Is folk music involved, or is it more about the obscure instruments -- duduks, mbiras and ouds?

Arguably the most famous of the Zimbabwean musical instruments is the mbira. There are several types of mbiras found in Zimbabwe, which are played during religious and secular activities.

The book also includes a CD with twenty tracks showcasing some of Hugh Tracey's field recordings of various instruments including mbiras, drums, xylophones, flutes, and horns.

Here, Mapfumo uses a traditional format of interlocking, cyclical melodies--in much the same way as two or three mbiras, classically played, interlink together, magically creating a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

HHHHWorld CD of the week Konono No1 - Congotronics (Crammed Discs Craw 27) pounds 13.99Billy Jenkins would certainly approve of the general philosophy of Konono No 1, a bunch from Kinshasa who weren't about to let the fact that they sing and play mbiras (thumb pianos) stop them from entering the amplified world.

When two mbiras are played together, the different paths they take (sometimes referred to as kushaura and kutsinhira parts) are in an interlocking relationship with one another, one player sounding in the silence of the other, thus forming figures of intricacy and variety exceeding the movements of the fingers alone.

None of the mbiras shown is sitting on top of a gourd resonator, a common configuration, and the two sound files are without their typical bottle-top or ring-washer sizzle-sounds.

Examples include solo mbira pieces, songs for mbira & voice, and ensemble pieces for two mbiras with shaker accompaniment.

Students have made gongs, drams, bamboo flutes, and mbiras (thumb pianos).

Fradreck Mujuru also hails from Dewedzo, where he has supported himself making mbiras since 1992.

Then another swaying lattice would be built, guitars, bass, horns and two mbiras intermingling, each song heightening the vibration.