Balafon

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The balafon is a pentatonic or heptatonic xylophone of West Africa. The Susu and Malinké people of Guinea are closely associated with it. Famous balafon players include El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté, Gert Kilian and, early in his career, superstar Mory Kanté. It usually has 17-21 keys. The keys are cut from béné wood and suspended on a wooden frame, over calabash gourd resonators of graduated sizes resulting in a continuous nasal buzzing sound due to small holes of spider paper in the gourds. Some balafons can be played sitting down, while other, larger balafons are played while standing.

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