Mbila

Mbila 1. simple xylophone of the Basonge of the Congo, with single hardwood slab mounted over a calabash and played with a rubber-padded stick. Cf. didimbadimba (31); 2. xylophone of the Venda and Tshopi of S. Africa. The Tshopi instr. is the smaller and is frequently carried suspended from the player's neck. The larger one, of the Venda, has an average of 22 slabs and is set on the ground. The mbila has resonator gourds with spider-web membrane covering a small hole bored in each one, a…