. This is by far more portable than any other portable kalimba on this guide. Bobby pins are pretty versatile. They can hold your hair back, secure your clothing, and even keep your sunglasses in place. But you can also make a great Kalimba out of bobby pins! This kalimba is tuned a little bit differently than the others on this list, and it has a different feel to it as well. This is because the frame of this kalimba uses jumbo bobby pins instead of the standard bobby pins that other kalimbas use. The sound of this kalimba is unique but also really cool.

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DIY 34 Key Double Layer Kalimba

This 34 key double-layer kalimba is a neat musical instrument art piece. If you love kalimbas, you should make this one. The first thing you’ll notice is the unique design. But there are many other things to like about this kalimba. Let’s start with the high notes. They have a nice, bright sound that’s great for melody playing. The lower keys have a warm, earthy sound that’s great for bass and rhythm playing.

This double-layer kalimba has a unique shape too. It has an asymmetrical body design, making it look like an animal or insect—a flying beetle or grasshopper perhaps. The material used in this model is wood. You can use some lighter wood for the top part and some slightly heavier wood for the bottom part if you want to achieve a different tone quality in your instrument. Or, you could use plywood for the entire body if you want to reduce costs and create a durable instrument that will last a lifetime if treated properly.

How To Make An Electric Kalimba

Have you ever tried out an electric Kalimba before? Here’s your chance. Once you’re done with this article, you’ll have a fully operational electric Kalimba. It will be able to produce sound just like the acoustic version. The only difference is that this one will be electric. The process is pretty simple, and it’s actually a lot of fun. This project isn’t all that complicated, so anyone with some basic electronics knowledge can make one.

DIY Kalimba

A kalimba is an African musical instrument that you play with your thumbs. It is played on the lap and is often used for accompaniment or rhythm. Playing it requires keeping your hands perfectly still and making sure that you hit the keys equally and together.

The traditional kalimba is a wooden board with one or more "tines" sticking out of it, which are then plucked with the thumbs. This makes a wonderful sound and allows you to play various notes, depending on where you place your fingers and how you pluck. This simple kalimba takes all of the same principles but uses cardboard instead of wood, making it much easier to build and much lighter to carry around. It has only three tines but still makes a beautiful sound. The tines are made from hairpins; they are cheap, easy to find, durable, and make a great sound when plucked by your thumbs!

Chromatic Kalimba

If you’re looking for a kalimba that is not the normal three-key model, this project is for you. The maker here has created a kalimba with 17 keys. This makes it possible to play music in all keys, provided the notes are within the range of the kalimba.

This kalimba, unlike a normal one, has two or three additional strings placed outside the box. These strings are used to play notes above or below the range of the normal keys. The maker has included diagrams to show how and where to place these additional strings on this project. The making of this chromatic kalimba is not very difficult, as long as you follow the maker’s steps carefully and have all the materials required before starting out. With some woodworking skills, you should be able to complete this instrument within an hour or so.

DIY Magnetic Kalimba

DIY Magnetic Kalimba Save

Are you thinking about making a DIY Kalimba Musical Instrument? Then, you’re in the right place. This guide will show you how to make your own kalimba with a magnetic pickup. You’ll love it because this instrument has many things to admire. The magnetic kalimba is an instrument that works on a wooden soundbox, with two bridges and a magnet in between them. It has the capability to produce different tones depending on the position of each bridge. You can use it to play music or just for fun. You can also make your own using simple wood, magnets, and string-tuning tiles. Follow the steps below to learn how to make one yourself.

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How To Make A Thumb Piano

How To Make A Thumb Piano Save

It is an instrument made up of keys played with the thumbs. It is easy to make and can also be used for other things like a toolbox. The size of this thumb piano is small, and it is made of thin wood and metal materials. The wood used in this project is Basswood so it can be sanded easily. The metal parts used in this project are brass and used as the bar that holds the keys and the groove that guides the keys. This groove keeps the keys from sliding around while they are being played.

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DIY Kalimba

DIY Kalimba Save

The product you’re about to see here is a fantastic idea for a kalimba. It doesn’t require any special skills, just some time and patience. The end result will be a very beautiful, unique, and functional instrument, the perfect gift for someone else or even yourself. So let’s start this project and make a kalimba from an empty 5L beer drum. All you need to follow through with step-by-step instructions on how to make this beautiful instrument. This guide will show how simple it is to make your own kalimba at home using inexpensive materials.

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Homemade Kalimba

This is a simple DIY kalimba that you can build in a couple of hours. It might shock you that this particular kalimba instrument was made by a 14-year-old, which shows how easy it is to snake by anyone else. The materials are cheap and easy to come by. The keys are made from the blades of a recycled band saw, while the base and body are made from solid oak wood. Oh yeah - it's also tuned to the pentatonic scale of G major, making it easier to play than most other homemade kalimbas in cyberspace.

DIY Popsicle Stick Kalimba

A kalimba is an African instrument that's very easy to play with just your hands. However, the DIY Popsicle Stick Kalimba is not as easy to play since it takes a pair of sticks to make the music. But it's still very easy to build, and you won't have to spend a lot of money on this DIY project. All you need are flat popsicle sticks, a hot glue gun, a cutter, and you're all set. The creator started by arranging the popsicles to make the base for the Kalimba keys, then used the knife to trim the other sticks into smaller bits for the keys and glue them all together with a hot glue gun. This kalimba is small, made of wood, cheap, and easy to build.

How I Made Kalimba

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Have you ever wanted to make your own kalimba? If so, this is a great homemade kalimba-making guide. The DIY kalimba is made with just four materials, which are cheap and easy to find at most hardware stores. The construction of the Kalimba is pretty simple. First, you mount the screws through the board into the comb, then you stretch the rubber band over the end of the dowel and glue it in place. Finally, you put some sandpaper on the bottom of the kalimba and attach it to a piece of wood for support.

instructables

Making Musical Devices

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Are you a musician, or do you just love music? Then these DIY musical instruments are great for you! These projects are easy to make and fun to play with. With these DIY instruments, you'll definitely be the coolest person at your next party or gig. You can make all of these with stuff around your house or get the stuff from a hardware store. Either way, they're all super fun to play with.

steamcurriculum

How To Make A Kalimba With Coconut

Traditional kalimbas are made of wood and have lamellae, or tines, which produce sound when plucked. But you can also make a kalimba using the shell of a coconut. This is an excellent first project for someone who is just learning about musical instruments. First, choose a coconut with a big hole in the end. You need this hole to be big enough for your fingers to fit inside. The larger the hole, the easier it will be to play. Next, you need to cut the coconut's top off to create your kalimba's frame. Use a saw or serrated knife to do this. If you don't know how to use either of these tools, consider asking someone who does know how to help you out.

How To Make A Kalimba With Wooded Springs

Making a kalimba with wooden springs can be your next weekend project. You don’t need to be a professional woodworker to do this. It’s easy, fun, and relaxing. Wooden springs are very useful for other projects as well so if you like the materials of this kalimba, you can use them in another hobby project, such as making mini figurines or wooden furniture. The total time to complete this kalimba is about four hours if you have all the necessary tools and materials ready at hand. If this is your first time making a musical instrument, it will take you more time than that because you need to familiarize yourself with the process of making it. So feel free to take everything at your own pace and relax.

Homemade Kalimba

Homemade Kalimba Save

A kalimba is a single- or two-octave musical instrument that's played with your hands. It consists of a wooden soundbox, that has metal tines and bars suspended over it. The tines and bars are arranged so that when you play the instrument, you cause the metal to vibrate and sing. This simple homemade kalimba requires no tools except a saw and a drill. You only need to see the resonator and fit the pieces together. We recommend using a fine-tooth blade. You can also use sandpaper to smooth out the edges and drill holes for the tines, but that's optional.

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