RE: You say tsimbl I say cymbalom ..er I mean cimbalom

[Gifford, Paul <pgifford...>]

From: Loud Creek Books & Bindery [mailto:loudcreek (at) att(dot)net]

>My question is - of the cymbaloms out there what are their
attributes. I'll
>be playing in a small Klezmer ensemble, mostly traditional
arrangements. Is
>there one better for such work. Sound quality, workmanship,
adaptability any
>comments would be welcome.

Basically, if you are talking about traditional instruments (not ones
currently
made for the klezmer revival market, such as it is) that Jewish
musicians played,
you get:

I.  Structure involving two lengthwise rails mortised into pin blocks,
thin
back (readily portable with neck strap)
        A. "Galician"/"Lithuanian"/Polish variety
            Most with 5 strings per course, some as many as 8, others
as few as
          3.  Some have as few as 5-6 treble courses; these are
probably an
          older type (the so-called "Verkhovyna" tsimbaly).  Others
have as many as
          12 or more treble courses.  It is possible to differentiate
northern 
          (Belarusian, Lithuanian) and southern (Ukrainian) varieties.
All use
          hardwood hammers, but there are different styles in Ukraine,
Belarus,
          and Poland.  Sound holes cut into floral or geometrical
pattern,
          sometimes also central hole and concentric holes.
        B.  Romanian variety
          4 (sometimes 5) strings per course, sound holes usually
central hole
          and six concentric holes.  Bridges are individually turned.
Bass
          bridge on left, holding 2-5 courses. Hammers long and
slender with
          cotton wrapped on end.  Older "Romanian" tuning has
similarity to first
          type, but more typically today is tuning similar to
Hungarian tuning.

II.  Structure where a thick back is the principal means of strength.
        A.  Bohemian variety, including modern Hungarian cimbalom:  I
believe Schunda
          based his design on an older Bohemian design; this
characteristically had
          a partly diatonic, partly chromatic tuning, with a bass
bridge on the
          left that had 4+ courses.  Usually four sound holes.
Schunda added a
          cast-iron frame.  Four strings per treble course, three
wound per bass;
          older Lower Austrian, Bavarian, etc., instruments had as
many as 6-7 per
          course, no wound strings.
      B.  Greek santouri - in use since about 1900; difficult to
categorize this one,
          as it probably derives from the Romanian variety but the
back is the principal
          means of strength; hammers have cotton wrapping.

The early recordings mostly would have used type I.A.  There is
evidence for Lower East
Side use of type I.B. in the 1930s or earlier.  There were, of course,
plenty of Jewish
players of the Hungarian cimbalom (Laszlo Kun, a native of Cluj, was
appointed professor
of cimbalom at the Budapest Academy in the 1890s and published an
arrangement of
"Kol Nidrei").  Joseph Moskowitz played one he bought in Budapest, and
Herschel (Harry)
Sacher of New York recorded for Edison in 1925.

The tone of each variety is distinctive and readily recognizable.  For
a Galician sound
I'd opt for an instrument in the Ukrainian or Belarusian style.  

Paul Gifford

         

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