If our previous coverage of the hybrid digital guitar, cleverly dubbed the Melo-D, caught your interest, there’s another cool gadget with a similar vibe. You might have heard of a cool little handheld musical instrument from Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s also popularly called a thumb piano in some regions. Check out the Bastl Kalimba.
It looks like there is a huge interest in this innovative product, as we can glean from its Kickstarter page. To our surprise, its crowdfunding campaign is already at $1,082,928 USD as of this writing. 2,116 backers are now eagerly anticipating their high-tech toy to arrive later this year. So far, the target is to ship the first 1,500 units by December 2026.
“Bastl Kalimba is a unique desktop instrument that combines microphones, touch sensors, and an accelerometer, with a user interface inspired by the traditional kalimba and its main interaction element: the tines,” reads the official overview. Those with a basic know-how regarding music theory will likely find it intuitive.
We believe the unique functions should be easy to figure out. Just like the classic iteration, you can pluck at the tines. However, the digital side of this device allows users to tap on the housing, press the pads, shake it, and so much more. Elsewhere, dial knobs further enable experimentation and fine-tuning for that perfect sound.
These adjustments include tempo, effects, layering, loops, octave shift, presets, custom scales, and others. The man behind this project — Václav Peloušek — is no novice when it comes to electronic musical instruments. With more than 15 years of synthesizer design under his belt, the Bastl Kalimba is one promising platform.
Back This Project: Here
Images courtesy of Václav Peloušek/Kickstarter
