Sympathetic Resonances
A free online platform for documenting, learning, and exploring mbira music
Interactive transcriptions
Edit, play back, and visualize mbira patterns in your web browser:
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News
All news »Mbira dzaVaNdau transcriptions
8/2022 The 20+ transcriptions from Andrew Tracey's recent article The Mbira of the Ndau: Mozambique and Zimbabwe in 1972 are now available on SR.
Microtuning comparison
4/2022 Listen to the same mbira tuned to equi-heptatonic, AMI karimba, Western mixolydian scales, thanks to the help of mbira maker Sebastian Pott.
The Art of Mbira Playing
4/2022 About sixty mbira dzavazimu transcriptions from Gerd Grupe's book Die Kunst des Mbira-Spiels are now available on SR.
Learn Mbira dzaVaNdau
1/2022 Start learning the mbira dzaVaNdau with our 5-piece introductory course taught by Solomon Madhinga from Chipinge.
Nyunga Nyunga transcriptions
5/2021 New nyunga nyunga pieces from the repertoire of mbira & marimba teacher and maker Barnabas Ngalande, featuring simple and more embellished parts for students on different levels to play together.
Tuning repository
| Currently, 90+ tunings of seven mbira types are available. Instrument Gallery » Explore the wonderful diversity of historical and contemporary scales, and use them for tuning your own instruments. Example tuning » |
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Archives accessible
In 2017, we started a project at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) to make the great variety of mbiras and tunings in the Tracey Instrument Collection, as well as Andrew Tracey's extensive personal archive of transcriptions audible and accessible to the world.| Learn more » |
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Your personal library
Sign up to access all available content, and to start a personal archive of transcriptions. It is, and will always be, free of charge. Everything you create is private, unless you decide to share it with other individuals or groups. To date, more than 400 registered users have created over 1200 transcription records (190+ available to all users). How it works »Learning & Inspiration
Get started with each mbira type's traditional repertoire, using the freely available transcriptions. Use the computer-generated playback and instrument visualization for rehearsal at any tempo, and for practicing the intricate interlocking between multiple players. As an advanced player, get inspiration from a number of musical tools: Transpose and transform pieces, translate them across instrument types, quickly create variations or compose new harmonic progressions.Purpose & Values
This project wants to contribute to the preservation (and expansion) of diversity of mbira music, with a special focus on marginalized traditional instrument types.