Balafon Standard, large, medium or small


Idiófono, Percussive
Xylophone
Production country: Argentina
Originally from West Africa, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Ivory Coast, Central Africa.


Features

  • LARGE
    • Length: 125 cm
    • Width: 55 cm
    • Height: 20 cm
    • Weight Approx: 10 kg
    • Number of keys between 19 and 21.
  • MEDIUM and SMALL are also made. Contact us.
  • Woods according to availability: incense, teak, guayubira.
  • Tuning: Pentatonic or heptatonic.
  • Stock: No, it is made to order, 1 month approx to produce it.

IMPORTANT: THE SHIPPING COST MUST BE ADDED TO THE PRICE OF THE INSTRUMENT. SHIPMENTS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN (ARGENTINA) ARE MADE WITH SERVICES SUCH AS FEDEX OR SIMILAR.

MORE INFO AND PURCHASE

Description

Instrument of excellent sound and acoustic quality, made with good quality woods and mattes, produced in Argentina by Master, Luthier Craftsman and Musician of recognized trajectory.


  • With or without case. CONTACT US.
  • Local and International shipments with DHL.
  • Instruments guaranteed for 1 year.
  • Customizations upon request.
  • In addition to these models, other models of different size and quality are available. CONSULT.

PRICE: CONTACT US


PAYMENT METHODS:


Brief history of the Balafon

Instrument of the xylophone family, it is an idiophone that consists of a series of boards of different sizes that are tuned in a determined scale, they rest on a structure of wood and cane assembled with leather strings. This structure contains a group of gourds, also of different size and tuning, which placed each one under each board act as resonators.

The musician hits on the boards with two wooden drumsticks that have a head of rubber or natural rubber and in this way cushions the blow producing a very beautiful and warm sound.

The origin of the Balafon probably comes from the stone age, it is said that tribes of African hunters listened to different notes in the wood they cut with their tools and aligning them by their size they sat down to listen to the pleasant sounds they produced. Then they made holes in the ground under each board and the sound changed: it seemed to come from inside the human body or from the earth itself.

But the Balafon as we know it today we owe it to an ancient king of the Susu ethnic group called Sumaoro Kante. According to legend, Sumaoro saw this instrument and heard its sound in a dream. When he woke up, he went to the mountain and cut some wood, he wanted to imitate the instrument but its sound was not the same. It is said that a spirit was present and gave him the technique for its construction and tuning. Then the griots (a caste of storytellers and musicians).


INSTRUMENT VIDEOS


About the Luthier and Teacher

Offers African music lessons and live performances. Luthier of African instruments handcrafted in his own luthier’s workshop.
He specializes in African ethnic instruments such as the ngoni, the kora (traditional harps) and the balafon (traditional xylophone). He started as self-taught and then studied for two years at the Jatun Maki school of lutherie (Buenos Aires, Argentina). ] Currently he continues to deepen his knowledge by taking wood carving classes.
In 2011 he traveled to Senegal and Mali where he trained in traditional music and lutherie.


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