The kalimba studio guide

Turn a MIDI into kalimba tabs you can actually review.

A MIDI contains note events, timing and instrument-track information. It is not an audio recording, and a piano arrangement may contain notes or hand movements your kalimba cannot reproduce. Conversion is a starting point: the useful part is checking what changed and trying the result on your instrument.

1. Match the tuning before converting

Open Instruments and compare the profile's pitches and positions with your kalimba. Two instruments with the same number of tines can have different tunings. Multirow instruments may also have the same pitch on more than one tine.

Choose or adjust a profile that matches the actual instrument. A note number without an octave can be ambiguous, so check octave markings as well as the main label.

2. Start with a clear melody

Open Convert MIDI, select your MIDI file and inspect its tracks if needed. For a first arrangement, try a melody track by itself. A full piano accompaniment can hide the tune under too many simultaneous attacks.

If you do not have a suitable file, try an original example from the home page. Use music you created, music you have permission to use or files with a license that covers your intended use. Finding a file online is not permission to redistribute it.

3. Review pitches that do not fit

A diatonic kalimba may lack accidentals present in the MIDI. Notes can also fall below or above its range. Review the converter's decisions rather than assuming every original note survived unchanged.

Transposing a whole song changes its key. Moving a note by an octave changes its register. Omitting a note removes it. These choices have different musical effects: listen for the melody and bass before deciding whether the result works.

4. Refine for your thumbs

Use the thumb-friendly arrangement tools to review repeated strikes, jumps, row changes and crowded attacks. Start slowly and compare the suggestion with the original arrangement. A model can estimate travel and timing, but the tine spacing, your technique and the instrument's response determine how it feels.

Two thumbs do not mean only two notes can ring. The difficult part is striking the next notes in time while earlier notes continue resonating.

5. Edit and practice the difficult phrase

In the editor, move or resize notes and use Undo to compare changes. In Practice, reduce playback speed and use a short loop around a difficult passage. Listen for lost melody notes, awkward repeated attacks and accompaniment that overwhelms the tune.

If a passage remains uncomfortable, simplify the accompaniment or slow the intended tempo. A successful automatic conversion does not prove physical playability.

6. Save the project and export

Save locally, then download a project backup if you want to reopen the arrangement on another device. Browser data can be cleared, so a local save should not be your only copy.

The studio can export MIDI, printable number tabs, numbered sheet music and falling-note videos with synthesized sound. Review print previews before printing. A MIDI export represents pitches and timing; it does not encode the physical thumb assignments shown in the studio.

Start a MIDI conversion or visit the in-app guide for help with individual tools.