README.md

---
pretty_name: Kalimba (Preview)
license: cc-by-nc-4.0
size_categories: [n<1K]
tags:
  - audio
  - music
  - dataset
  - kalimba
  - mbira
  - thumb_piano
  - world_music
  - folk_instruments
  - plucked_idiophone
  - acoustic_instrument
  - ethnomusicology
  - sound_design
  - ai_training_data
  - sampling_96khz
  - bitdepth_24bit
  - mono
task_categories: [other]
language: [und]
thumbnail: thumbnail.png
description: "A high-fidelity world instrument dataset capturing the Kalimba (African thumb piano), recorded for AI training, sound research, and creative development as part of the Harmonic Frontier Audio Folk & World Instruments Series."
---

![Dataset Thumbnail](./thumbnail.png)

# Harmonic Frontier Audio – Kalimba (Preview, v0.9)

**A high-fidelity world instrument dataset designed for AI training, music research, and creative sound development.**

**Kalimba (Preview)**, created by **Harmonic Frontier Audio**, provides a compact reference set demonstrating the quality, formatting, and metadata conventions used in the *World Resonance Gallery* in the Harmonic Frontier Audio catalogue.

---

### 🔎 Summary

This dataset provides high-quality, rights-cleared recordings of the **Kalimba** — a lamellophone producing sound through the plucking of tuned metal tines mounted on a resonant body.  
The recordings highlight the instrument’s clear attack transients, inharmonic overtone structure, and resonant decay characteristics, making them valuable for **AI music modeling**, **percussive timbre analysis**, **idiophonic synthesis**, and **cross-cultural sound design** research.

Developed by **Harmonic Frontier Audio**, this preview follows *The Proteus Standard™* for dataset provenance, transparency, and ethical AI use.  
Learn more about the Proteus Standard → https://harmonicfrontieraudio.com/proteus-standard

Full dataset details and licensing information are available at: https://harmonicfrontieraudio.com/datasets/kalimba

It offers clean, consistent audio files capturing the Kalimba across single-note articulations, interval patterns, chordal gestures, and controlled plucking techniques.

If you find this dataset useful, please consider giving it a 🤍 on Hugging Face to help others discover it.


---

## 🎶 About the Kalimba

The **Kalimba** is a lamellaphone from the Mbira family of instruments, originating in sub-Saharan Africa.  
It consists of metal tines attached to a resonating wooden body, played by plucking the tines with the thumbs.  
The sound is at once percussive and melodic — metallic transients followed by rich resonant decay.  

Kalimbas are often tuned to diatonic or pentatonic scales, though alternate tunings exist across African regions.  
This preview dataset was recorded on a **17-key C major Kalimba**, offering single-note, dyadic, and arpeggiated gestures across the full playable range.  
The goal was to capture the instrument’s core articulations neutrally — not tied to any specific cultural or stylistic context — providing universal training material for AI and creative sound development.

---

## 📂 Contents

**Audio Files (.wav)**  
- Recorded at **96 kHz / 24-bit** WAV format  
- Exported as **mono**  
- Fade-ins and fade-outs of **3–5 ms** for transient consistency  
- DC offset minimized 
- No EQ, compression, or post-processing applied  
- High-pass filtered at ~40 Hz to remove subsonic rumble  

### Categories in this Preview
1. **Sustain**
   - Single tines plucked and allowed to decay naturally
2. **Dyad**
   - Two tines plucked simultaneously to form harmonic dyads
3. **Arpeggio**
   - Sequential plucks outlining triadic shapes
4. **Chord**
   - Three-note simultaneous strikes forming simple triads
5. **Rhythm**
   - Repeated tine plucks at moderate tempo, emphasizing percussive character

---

**Metadata (.csv)**  
Includes structured fields for file name, category, content, note pitch, Kalimba tab number (where applicable), microphone, channel configuration, sample rate, bit depth, recording chain, and dataset version.

---

## 🎤 Recording Notes

- Recorded in a treated studio environment using a **dual-mic setup** blended to mono:  
  - **Front Mic (transients):** Oktava MK-012 (small-diaphragm condenser), 8″ above the tines  
  - **Rear Mic (resonance):** RØDE NT1-A (large-diaphragm condenser), 6″ behind the sound holes  
  - **Recording chain:** Oktava MK-012 + RØDE NT1-A → Zoom F8n Pro  
- Captured at **96 kHz / 32-bit float**, rendered as **96 kHz / 24-bit** mono WAV for release.  
- Transient integrity preserved; minor ambient noise retained for natural realism.

---

## 🌈 Spectrogram Preview

Below is a spectrogram showing the Kalimba’s characteristic harmonic overtones and resonant decay pattern:

![Spectrogram Preview](Spectrogram_Preview.png)

---

## 🎧 Demonstration Audio

This repository includes **three audio examples** for listening and comparison:

**1. Dataset in musical context (mixed & mastered)**  
A brief musical excerpt demonstrating the Kalimba Preview dataset integrated into a musical arrangement, highlighting expressive timbre and real-world usability.

**Track:** *“Kalimba Example”*  
**Producer:** Blake Pullen  
**Source Audio:** Harmonic Frontier Audio – Kalimba (Preview)

<audio controls style="width:100%;">
  <source src="https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Kalimba_Preview/resolve/main/Demos/Kalimba_Demo_Master.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
  Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>

**2. Raw dataset recording**  
An unprocessed audio excerpt taken directly from the dataset’s audio files, representing the actual licensed source material without musical context or processing.

<audio controls style="width:100%;">
  <source src="https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Kalimba_Preview/resolve/main/Audio/HFA_Kalimba_Melody_ShortSnippet.wav" type="audio/wav">
  Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>

**3. Fully AI-generated reference (no dataset audio)**  
A comparison track generated entirely by an AI music model without using any Harmonic Frontier Audio recordings, included solely to illustrate current generative limitations.

<audio controls style="width:100%;">
  <source src="https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Kalimba_Preview/resolve/main/Demos/Kalimba_AI_Generated_Reference_no_dataset_audio.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
  Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>

---

## 📜 Demo & Licensing Note

The `Demos/` folder contains **demonstration material only**.  
**Only the raw recordings in the dataset audio files constitute the licensed dataset.**  
AI-generated reference tracks are **not part of the dataset** and are **not licensed for training or reuse**.

---

## 🪶 Production Notes

- Instrumental accompaniment in the contextual demo was generated using **Suno (Pro plan)** under a commercial license.  
- All dataset recordings were **performed, recorded, and produced by Blake Pullen** for Harmonic Frontier Audio.

---

## ⚡ Usage

This preview dataset is designed for:
- **Evaluation** of Harmonic Frontier Audio dataset structure and fidelity  
- **Testing** AI and DSP systems that model or classify acoustic instruments  
- **Creative sound design**, **instrument synthesis**, and **timbre modeling** research  

👉 Note: This is **not a full dataset**.  
The complete Harmonic Frontier Audio dataset for **Kalimba** will include:
- Full dynamic range and velocity layers  
- Expanded tuning systems and gesture types  
- Additional playing styles (rolls, damping, harmonics)  

---

## 💡 Full Dataset Availability

This is a **preview pack** of the *Kalimba Dataset*.  
The complete dataset — with extended articulations and dynamic layers — will be available for **licensing**.

For licensing inquiries:  
📩 info@harmonicfrontieraudio.com

---

## 📥 How to Use This Dataset in Python

You can load the Parquet-converted version of this dataset directly with the `datasets` library:

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

dataset = load_dataset(
    "Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Kalimba_Preview",
    split="train"
)

print(dataset)
```

> ⚙️ *Note: Parquet conversion and `load_dataset()` support will be available within 2–3 days of publication.*

---

### 🔗 Explore More from Harmonic Frontier Audio

- [Scottish Smallpipes (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Bagpipes_Scottish_Smallpipes_in_A_Preview)
- [Highland Bagpipes (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Bagpipes_Scottish_Highland_Bagpipes_Preview)
- [Irish Tin Whistle in D (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Irish_Tin_Whistle_in_D_Preview)
- [Subharmonic Phonation / Vocal Fry (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Subharmonic_Phonation_Vocal_Fry_Preview)
- [Kalimba (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Kalimba_Preview)
- [Kazoo (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Kazoo_Preview)
- [Overtone Singing (Preview)](https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Overtone_Singing_Preview)

*(All datasets follow The Proteus Standard™ for ethical dataset provenance and licensing.)*

---

## 📜 License

Released under **[CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)**.  
- Free for non-commercial use, testing, and research.  
- Commercial licensing available via Harmonic Frontier Audio.  
- A formal rights declaration is included in this dataset bundle.

---

## 📧 Contact

Harmonic Frontier Audio  
📩 info@harmonicfrontieraudio.com  
🌐 https://harmonicfrontieraudio.com/

---

## 🔮 Future Roadmap

This preview release is part of the **Harmonic Frontier Audio – World Resonance Gallery**.  
Upcoming planned datasets include:

- **Kalimba (Full Dataset)**  
- **Didgeridoo**  
- **Shakuhachi**  


Over time, Harmonic Frontier Audio will expand the World Resonance Gallery alongside its Extended Vocal Techniques Series and Celtic Constellations Series — creating the first unified library of ethical, rights-cleared world and human sound datasets for AI training, synthesis, and sound design.

---

## 🗒️ Release Notes

**Version 0.9 (Nov. 2025)** – Initial Preview Pack release for Kalimba.  
See `CHANGELOG.md` for detailed version history.

---

## Citation

If you use this dataset in your research, please cite:

Pullen, B. (2025). *Kalimba Dataset (Preview)* [Data set]. Harmonic Frontier Audio. Zenodo.  
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17588097  

ORCID: [https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4527-0178](https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4527-0178)

### BibTeX
```bibtex
@dataset{pullen_2025_kalimba_preview,
  author       = {Blake Pullen},
  title        = {Kalimba Dataset (Preview)},
  year         = {2025},
  publisher    = {Harmonic Frontier Audio},
  version      = {0.9},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.17588097},
  url          = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17588097}
}
```