RE: Cymbalum, etc

[david baron <David_Baron...>]

This is THE international instrument. From  Chinese "moon harps", Iranian
santur (Hebrew psantur = piano, another hammered instrument...), the
hammered dulcimer that is played in the American folk scene, the Chieftains
have a Celtic "tympan" ...

I would guess it is older than the European origins and could well have
originated in the far or middle east. I do not know for sure.

Lighter construction (Romanian mentioned in posting and santur) do not hold
a tuning. I have a santur and hardly try to play because I have to retune
the whole monster each time. The larger Hungarian instrument with damper
peddle is a piece of furniture and not very portable. The santur was used
used for the score of the sci-fi spy thriller "The Power". Stravinski
scored for cymbalum in Firebird and others and of course, Kodalai wrote for
it. Hungarian bands use it only for rhythm.