HOKEMA - Sansula Basic

Product Information

Nowadays, there are at least two other makers of instruments I would call sansulas: Meinl makes a 9-note sansula copy, and now the Hands On Drums people are making the kalimbula which is a sanctioned version of the sansula with genuine Hokema hardware. And truth be told, I have created 9-note sansulas on Catania and Goshen 8-note bodies. You can create your own sansula too. And, because they all can play the same sansula music, I would call them all sansulas. The best way to understand the magic of the Sansula, and to get a feel for what the different tunings sound like, is to watch some Sansula videos. instructional materials for: standard A minor, Beautiful E, Heavenly A, Morocco E, Bluesy E, C major, and C minor sansula tunings. Read more

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. On the other hand, if your Deluxe Sansula skin is too loose from too much moisture, try heating your oven to the lowest setting (mine is 170 degrees F), turning the oven off for 10 minutes, and then letting the Sansula sit in the warm (not hot!) oven for 10 minutes. Whatever you do, don’t bake it at 350 for 10 minutes, you will be sorry! 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. The Goshen 8-Note Box Kalimba has the same basic tuning, except every note is a whole step higher, putting it in D major. You can still use the same 8-Note books, but if you listen to the CD, you cannot play along as it is in a different key. Read more F Major 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.With only 9 notes, the Sansula seems underpowered. But the real strength of the Sansula lies in its simplicity and its beauty. It is very easy to make absolutely enchanting music with the Sansula, because of the high German engineering standards of the instrument and its materials, because of the simple and intuitive tuning, and because of the mind-blowing special effects. 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. The Sansula tuning is based on the Japanese Ake Bono scale, but it skips a note. Here we have reproduced the C minor Ake Bono scale, without skipping any notes. This is a great scale, and playing it can transport you to another continent. If you have a Deluxe Sansula in a dry climate that is acting up on its low notes, do try this technique.

By now you are getting the idea: small changes in the notes you have on your kalimba can make profound changes in the music that comes out of it. The important change in this Middle Eastern tuning is the G going to a G#. Tuning the low C down to a B, and the high C up to an E, are less important changes that serve to reinforce the E as the new root. This tuning will play very cool Middle Eastern sounding music. Student Karimba

Sonuscore Origins Vol.1: Steel Tongue & Sansula Overview

Most people don’t hear much difference between the Renaissance Sansula and the Deluxe Sansula. I find the Deluxe Sansula to have a darker sound that I like better. 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. 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. 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.