The electric instrument pictured
above was made in the USA by Lucinda
Ellison Musical Instruments and is called Embira.
The lamellae are laid out in a sanza or kalimba
style. In Western popular music, terms such as sanza,
kalimba, and mbira are often used
generically to indicate a general kind of instrument
rather than a specific traditional African instrument.
The instrument pictured in the middle is a solid body
stereo electric bass mbira made by American
Dan Pauli of Wild
Marimbas. The lamellae are laid out similar
to Shona mbira dza vadzimu but with extra
lamella due to Pauli's design. The treble and bass
lamellae have separate pick ups and the mix between
the two can be adjusted separately in the amplification
system. No buzzers are used on the Pauli electric
mbira but inserting this instrument into
a sizeable deze with bottle caps attached
can produce the more traditional buzz sound without
it going through the lamellae pick ups. The lowest
photo is a solid body stereo electric mbira
in a more traditional range but features some extra
lamellae. The sound sample is of Ellison's electric
kalimba type instrument.
