Ţambal
Top view and playing area of a modern concert cimbalom
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| Classification | String instrument (struck or plucked) |
|---|---|
| Playing range | |
| Various (see 2.2 "The Concert Cimbalom") | |
| Related instruments | |
The cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across its top. It is a musical instrument commonly found in the group of Central-Eastern European nations and cultures, namely contemporary Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is also popular in Greece and in gypsy music. The cimbalom is (typically) played by striking two beaters against the strings. The steel treble strings are arranged in groups of 4 and are tuned in unison. The bass strings which are over-spun with copper, are arranged in groups of 3 and are also tuned in unison. The Hornbostel-Sachs musical instrument classification system registers the cimbalom with the number 314.122-4,5. Moreover, the instrument name “cimbalom” also denotes earlier, smaller versions of the cimbalom, and folk cimbaloms, of different tone groupings, string arrangements, and box types.
In English, the cimbalom spelling is the most common, followed by the variants, derived from Austria-Hungary’s languages, cimbál, cymbalom, cymbalum, țambal, tsymbaly and tsimbl etc. Santur, Santouri, sandouri and a number of other non Austro-Hungarian names are sometimes applied to this instrument in regions beyond Austria-Hungary which have their own names for related instruments of the struck zither or hammered dulcimer family.
The first representation of a simple struck chordophone can be found in the Assyrian bas-relief in Kyindjuk dated back to 3500 BC. Since that time, widely divergent versions of this percussive stretched-string instrument have developed in many far-flung regions of the world. Struck chordophones are sometimes generically referred to as being in the "hammered dulcimer" family; however, they are formally classified as struck zithers under Hornbostel-Sachs.
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Wikipedia