Xylophones are not found everywhere in Africa. Various types can be found from central Africa down to South Africa, and the instrument is particularly common on both the west and east coasts (Angola, Mozambique). The first evidence of historical xylophones in Africa seems to show that they originated in what is now Mali in about the 13th century.
It is generally accepted that xylophones with calabashes as resonators, which became the model for Latin American marimbas and gave them the name, were first widespread in central Africa (Tanzania, Congo). In Africa, calabashes are still made out of the dried gourds of the calabash tree; they are the same size as a pumpkin. Suitable calabashes are rare and consequently valuable. The pitch of the calabash must correspond exactly with that of the bar. Such xylophones feature a special means of amplification, a membrane called a “mirliton”. A hole is drilled in each gourd which is then covered by a mirliton (of paper or from a spider’s nest). This membrane vibrates in sympathy when the corresponding bar is struck and produces a buzzing noise which has the effect of amplifying the sound.