Balafon Bliss… 🇬🇭
A wooden keyed percussive idiophone of West Africa, the Balafon is a Manding name, but variations exist across West Africa.
An idiophone is an instrument which creates sound by vibrating.
🎵 Hand made by master artisans from individually tuned Khadi hardwood keys, cow hide and calabash.
🎵 The keys of the Balafon are tuned to each other in diatonic scale
🎵 It is the wood which set these bala apart – Khadi is premier wood used in making the world’s best Bala.
🎵 Below the key bed are calabash gourds which serve as resonators
🎵 Each gourd has a small hole with very thin paper (traditionally a thin membrane) over it, which creates the buzzing resonance that is so characteristic of West African music.
