Bamboo Bass Kalimba / Marimbula with extra overtones - the Prototype

I started working on this bass kalimba prototype from of a desire to have a not-too-large bass instrument with a clearer tone than existing marimbulas, where the inharmonic overtone is often very prominent. The pressed bamboo plate material that I use for my kalimba soundboards worked well for the tines; it has a percussive sound that that keeps the notes short and clear. By cutting a small tongue into each tine, I could add an extra overtone, one octave above the fundamental, to each note. This also made it possible to raise the overtone for the whole tine to 3 octaves above the fundamental. The last part of the video demonstrates the sound using some piezo pick-ups taped to the soundboard. Update: Here is a video of the finished instrument:    • BamBoo Bass Kalimba (marimbula)