hi i'm jesse and this is our musical instruments
series today we will take a look at an instrument that you play with your thumbs
take a look at this instrument what do you think it's called
how do you think you play this instrument and how do you think it sounds well let me
start by showing you a different instrument but similar this is something you might recognize
it's a music box yeah now both of these instruments have a name they're called
lamellaphones yeah they're both lamellaphones and the lamellaphone is an instrument that makes sound
using small metal plates yeah actually the word lamellaphone comes from
the latin word lamella which means small metal plates and the greek word phone which means sound
so yeah we're getting sound from small metal plates metal plates like we see here in this
instrument but first let's look at the small metal plates and how they make sound in our music box
now when a music box is first wound up the mechanics will spin this little
drum right here and you'll notice some little bumps or divots on this drum when those bumps pass
by these small metal tines or these metal plates it plucks them so they vibrate and that creates
the sound you'll notice some thinner metal plates which create higher pitched sounds and you'll
find some thicker metal plates that create lower pitched sound now let's give it a try
now let's look a little closer at our instrument of mystery right here i bet you're wondering what
it's called well it actually goes by a few names there are people who call it a umbera mera there
are people who call it a kalimba kalimba and some people call it a thumb piano because you do play
it with your thumbs now this instrument has been around for a long time it was created thousands of
years ago in africa and it's still made today and found all over the world take a look at the small
metal times you'll see some longer ones those are for the lower pitched notes and you'll see
some shorter ones which are for the higher pitched notes each length represents a different note are
you ready to hear the umbera in action one last thing to remember this hole here also important
because it allows the sound to reverberate and it amplifies the sound just a little bit
ready