News Archive

For details about this website's software updates, see history.

Andrew Tracey (1936-2024)
 1/2024  It is with great sadness that I learned about the passing of Andrew Tracey, the giant on whose shoulder SR stands. More »

Photo: ILAM
Mana embudzi
 1/2024  The mana embudzi from central Mozambique is now the tenth mbira type supported by SR.

  
Matepe Preservation Project
 5/2023  Funded by German government, we will document the repertoire and matepe making process of 82-year-old master musician Chaka Chawasarira. matepe.org »
Kalimba mudoko
 3/2023  With the kalimba mudoko from central Mozambique, SR now supports nine different mbira types.

  
Mbira diversity in rural Mozambique
9/2022  Tatenda Cangola and SR teamed up to give media visibility to kalimba players and makers from the Manica and Tete borderlands. Learn more and join our fundraiser!
Mbila dzamadeza
 12/2022  The mbila dzamadeza from South Africa's Limpopo province is the eighth supported type of mbira on SR.

 
Muchatera Mujuru's mbira
 9/2022  Added samples and animation for Muchatera Mujuru's historical mbira huru, featuring a left index finger manual.

More »
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.
Youtube Video »
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.
Starting point of the day
 2/2021  Increase chances of finding the new in the familiar with randomised starting points and other playback options. A feature inspired by Erica Azim.
Mbira dzaVaNdau
 2/2021  With the addition of the nowadays very rare hexatonic mbira dzaVaNdau, SR supports all major Zimbabwean mbira types.
Mobile phone sampling
 1/2021  Seven mbiras from either the workshop or collection of Othnell 'Mangoma' Moyo prove that even mobile phone recordings with low levels may be perfectly usable for SR playback.
Instrument gallery
 1/2021  Explore pictures and metadata of all instruments on SR in the new gallery.
Karimba and nyonganyonga animation
 12/2020  Karimba and nyonganyonga transcriptions get animated vizualization, too.

 
Njari
 11/2020  Most widespread a century ago, today almost vanished, SR supports this polymorphic member of the mbira family as the sixth instrument type.
'Art of Mbira' transcription pool
 10/2020  Owners of The Art of Mbira and Mbira's Restless Dance books who want to learn pieces using SR's features are invited to join our transcription pool. Just send a note.
New tunings
 10/2020  Favourite mbira dzavadzimu, hera, and njari tunings by mbira makers and players Fradreck Mujuru, Tute Chigamba, Rinos Mukuwurirwa, Newton Cheza Chozengwa, Chaka Chawasarira, Josam Nyamukuvhengu, Kenneth Kabaya

Nzwananai Burial Society
 10/2020  We're celebrating the release and good reviews of The Zonke Family's first album with a little series of ngoma videos from their home in Nyamapanda, Zimbabwe.
Analytic mbira notation
 7/2020  A powerful and expressive tool for analyzing and composing mbira pieces, and transforming their harmonic and rhythmic structure.

Learn more (click on the "Analytic" tab) »
Timbila sounds for mbira playback
 7/2020  Using samples of Augusto Manhiça's mbila (and additional synthesized keys), you can now play back mbira dzavadzimu and matepe pieces with this gorgeous sound and tuning. Demo Video »
Tsoro Arts videos
 7/2020  To support their fundraising, SR is releasing a series of documentary clips of a public rehearsal afternoon at Tsoro Arts Center (Facebook and Youtube).
Cosmas Magaya / John Kunaka tuning
 7/2020  In memory of late mbira master Cosmas Magaya, the sound of his mbira, recorded in Feb. 2020, is now the new default for mbira dzavadzimu playback.
Animated Mbira
 6/2020  Animated visualization of mbira dzavadzimu and matepe scores.
Mbira Diversity growing
 6/2020  Sympathetic Resonances' Mbira Diversity group on Facebook meanwhile passed 1000 members.
The group has about 1/4 female and 3/4 male members who are currently located in (top 5): Zimbabwe 38%, South Africa 17%, USA 12%, UK 4%, and Mozambique 4%.
The Zonke Family album on presale
 6/2020  An outcome of a 4-nights recording session at Philophon studios in Berlin in March 2019, the matepe ensemble's first album will available in September.
Art of Mbira notations
 3/2022  Update: Removed feature
 4/2020  New experimental notations available to facilitate entering scores from Paul Berliner and Cosmas Magaya's book The Art of Mbira.
Interviews and recorded tunings
 2/2020  Meetings with Fradreck Mujuru, Jacob Mafuleni, Forward Kwenda, Tute Chigamba, Chaka Chawasarira, Silika Gomo, Rinos Mukuwurirwa, Newton Gwara, Cosmas Magaya, Leonard Chiyanike, Anthony Zonke, Chief Goronga, John Karima, Albert Chimedza, Kenneth Kabaya in Zimbabwe to discuss the SR project, mbira and tuning diversity, and preservation issues.

20+ of the makers' favoured tunings will be available on SR soon.

Learn to Play Mbira (with Forward Kwenda)
Fungai Gahadzikwa Mbira Song Book 1
 8/2019  As a convenience for his customers, Andy Fowler of mbiramagic.com started hosting transcriptions from his books on SR.
Example Piece »
Shortcut to access this website
 5/2019  http://symres.org now forwards to https://sympathetic-resonances.org/.
Matepe Music in Germany
 4/2019  In March 2019, Stefan Franke of Sympathetic Resonances had the pleasure of hosting The Zonke Family of matepe players at Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt.