Kalimba with uke resonator

[Teresa Wiggins]

I took a small kalimba made from a flat board, from Mountain Melodies, and glued it to the body of a soprano uke to give it a resonator box. It's about 3-4 times louder now. I didn't cover the sound hole, it's on the back side.

I varnished the uke body (from a kit) with red/brown violin oil varnish and hand-painted the roses using a stencil and acrylic paint.

What did I make? A Ukalimba, kalimbulele? It's not really a uke at all.
https://www.mimf.com/phpbb/download/fil ... w&id=13965

[Barry Daniels]

Whatever you name it, it is very cool.

[Jim McConkey]

Welcome to the Forum, Teresa! Ukalimba has a nice ring to it. Looks great! If you look through our archives, we have all sorts of odd hybrid instruments here.

[Teresa Wiggins]

Thanks Barry and Jim!

[Teresa Wiggins]

Since the sound hole is on the backside, there's nothing stopping me from putting the rest of the ukulele together, is there? Then it really would be a Ukalimba.

[Jim McConkey]

Ukalimba with sympathetic resonators, the plucked version of a hurdy gurdy!

[Teresa Wiggins]

Hmmm...do nylon strings resonate?

[Jim McConkey]

Any string will resonate, if the same note is played anywhere near it. Composition makes no difference, except perhaps in loudness.

[Karl Wicklund]

I also vote for Ukalimba. I’d be very interested to hear it with strings.

I’ve got a few thrift store ukes that might be just right for this kind of treatment.

[JC Whitney]

So… does it also follow that when the uke strings were plucked/strummed the kalimba keys would vibrate sympathetically? Ukalimba-itar?

[Teresa Wiggins]

We'll have to see!

[Teresa Wiggins]

I also vote for Ukalimba.

I've been calling it a Ukalimba as well.

[Teresa Wiggins]

what's the best way to share sound on here? or do I need to make a video?

[Jim McConkey]

You can either make a YouTube/Vimeo/whatever video and post a link to it, or you can upload audio-only MP3s up to 200K. You can make MP3s with most simple recording programs. This is part of our FAQ on media uploading:
https://www.mimf.com//phpbb/viewtopic.p ... 189f7407c0

[Teresa Wiggins]

Honestly, it sounded better before I glued the neck on. But I'm not finished. I'm adding some more to the paint job. Then I'll string her up. Maybe once the strings are on, she'll sound better.

[Teresa Wiggins]

Updated pic of paint job.

[Teresa Wiggins]

I've finished painting this and finally got it strung up. I'm happy to report that it sounds much better with the strings on it!