Superbooth 2026: Bastl Kalimba is an original instrument that blends acoustic Kalimba mechanics with a colorful digital synth core.
At the beginning of the year, after many years of development, Korg released the Phase 8, an instrument that brought acoustic playing to the world of synthesizers. Some describe phase 8 as a high-tech kalimba. Bastl Instruments has likely heard of it before.
After three years in development, they have just unveiled the Bastl Kalimba, a portable instrument that is playable like an acoustic Kalimba but has the power of a modern Synthesizer.
Bastl Kalimba
I must smile when writing this. The “high-tech kalimba” that many have been talking about is now even more of a reality. The Bastl Kalimba not only looks like one, but it’s also actually one. It’s as if someone had put the kalimba into the future machine.
It weighs only 310g and measures 144 × 95 × 50 mm. I had the chance to hold it briefly during the setup day. What a cute, beautiful instrument! It feels perfectly in two hands.
Bastl Kalimba features 12 tone tines that are touch- and velocity-sensitive, captured by an internal microphone. This, in turn, excites a dual sound engine. You can pluck them or touch them, giving you two ways to play them.
And very customizable playing. You have six levels of sensitivity, and you can even micro-pitch them independently with 12 different available scales.
The internal microphone also allows you to play the instrument by knocking or strumming the unit’s casing or directly on the tines. You see, it’s your usual Synthesizer. It’s more like an acoustic instrument.
Besides the tines, the Kalimba from the future also includes an internal accelerometer that serves as an alternative exciter for the sound engine, dynamically filtering the left and right channels as you move and rotate the device.
Function-based touch points for pads, pitch slides, and more, along with two assignable functions on the back of the device, round out the playing section.
It’s all about unique interaction, and that’s what’s so fascinating here: it pushes musicians to discover the instrument from a different view than a classic synth with keys.
Excited Synthesis
Plucking or touching the tines excites the internal sound engine. It has six voices and is based on physical modeling using stereo digital resonators and an FM engine.
They are tweable on the hardware with six bipolar knobs, with interactive macro mapping. You control parameters such as timbre, excite, blend, detune, body, and decay. Octave switching on the fly is also possible.
Alongside the synthesis engine, it also offers a multi-FX processor with filters (low/high), crunch (downsampler, bit-crusher, distortion), modulation (chorus, flanger, tape emulation), time (two delay modes), and space (two reverb modes).
Part of this strong interactive focus is also a built-in looper (free/tempo sync). According to the developers, it uses a destructive looping concept, allowing you to re-record the looper using the built-in effects.
You can easily loop stuff into the Bastl Kalimba and adjust the time, octave, and more. Handy, there is also a one-layer undo/redo functionality. On top of that, you have a built-in arpeggiator with various modes and adjustable settings.
And all your settings can be saved in 16 presets, just like you know it from a traditional Synthesizer.
Connectivity
On the back of the Bastl Kalimba are the connections, which remind us that it is a Synthesizer and not an acoustic instrument. It has a headphone/line level output, and MIDI input and output on 1/8″ TRS (Type A).
Alternatively, you can use the MIDI sockets as analog clock inputs and outputs. The USB-C port handles MIDI input and output, firmware updates, and charging. Yes, it’s powered by a rechargeable battery.
Furthermore, it has a built-in speaker to make the Kalimba sound everywhere, as well as neck/wrist strap holes.
First Impression
I like it when companies try something new. This is original, fascinating, and cute to look at. I don’t know yet what the Kalimba from the future sounds like. There were no available beforehand.
But it immediately triggered something in me. A grin and a feeling of wanting to know more about it. I’m excited to test the Bastl Kalimba in person at Superbooth. The idea and its implementation deserve top marks. Now it just needs to sound great.
Bastl Kalimba is available now for pre-order at Kickstarter as a super early bird starting at 389€ and going up to 500€ without tax and shipping. The retail price will be around 550 €.
There are also different tiers of backer awards that contain an extra custom strap, a shirt, a cap, a USB-C wrist strap, stickers, or a Keitai charm. The Kickstarter runs until the 6th of June, and the first batch of 1500 units is expected to ship in December 2026.
More information here: Bastl Instruments / Kickstarter
I am a sucker for a kalimba!
This thing is so tempting that I almost backed it without hearing a sound! I’m drooling on Phase 8 for it’s unconventional sonic and tactile approach and this Kalimba brings even further the playability.