MY INSTRUMENT:
THE CIMBALOM
In English I refer to it by its Hungarian
name, cimbalom. In Romanian it’s ţambal. Basically it’s a box strung with metallic
strings that the player hits with two sticks―a
dulcimer, in other words. The original, “Romanian”
version is portable, with fewer strings, and I use a strap to hold it when in
play. I used to play it this way in
wedding processions and still do on occasion.
It looks like this:
This one is about a
hundred years old and used to belong to my grandfather. It is strung with approximately 64 brass and
4 wound strings. White felt is woven
through the groups of wire strings to dampen the vibrations. The original tuning used by my father and
grandfather and by me, when I first started to play, is different than what I
use now. I tune this like the large
cimbalom.
My main instrument is the large cimbalom or
ţambal mare, which was made in