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mbira
(redirected from Mbiras)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.

mbira

 or thumb piano

African musical instrument consisting of a set of tuned metal or bamboo tongues attached to a board or resonator. The tongues are depressed and released with the thumbs and fingers to produce melodies and song accompaniments. The mbira dates to at least the 16th century in Africa, and it was imported to Latin America by slaves.



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For example, the instrumentation for King Ubu consists of "alto saxophone, clarinet, hichiriki, orkon, nohkan, voices, whistling, electric chord organ, electric and acoustic guitars, ukelele, bells, bottles, castanets, cymbals, congas, meringue, o-daiko, other assorted unidentified drums, maracas, marimbula, mbiras, metal springs, steel drum, tambourine, temple blocks, vaccines, wood blocks, xylophone, zither, magnetic tape manipulation.
Cedar Mbiras, African handheld instruments that sound like water dropping slowly, are $26 to $30.
Mbiras shimmer The shimmer of the mbiras--the steel-keyed thumb-piano central to Shona traditional music--are evident throughout the album; but what is something of a revelation is a new horn section that regularly chips in with breaks that Hugh Masekela or the late Dudu Pukwana would have been proud of--and guitar solos that, in places, might be termed heroic.
 
 
 
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