This is my 31-tone kalimba. I built it myself in 2023, and to my knowledge, it’s the only kalimba in existence designed to handle full 31-tone equal temperament. It has no sound hole or electronic amplification, so it’s pretty quiet, and it’s not the most ergonomic instrument to play either, but it works and it sounds rather nice.
The 94 total keys span 3 octaves, and the instrument is 2 feet across. The base is finished eastern maple wood.
The key layout was inspired by Bill Wesley’s Array Mbiras, but is laid out in fourths from left to right instead of fifths. The structural design was adapted from David Bellinger from ekalimbas, who I got to meet in person.
I had previously built a 41-tone kalimba with Kite Giedraitis that is 3 feet long and has 124 keys, but it didn’t turn out as well as this one. We might come back to that project in the future, though.