Mbira: Equatorial Guinea musical instrument

In Africa, the mbira is a musical instrument that is made up of a wooden board with attached staggered metal keys. The musical instrument is usually fitted into a resonator. In the eastern and southern part of the continent, the musical instrument are of many kinds, usually accompanied by the hosho, among the people of shone, there are three version of the instrument that are well-known. The mbira is often classified as part of the family of lamellaphone. It is also seen as a part of the idiophone family of musical instruments.

source: en.wikipedia.org

Both Dr. Joseph H Howard, the owner of the largest collection of drums and ancillary folk musical instruments in the Americas and the Nigeria n drummer known as Babatunde Olatunji argues that the musical instrument is totally African, being found only in areas that are populated by the Africans or their descendants.

The musical instrument became popular after the worldwide stage show and recordings of Thomas Mapfumo, whose music is based on the mbira; the work of the Dumisani Maraire, who brought marimba and the karimba music to the united states Pacific Northwest; the work of Ephat Mujuru, who was one of the pioneers teachers of the mbira instrument in the United States and the writings and recordings of Zimbabwean musicians produced by Paul Berliner.

In the shona music, the mbiradzavadzimu is a musical instrument that has been performed by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for over 1000 years. The mbiradzavadzimu is constantly performed at religious activities and social events that are called mabira. A typical version of the musical instrument is made up of between 22 and 28 keys  carved from hot forged or cold forged metal attached to a hardwood soundboard of the musical instrument in three various register; two on the left and one on the right side.

While playing the musical instrument, the little finger of the right hand is kept through a hole in the bottom right corner of the soundboard, stabilizing the musical instrument and leaving thumb together with the index finger of the right hand open to stroke the keys in the right register from the above and beneath. The fingers of the left hand are there to stabilize the left side of the musical instrument, with most fingers of the hand reaching behind the musical instrument. Both registers on the left side of the musical instrument are performed with the left thumb of the hand and sometimes the left forefinger of the hand.

Bottle caps, shells or objects are usually attached to the soundboard of the instrument to produce a buzzing tune when the musical instrument is being performed. In a traditional setting, the sound of the musical instrument is seen as extremely crucial, as it is believed that the sound attract the ancestral spirits.

The musical instrument is meaningful in Shona religion and culture, considered a sacred musical instrument by the natives. The instrument is often performed to enhance communication with ancestral spirits. The mbira is performed with paired players in which the kushaura, the caller, leads the played piece as the kutsinhira, the responder interlocks a part coming after within the Shona tradition. The ritual is called Bira. During the ritual, people call upon the spirits to answer questions. Mbira music, just like much of the sub-Saharan African music traditions is based on the cross rhythm.

The tunings of the musical instrument differ from family to family, referring to relative interval relationships and not to absolute pitches. The generally known tuning of the instrument is Nyamaropa, analogous to the western Mixolydian modes. Names of the musical instrument differ between various families also. For example, Garikayi Tirikoti has developed a mbira orchestra that has seven distinct tunings, each of the tunings starting on a different interval of the same seven-note scale, where it is possible to perform all musical instrument in a single show. The seven tunings of the Garikayi are; : Bangiza, Nyabango, Nhemamusasa, Chakwi, Taireva, Mahororo, and Mavembe

The most common tuning of the musical instrument are Nyamaropa, Dambatsoko, Dongoda, Katsanzaira, Mavembe, Nemakonde and Saungweme.   

Jeke Tapera introduced the mbiranyunganyunga in the 1960 from the Tete region of Mozambique to Kwanongoma College of African music in Bulawayo. Then, two keys were added to make fifteen, in two rows. The musical instrument is analogous to the mbiradzavadzimu in construction, but it does not have any hole in the soundboard. The key pitch instead of from left to the right radiates out from the center.

Zinmbabwe’s Dumisani Maraire fabricated mbiranyunganyunga number notation. The upper row keys are keys 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 while the bottom row keys are notated as 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15. Maraire brought awareness of this musical instrument to the United States when he came to the University of Washington as a visiting artist from 1968 to 1972.