There are good varieties of qualified mbiras purchased firsthand in Zimbabwe
as fair trade products. A mbira score by famous mbira virtuoso Luken Pasipamire
to learn the traditional music is our original product.
Please feel free to ask any questions by e-mail. It would be our pleasure
to answer all your question and invite you to the beautiful soundscape
of mbira .
All the payment would be made through PAYPAL safely without any commission
by credit card or from your bank account. First, choose the destination
from the drop-down menu in which posting fee is already included. Then,
click the "Add to cart" button and make your payment according
to the guidance. If your destination is not in the menu, please send us
a mail for details.
SHIPMENT
Mbira is delivered by postal EMS(express mailservice) as earliest after
the confirmation of the receipt of the payment. By using EMS, you could
receive the item speedy and check the delivery status through website,and
the item is handled with the highest priority of any international mail.
In the drop-down menu, you choose the destination of the order and the
price includes the shipping fee on top of the price of mbira.
As for mbira score book, the shipment would be made by Air mail(printed
matter). If you wish for EMS, please send us a mail prior to your order
and the posting fee would be informed to you.
EMS Rate schedule( in Japanese yen)
Zone
First Zone
Second zone
Third zone
weight
Asia
North &Central America・Middle East・Oceania
Europe
South America・Africa
Mbira
up to 1.0kg
1,800
2,400
2,800
3,800
Jona small
up to 1.25kg
2,100
2,800
3,250
4,600
Admire
Garikayi standard
Samson Bvure
Jona midium
up to 1.5kg
2,400
3,200
3,700
5,400
Low mahororo
Jona large
Please note the above currency culculator does not show the actual exchange
rate set by PAYPAL. It is only for your reference.
Mbira score
”Traditional mbira scores of Luken Pasipamire”
16 mbira songs with lyrics from mbira vertuoso, Luken Pasipamire transcribed
and recorded on three companion CDs. Although the text is in Japanese,
you could easily understand the score as lyrics are written in Shona and
English and mbira tablatures are in Roman numerals.
Click to see details
Price: JPY 4800 Shipping cost by postal: JPY 500
MBIRA
What is the mbira?
The mbira is a kind of thumb piano played by Shona people in Zimbabwe.
Among the thumb pianos in Africa, the mbira is charactarized by its highly
sophisticated structure of the instrument developed over hundreds of years
to play their polyrythmic spiritual music at their sacred ceremony.
Another feature of the mbira is that mbira is set into a hollow gourd
In order to amplify the sound while many of thumb pianos have a box for
the purpose.
Musical structure of the mbira
The mbira scale is diatonic of seven
notes and the mbira has a range of three octaves. It is similar to western scales without half tones. mbira craftsman makes his own tunings and scales in Zimbabwe using their ears unlike the unified western musical instruments. A mbira could be played beautifully by a person but mainly played by more than two in their traditional play style at their spiritual ceremony. In this context, it takes two mbiras in same tuning and scale at least.
Although the diversity of the tunings is one of the important features
of the mbira, we think it is more important to be able to play together
with anyone who have a mbira. As it's been found through my visits
to Zimbabwe that many craftsmen share a similar tunings and scales,
our shop set a standard of the traditional tunings and call it "STANDARD
TUNING" .At our shop, two kinds of mbiras are sold which
are standard tuning and western tuning other than Low mahororo mbira by Mr. Garikayi Tirikoti which is another form of standard
tuning.
STANDARD TUNING(Nyamaropa tuning) : The lowest key is B flat(almost) and it is similar to E flat major scale.
If you wish, you could re-tune it to exact E flat major scale . You
would enjoy the original African sound created by its unique scale. Among
the several popular tunings in tradtional mbiras, some people call this
tuning "Nyamaropa" named by a Zimbabwean traditional song.
WESTERN TUNING: The lowest key is G and it is exact C major scale tuned by a digital tuner.
You would enjoy the familiar sound and easily play with other
instruments like guitar. Alignment of the keys are as same as the traditional
tuning mbira and you can also play the Zimbabwean traditional songs.
VARIETIES IN SIZES AND TUNINGS AND THEIR
PRICES
1) Traditional tuning mbira by Mr. Garikayi Tirikoti
Real hand made and rich overtones. Most recommended by our shop!
Mr. Tirikoti is an international famous artisan and also a genius
player who have visited US and Europe several times for his teachings and
performances. His mbira has beautiful over tones which would
surely fascinate you. Each of his mbira has its own character as it is
handmade and even wooden sound board is shaped by Zimbabwean small
axe. As you play it for years, you would love it more and be satisfied
of being the owner.
■Average size Length 20cm Width 17.5cm good for normal sized hands
■Tuning: Standard(Nyamaropa) Mr. Tirikoti call this tuning Nhemamusasa
■Scale: E flat major (approximately) Lowest key B flat (approximately)
Click the below arrow for sound sample
■price 26000 Japanese yen(tax included)
2) Standard tuning mbira by Mr. Samson Bvure
Beautifully buit just like machine made!
Mr. Bvure is an international famous artisan. He has an excellent manual
skill and his mbira looks like a factory made as it is good in shape. The
sound board is shaped by a machine. His hammering method is unique as the
keys look like Japanese swords. Soft iron is used for the keys and it is
the best mbira for beginners, females and soft fingers.
■Two sizes are avaliable: Choose the one and give us instruction in your
mail.
Middle size Average Length 22cm Width 17.5cm good for normal sized hands
Small size Average Length 21cm Width 16cm good for small hands
■Tuning: Standard(Nyamaropa)
■Scale: E flat major (approximately) Lowest key B flat (approximately)
Click the below arrow for sound sample
■price 25800 Japanese yen (tax included)which is equivalent to US$326 approximately
3) Standard tuning mbira by Mr. Admire
Chinakwe
Built in traditional way and reasonable price!
Mr. Chinakwe started his career as marimba maker but now he has shifted
to mbira making. He makes good mbira though he has not been recognized
internationally yet. The sound board is nice and thick for resonance, and
the keys are tightened by wire as same as the exact way the mbira has
been built from the the Middle Ages. He works carefully and finishes beautifully.
Good for beginners and saving person.
■Average size Length 22cm Width 18cm good for normal sized hands
■Tuning: Standard(Nyamaropa)
■Scale: E flat major (approximately) Lowest key B flat (approximately)
Click the below arrow for sound sample
■price 23000 Japanese yen (tax included)which is equivalent to US$290 approximately
4) C major western scale mbira by Mr. Jona Wazara
You can play both the tradtional and western songs!
Mr. Jona is born in a rural area called Mhondoro where mbira has been played for centuries. In order to adapt to current music scene, he tunes his mbiras in western scale.
The keys are hammered hundreds of times to become very thin and wide
of which sound is rich in overtone, and its soft keys are easy to play.
Good to play the western music with other instrument though mbira does not have half tones as well as Zimbabwean traditional songs. It is an octave lower than Jona's middle size mbira and they could be played together nicely.
■Average size Length 21.5cm Width 18.5cm good for normal sized hands
■Tuning: western
■Scale: C major ,Lowest key G
Click the below arrow for sound sample
■price 25000 Japanese yen (tax included)which is equivalent to US$316 approximately
5) C major western tuning small mbira by Mr. Jona Wazara
Put in your bag and bring it to everywhere you go!
Mr. Jona is born in a rural area called Mhondoro, Zimbabwe where mbira
has been played for centuries. In order to adapt to current music scene,
he tunes his mbiras in western scale though the alignment of the keys are
as same as tradtional tunings.
Good to play the western music though mbira does not have half tones and
Zimbabwean traditional songs as well.
As the size is very tiny and easily fit into your bag, you would feel like
bringing it anywhere you go. Though the size is good for kids, the keys
are a bit hard and for them. It is an octave higher than Jona's middle
size mbira, they could be played together nicely.
■Average size Length 17.5cm ｘ Width 16cm. Good for small to midium sized
hands
■Tuning: western
■Scale: C major , Lowest key G an octave higher than middle size mbira）
Click the below arrow for sound sample
■price 22000 Japanese yen (tax included)
6) Traditional tuning bass mbira(LOW MAHORORO) by Mr. Garikayi Tirikoti
How low can you go? Deep and heavy bass sound kicks you!
Low mahororo is a bass mbira for the standard tuning mbira of Mr. Garikayi
Tirikoti. It has big sound board and fat keys which produce rich low pitch
tones. It shares same scale with standard tuning mbira so they could be
played together just like guitar and bass guitar.
No other mbiras could make this heavy bass sound of which you could feel
into your bones.
■Average size: Length 23cm ｘ Width 19cm. Good for midium to big sized hands
■Tuning: Bass part of standard tuning. Mr. Tirikoti call this tuning Mahororo
■Scale: E flat major (approximately) Lowest key E flat (approximately)
What is the mbira?
