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  • errolmaybury8429cs
  • Aug 19, 2023
  • 3 min read


The cimbalom has been used in many film scores over the years: famously, John Barry used it in the title theme for the film The Ipcress File, as well as in the main theme of the 1971 TV series The Persuaders. But it's most famous (and coolest) use was probably on the 1994 Portishead track "Sour Times". An example of how the instrument can be used as a mournful exotic sound not just it's often stereotypical use against East European backdrops, spy intrigue and cold war thrillers.


FunctionThe cimbalom is a concert hammered dulcimer: a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across its top. It is a musical instrument popularized in Hungary and commonly found throughout central and eastern Europe. The cimbalom is played by striking two beaters against the strings. The steel treble strings are arranged in groups of 4 and are tuned in unison. The bass strings which are over-spun with copper, are arranged in groups of 3 and are also tuned in unison.




Grand Cimbalom KONTAKT



The luthéal is probably one of the rarest piano instruments in existence - with only one original instrument being left. Invented by the Belgian George Cloetens, it uses a grand piano as its basis and allows to change the tone of the piano by applying the Luthéal mechanism. Built in 1922, it has been completely restored and resides at the Musical Instrument Museum (mim) in Brussels.


Whether you're into classical music or not - the sounds of the luthéal don't need to be limited to the pieces of Maurice Ravel in the grand scheme of things. The different stops are just made for anything that screams for a fresh and unusual approach. Now, this one original Luthéal in existence can travel the world - on your desktop.


I must have about a dozen libraries by now of dulcimers, cimbalom, harps, lyres, kanteles, zithers, etc. - I've spent hours trialing them for different projects, normally hunting for something that doesn't sound like it's swimming in an ocean of reverb. This lyre, namely the firelyre patch, is what I most often settle on. It has a bit more bite than a true harp, which is great for getting more of a folksy, gritty sound. The highest register is a bit too bright, and there is an annoying pitch-bending artifact in one of the low register samples, but it doesn't make the instrument unusable. There are also a number of other patches with various mutes/bowing/etc. which broadens the scope of the instrument a bit. Overall I think it's a nice instrument for folk melodies when you want something a bit less elegant than a harp.


Fittingly for a film set in a fictional, mittle-European republic, the score is resplendent in the authentic sounds of various European countries. Instruments used include the cimbalom (used so memorably by John Barry in The Ipcress File), zither (familiar from Anton Karras' classic The Third Man) and balalaika (a three-stringed Russian instrument heard in Maurice Jarre's score for Dr. Zhivago). These qualities become immediately apparent in the score's delightful main theme, first heard in "Mr Moustafa". An endearing piece for the aforementioned plucked instruments it's both eccentric and lovely, bottling the essence of Europe in times gone by. The theme occurs several times throughout the score, giving a pleasing sense of continuity and structure.


The varying textures of all these different themes are scattered throughout the gossamer-light score. Highlights include the comical horror of "The Cold Blooded Murder of Deputy Vilmos Kovacs" with its blaring organ arrangement; the multifaceted and compelling percussion of "The Society of the Crossed Keys", which adds the balalaika too for increasingly grandiose impact; and the moving "The War (Zero's Theme)", which presents a tender, undulating variation on the score's main theme.


The individual Strings, Brass, Woodwinds and Percussion sections deliver new articulations and sounds including lush string sordinos and flageolets, a massive, 8-player French Horn section, new, powerful drum sounds and chilling bowed cymbal scrapes. The Keyboards include a soft, delicate grand piano, box organ and cimbalom.


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