this is a simple jig for holding daxophone and kalimba/thumb piano keys. the body and clamp are made from pine scrap wood. the clamping mechanism consists of two bolts running in slots routed into the base and passing through the clamp block into two threaded handles.

a number of daxophone keys are visible. these are simply pieces of wood wihch are bowed like a violin; the shapes provide different bowing surfaces, timbres and pitches. the resulting tones range from cello-like to oddly vocal growls (the name daxophone is a play on the german word for beaver, and it can sound quite animalistic). the instrument is the invention of Hans Reichel; please see his wonderful web page here.

i also find the jig handy for holding bits of metal, bamboo, etc. to be plucked like a kalimba or thumb piano.

the eBow kalimba photos and accompanying mp3 "a crowded firehouse" use tines from the brushes of street cleaning machines, picked up from the gutters of various cities.

the audio sample has four layered tracks here, three of which use EBow.

the two drones are a mix of microphone and the electric kalimba pickup. there is no other processing; the ringing and throbbing are the result of the interaction between the EBow and various modes of vibration of the kalimba tines.

the "drum&bass" were produced by tapping down on the kalimba tines with my fingertips, sometimes releasing immediately, sometimes pressing or dragging along the tine.

the "lead" sound is played on a single tine. i am pressing the tine behind the EBow, and rolling my fingertip to change pitch.

examples:
a crowded firehouse (EBow Electric Kalimba) mp3

samples:
samples, loops, and Reason/Mach5 banks coming soon...