Cimbalom

[topum]

No fun will be had in Moldova without a cimbalom.



Super stardom is guaranteed for anyone here who can play it.

Comments

[real-marsel.livejournal.com]

I see it first time.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Interesting looking instrument..How is it played?  What does it sound like? 

Looks like there are piano wires strung across a table. 

Athena

[topum.livejournal.com]

It is played by striking two beaters against the strings.
This is how it sounds:

[topum.livejournal.com]

I posted a video below. In case you want to check out how it sounds.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

Ohhh yes I have heard it before..Someone on a Game of Thrones fb page posted a youtube video of two kids playing the game of thrones theme song on it.  It sounds nice. Kind of like a harpsichord.   Only a harpsichord is more like a piano...but the two have a similar sound. 

Athena

[bunn.livejournal.com]

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.


The moral of this story is, beware the cimbalom. Or at least, keep a wary eye out for Abyssinian maids when one is about.

[sleepybadger.livejournal.com]

I went to a church service once where someone played the dulcimer. It was both lovely and fascinating to watch, I considered going back just to see it being played again.

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

This looks like a professional folk ensemble. Do "ordinary people" still keep at home and play the instument?

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Nice poem. Sounds a bit Blakian - both by metro-rhythms and visionary manner. And at the end - like a tiger, tiger...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Close! Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (I hope it is OK to say that Coleridge and Blake's work is not dissimilar in style, although I have a vague feeling it may result in me being hunted with pitchforks by their respective fans. )

[topum.livejournal.com]

People who play it keep it. Our neighbour has it, he plays it at weddings and other occasions. It is not his main job but it is an important side gig for him. I cannot imagine people who do not play dulcimer keeping them at home unless they inherited them, etc.

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Ha! Yes, I knew it's not him. But if I were Blake, I wouldn't mind to have several of these lines in my own poems. I would definitely have these for the second edition of my Tiger, tiger:

Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

An in some new song of innocence - why not? - I could use this

For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

But I would definitely removed all this African words (just "dark forest" is better) and replaced "a damsel" with "a child"...

[topum.livejournal.com]

it is very popular here for playing folk dance music.

[topum.livejournal.com]

Coleridge! I had a period when I was really into him.

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Amazing. I thought the real folk tradition is dead. I was in some folkloric expeditions in Russia, to record real folk songs, centuries of age. We met only crumbles (but beautiful crumbles), and peolple everywhere said: "you should have come at least 20 years before"...

[topum.livejournal.com]

Btw, the people in the photo are not a professional band. Just villagers who do it as a hobby. They form a band and meet int he evenings and weekends to practice then get invited to sing at weddings, etc. It is not the main job for any of these guys. We have three bands just in our village.

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Very impressive, indeed...

[topum.livejournal.com]

They are very passionate about their folk music. Most of the music played at weddings and other celebrations is their folk and it is best received. The rest is some Russian and Romanian pop, which both sound really really bad to me, like some very bad 80s euro trash. I saw some Russian pop on TV here and I thought it was awful, with big hair, lots of make up and sparkling costumes.

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Pop music, especially Russian, is something I keep the maximal distance from...

[topum.livejournal.com]

I can understand that. There is one woman, I think she is very popular in Russia (and here) which I find particularly annoying. She is I would say in her late 50s, wears a wig and her name sounds smth like "Allegro" to me. Boy, I am as allegro as possible to leave any place where they put her on ).

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Thanks God, this doesn't ring any bells with me. I think, when I get to hell (for all my sins), the cruelest punishment there wil be to hear Russian pop-music, especially this allegro-woman. Brrr..

[topum.livejournal.com]

Well add to it some Danish-Norwegian euro trash like Aqua with their "I'am a Barbie girl". No hell will be complete without that song.

[diejacobsleiter.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you, I appreciate that. As a perfectionist, I would demand a perfect hell too.

[beautesauvage13.livejournal.com]

I found the vid of the Game of thrones theme played on the same instrument..
https://youtu.be/Q3PgF3AZKpo

[topum.livejournal.com]

Pretty cool.