Cymbals

To the layperson it would seem that cymbals are an afterthought kind of instrument. Not many, if any, music scores are written exclusively for the cymbal; they always appear to be paired with the drums or as an accompaniment to a full orchestra. The cymbals, what some may consider the jesters of the world of musical instruments, have a popular, bad-rap.

Cymbal players are not Energizer bunnies or clownish monkeys banging away to produce noise; quiet the contrary. A skilled cymbal player often has to interpret meaning and mood on the fly more often than other instrumentalists, whose parts are meticulously written for them. A cymbal often produces sounds that cannot be completely anticipated by composers, who must give general direction and then trust the conductor and the cymbal player to work in harmony with the orchestra to produce the vision of music intended.

History

The word cymbal is derived from cymbalum, a Latin word whose roots are in the Greek word kumbalom, which means "small bowl." The first cymbals were more bowl shaped than their modern counterparts, as can be seen in bacchanalian tapestries depicting dancing fauns and satyrs. The ancient Egyptians used the cymbal, and in fact some have been discovered in tombs of Egyptian musicians and are on display in British Museum.

Music