Mbira played by Patrick 02. The mbira instrument. The type of mbira shown here, of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, consists of 22 to 28 metal keys mounted on a gwariva (hardwood soundboard) made from the mubvamaropa tree (Pterocarpus angolensis).
Although the metal keys were originally smelted directly from rock containing iron ore, now they may be made from sofa springs, bicycle spokes, car seat springs, and other recycled or new steel materials. The mbira is usually placed inside a large calabash resonator (deze) to amplify it. A mutsigo (stick) is used to wedge the mbira securely inside the deze.
Mbira. Both Joseph H.
Howard, owner of the largest collection of drums and ancillary folk instruments in the Americas, and Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji argue that the mbira is thoroughly African, being found only in areas populated by Africans or their descendants.[1] Mbira dzavadzimu[edit] Mbira dzavadzimu in a deze. In Shona music, the mbira dzavadzimu ("voice of the ancestors", national instrument of Zimbabwe[2]) is a musical instrument that has been played by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for thousands of years.