Definitions for "Balafon"
A West African predecessor of the xylophone made with strips of wood, increasing in length, connected together with thread and hollow gourds of varying sizes attached to the bottom to achieve a greater tonal range. Click here for image.
West African xylophone made of wood slats and calabash resonators. Variations appear throughout Africa such as the marimba in Mozambique.
The balafon is a pentatonic or heptatonic resonated frame xylophone of West Africa. The Susu and Malinké people of Guinea are closely associated with it as are the Manding peoples of Senegal and The Gambia. Famous balafon players include El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyaté, Gert Kilian and, early in his career, superstar Mory Kanté.