A gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone, with an unusual resonance. It is closely associated with the Mandé and Mandinka peoples of Ghana and Guinea, but is now found across West Africa.

A balafon can be either fixed-key (where the keys are strung over a fixed frame, usually with calabash resonators underneath) or free-key (where the keys are placed independently on any padded surface). The balafon usually has 17 to 21 keys, tuned to a tetratonic, pentatonic or heptatonic scale, depending on the culture of the musician. 

The balafon is generally capable of producing 18 to 21 notes, although some are built to produce far fewer. Balafon keys are traditionally made from hard wood (often mahogany).

In a fixed-key balafon, the keys are suspended by leather straps just above a wooden frame, under which are hung graduated-size calabash gourd resonators. A small hole in each gourd is covered with a membrane traditionally of thin spider's-egg sac filaments (nowadays more usually of cigarette paper or thin plastic film) to produce the characteristic nasal buzz timbre of the instrument, which is usually played with 2 gum-rubber-wound mallets while seated on a low stool (or while standing using a shoulder or waist sling hooked to its frame).